Academy/Common Rules & Restrictions
Garage use
Where garage rules come from, where a board's power to add new ones stops, and the liability that exists no matter what the rules say.
No federal or general state law governs what a garage can be used for. Garage rules come from your Declaration, Bylaws, and Rules, in that order. A board's power to add new restrictions is limited to what the Declaration reasonably signaled, and hazards stored in a garage can create liability no rule can waive.
Garage rules come from your documents, not from a general law
There is no federal statute and no reliably general state law that says what a garage can be used for. That means the answer to "can we require vehicles only" or "can we ban storage" starts with the Declaration, then the Bylaws, then the board's own Rules and Regulations, in that order of authority.
A board's rulemaking power over garages is not free-standing. It is delegated by the Declaration, and how much it was delegated varies by association. Read what your Declaration actually grants the board before assuming a rule is enforceable.
A board can't invent a brand-new garage rule out of thin air
Suppose the board wants to ban all garage storage except vehicles, relying on a general "the board may adopt rules" clause. In Kalway v. Calabria Ranch HOA, LLC, the Arizona Supreme Court held that a general amendment power is limited to changes reasonably foreseeable from the original declaration. It cannot be used to impose an entirely new category of restriction the declaration gave owners no notice of.
This doctrine is Arizona-specific and still being litigated there. Whether your state applies the same "reasonably foreseeable" limit to a new garage-use rule is a question for your own state's law and, ideally, association counsel.
The liability that exists no matter what your rules say
Separate from what the covenants permit, a garage full of unsecured hazards, paint, chemicals, tools, pool equipment, can expose an owner or the association to liability under the attractive nuisance doctrine if a trespassing child is hurt by something they were drawn to and couldn't be expected to recognize as dangerous. This is common-law liability. It applies whether or not the Rules and Regulations mention garages at all, and no rule can waive it.
Check yourself
Answer before you read the explanation, recalling it is what makes it stick.
The board wants to ban all garage storage except vehicles, citing its general rulemaking power. The original declaration never mentioned storage. In a state that follows the Kalway approach, what decides whether the new rule holds up?
A resident stores pool chemicals in an unlocked garage. A trespassing child wanders in and is hurt. The CC&Rs say nothing about garage storage. Under the attractive nuisance doctrine, what actually determines liability?
Your Rules require garages to stay closed except when a car enters or leaves. The Bylaws and Declaration are both silent on garages. What actually gives the board authority to write that rule in the first place?
Sources
- Kalway v. Calabria Ranch HOA, LLC, 506 P.3d 18 (Ariz. 2022), Justia (Arizona Supreme Court)
- Attractive nuisance doctrine (Wex), Cornell Legal Information Institute
Common Rules & Restrictions
Next, read your Declaration's storage and use language before the board writes a new garage rule.
Whether a board's amendment power reaches a new garage restriction, and what liability attaches to items stored in a garage, vary by state and by what your Declaration actually says.