"Rules and Regulations" means those rules adopted from time to time by the Board of Directors pertaining to the operation or use of the Units or Common Elements. (See definition (y) near the end of Article I of our Bylaws, which you can view at this link: http://www.marketstreetattowncenter.com/docs/BylawsV4.PDF Also, please see Section 3 of Article XI (on page 57) for a great summary of useful information about our Rules and Regulations.)
Such Rules and Regulations--properly established by our Board of Directors acting as a body--are enforceable in the same way Bylaws and the Declaration are enforceable. The policy document at the following link describes the enforcement procedures: http://www.marketstreetattowncenter.com/docs/policy/Policy_01-06.pdf
Rules, guidelines, plans, requests, handbooks, etc. NOT adopted by our Board of Directors aren't "Rules and Regulations" as defined in our bylaws and therefore aren’t enforceable by our Board or management.
I believe that unit owners and tenants should clearly understand what is--and what isn’t--a legally enforceable “Rule” or “Regulation” as defined in the first sentence of this posting. If a so-called “policy” or “guideline” or “handbook” or “plan” is duly adopted by our Board of Directors, it probably doesn’t matter that it isn’t specifically called “Rules and Regulations”--I am unsure. But I am quite sure that purported rules, guidelines, handbooks, plans, etc. NOT adopted by our Board of Directors are unenforceable. Unenforceable restrictions or requirements shouldn’t be foisted upon residents and unit owners as duly enacted “Rules and Regulations”.
But since I would like to see the number of enforceable “Rules and Regulations” kept to a minimum, I am okay with suggesting behavior that will make life more pleasant for all of us if these two conditions apply: (a) It is not implied that the suggested behaviors are official “Rules and Regulations” that the Association can enforce with penalties, and (b) Approval of the Board of Directors is obtained before the suggested behaviors are posted in common elements or promulgated to unit owners and residents.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Monday, January 7, 2008
Governing Documents: Our BYLAWS
According to Article XVIII of our Declaration, the purpose of our Bylaws is “to provide for the self-government of the Condominium by an association of all of the Unit Owners (the “Unit Owners Association”).”
Our Bylaws provide that our Board of Directors is to control the vast majority of the things done by our Association. The primary control we as Unit Owners have is to decide by our votes who our Directors shall be.
An important responsibility our Bylaws give to the Board of Directors is to make and amend the Rules and Regulations that govern the behavior of the residents of our Condominium. Our Bylaws are clear that only our Board of Directors--acting as body--can make and amend Rules and Regulations—not the Managing Agent, not the On-Site Manager, not the President, not an individual Director. Paragraph (b) of Section 3 of Article III on page 18 of our Bylaws forbids our Board of Directors from delegating to the Managing Agent the power to "[m]ake and amend the Rules and Regulations." You can view our Bylaws by clicking on this link:
http://www.marketstreetattowncenter.com/docs/BylawsV4.PDF
You might find the table of contents that you see upon clicking the link useful to find the particular bylaw relevant to whatever question you might have.
Our Bylaws can be amended only if two thirds of the Unit Owners approve the change.
Our Bylaws provide that our Board of Directors is to control the vast majority of the things done by our Association. The primary control we as Unit Owners have is to decide by our votes who our Directors shall be.
An important responsibility our Bylaws give to the Board of Directors is to make and amend the Rules and Regulations that govern the behavior of the residents of our Condominium. Our Bylaws are clear that only our Board of Directors--acting as body--can make and amend Rules and Regulations—not the Managing Agent, not the On-Site Manager, not the President, not an individual Director. Paragraph (b) of Section 3 of Article III on page 18 of our Bylaws forbids our Board of Directors from delegating to the Managing Agent the power to "[m]ake and amend the Rules and Regulations." You can view our Bylaws by clicking on this link:
http://www.marketstreetattowncenter.com/docs/BylawsV4.PDF
You might find the table of contents that you see upon clicking the link useful to find the particular bylaw relevant to whatever question you might have.
Our Bylaws can be amended only if two thirds of the Unit Owners approve the change.
Friday, January 4, 2008
Governing Documents: Our DECLARATION
Of our governing documents, our Declaration is the most powerful—meaning that, in case of conflict, the Declaration takes precedence over—trumps—Bylaws and Rules and Regulations.
The exact title of our Declaration is “Declaration of Market Street at Town Center Condominium.” When our Declaration was recorded October 19, 2004, it created our Condominium as a legal entity, and provided legal descriptions of the components of the Condominium, including our units and the common elements. You can view our Market Street at Town Center Condominium Declaration (without Exhibit B) beginning at page 36 of this link: http://www.marketstreetattowncenter.com/docs/CMC.pdf
Included in the Declaration are tables of the par values for the different unit types. (See article VI and Exhibit B.) These par values are important (a) because they determine how much our condominium fees are as compared to units with different par values, and (b) because our unit’s par value also determines how much our vote counts in Association elections for members of the Board of Directors, approval of a rental bylaw amendment, etc.
To amend the Declaration (or the Bylaws) requires “agreement of unit owners of units to which two-thirds of the votes in the unit owners' association appertain….” (See paragraph B of http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+55-79.71
At settlement, I received a copy of the Declaration that was recorded in the Fairfax County Land Records beginning in Deed Book 16608 at Page 1990, but there have been amendments to Exhibit B since then, especially as additional phases were added to our Condominium, and I obtained those amendments from the Fairfax County courthouse some years later.
The exact title of our Declaration is “Declaration of Market Street at Town Center Condominium.” When our Declaration was recorded October 19, 2004, it created our Condominium as a legal entity, and provided legal descriptions of the components of the Condominium, including our units and the common elements. You can view our Market Street at Town Center Condominium Declaration (without Exhibit B) beginning at page 36 of this link: http://www.marketstreetattowncenter.com/docs/CMC.pdf
Included in the Declaration are tables of the par values for the different unit types. (See article VI and Exhibit B.) These par values are important (a) because they determine how much our condominium fees are as compared to units with different par values, and (b) because our unit’s par value also determines how much our vote counts in Association elections for members of the Board of Directors, approval of a rental bylaw amendment, etc.
To amend the Declaration (or the Bylaws) requires “agreement of unit owners of units to which two-thirds of the votes in the unit owners' association appertain….” (See paragraph B of http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+55-79.71
At settlement, I received a copy of the Declaration that was recorded in the Fairfax County Land Records beginning in Deed Book 16608 at Page 1990, but there have been amendments to Exhibit B since then, especially as additional phases were added to our Condominium, and I obtained those amendments from the Fairfax County courthouse some years later.
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