Declaration / CC&Rs explained

What the CC&Rs actually do

The CC&Rs are the master document for a common interest community. They set out what an owner can build, how a lot can be used, what the association maintains, and what every owner is required to pay for. They are not a handbook or a suggestion; they are recorded at the county land records office, the same place a deed is recorded, which is what makes them enforceable against real property rather than just against a person.

"Regulate the use, appearance, and maintenance of property."

Source: Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions, FindLaw

Why they bind whoever buys next

A homeowner who closes on a unit next year never sat down and signed the declaration. That does not matter. Once a covenant is properly recorded, it attaches to the property itself, not to the person who agreed to it. Buying the lot is what triggers the obligation.

"Runs with the land."

Source: Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions, FindLaw

This is also why the declaration is different from an ordinary contract between neighbors. Even a restriction that neighbors merely signed between themselves, without recording it as part of a formal declaration, is still binding once it runs with the land.

Where the declaration sits in the hierarchy

Federal and state law come first. Below that, the declaration outranks everything the association itself creates, including its own bylaws and any rule, policy, or resolution the board later adopts. When a lower document conflicts with the declaration, the declaration wins, no matter which one was adopted more recently.

"Conflicts or inconsistencies between these documents are resolved by giving precedence to the higher-ranking document."

Source: Understanding the Hierarchy of Governing Documents in a Community Association, Community Association Management (CAMS)

What if the declaration still has racist language?

Some older declarations, especially those recorded decades ago, still contain racially restrictive language on their face. That language has been legally void since the Supreme Court's 1948 decision in Shelley v. Kraemer, which held that courts cannot enforce a racially restrictive covenant, and it is separately barred by federal fair housing law. It is unenforceable whether or not anyone has taken the additional step of formally striking it from the recorded document.

Whether your state has passed its own statute letting an owner or association formally strike this language from the public record, and what that procedure requires, varies by state; check with your county recorder or a real estate attorney.