Rules versus amendments
Two different tools that boards reach for, and only one of them can change what the declaration says.
A rule implements or clarifies something the declaration already allows, and the board can adopt it on its own vote. An amendment changes what the declaration itself says, and it typically needs a vote of the owners at a threshold set by the declaration or state statute, followed by recording. A board can approve the first by itself; only the owners can approve the second.
What a rule can do
A rule regulates ongoing conduct or use of property, and the board can adopt one without a vote of the owners. The catch is that a rule only works when it fills a gap the declaration leaves open, not when it changes a restriction the declaration already states.
Say the declaration bans "unreasonable noise" but never defines when. The board can adopt a rule setting quiet hours from 10pm to 8am. That doesn't contradict the declaration, it just spells out how the board will apply a restriction that's already there.
What only an amendment can do
Now say the declaration caps parking at two spaces per unit, and owners want three allowed. A board rule cannot deliver that, because a rule sits below the declaration and cannot be used to accomplish what an amendment would require. If the rule and the declaration disagree, the declaration wins, no matter how recently the board adopted the rule.
"Conflicts or inconsistencies between these documents are resolved by giving precedence to the higher-ranking document. For example, if a rule contradicts a provision in the CC&Rs, the CC&Rs will take precedence."
Source: Understanding the Hierarchy of Governing Documents in a Community Association, Community Association Management (CAMS)
Amendments need the owners, not just the board
Because an amendment changes a property restriction that binds every owner, most declarations require a vote of the membership, not a board vote, before it takes effect. The exact percentage of owner votes needed, and whether the declaration or state statute sets it, varies by state and by your own declaration. Nevada's statute, for example, defaults to a majority of the association's votes unless the declaration sets a different number for that kind of change. Check your own declaration's amendment section and your state's common interest ownership statute before assuming a board vote is enough.
Once adopted, the amendment also has to be recorded with the land records office to bind future buyers, a separate step from the vote itself. See recording amendments and voting thresholds for amendments for those two pieces.
The quick test
Ask one question before you draft anything: does this change what the declaration itself says or restricts, or does it only spell out how the board will enforce a restriction that's already there? The first needs an amendment. The second can usually be handled with a rule. If you're not sure which side of that line your change falls on, that's exactly the kind of question worth a legal review before the board acts.
Check yourself
Answer before you read the explanation, recalling it is what makes it stick.
The declaration says each unit may have no more than two parking spaces. Several owners want three allowed. What does the board need to do?
The declaration prohibits unreasonable noise but sets no specific quiet hours. The board wants to define quiet hours as 10pm to 8am. What is the appropriate tool?
Five directors vote unanimously at a board meeting to amend the declaration's fencing restriction. Is the amendment now in effect?
Sources
- Understanding the Hierarchy of Governing Documents in a Community Association, Community Association Management (CAMS)
- HOA Rules vs. Policy: What's the Difference?, Boardline Academy
- Nevada Revised Statutes Chapter 116, State of Nevada Legislature
Governing Documents
Next, see how a proposed amendment actually moves from idea to recorded document in amendment procedures.
Whether a board can act alone or needs an owner vote, and what percentage that vote requires, depends on your own declaration and your state's statute, not on a national default.