GOVERNING DOCUMENTS

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The term "governing documents" as defined in Civil Code § 4150 refers to documents that govern a common interest development. Following is a list of governing documents:

	Condos	PDs	Co-ops
Architectural Guidelines	x	x	x
Articles of Incorporation	x	x	x
Bylaws	x	x	x
CC&Rs	x	x
Collection Policy	x	x	x
Condominium Plan	x
Election Rules	x	x	x
IDR Policy	x	x	x
Rules & Regulations	x	x	x
Proprietary Lease			x
Tract Map		x

Hierarchy of Documents. Common interest developments have a number of documents controlling the development. Sometimes there are conflicts between documents. As provided for in Civil Code § 4205 (effective January 1, 2014) such conflicts are resolved as follows:

Law (unless the particular statute defers to governing documents)
CC&Rs
Articles of Incorporation
Bylaws
Operating Rules. The exception to Rules being in last place is that Election Rules, a form of Operating Rules, (Civ. Code § 5105(a)) adopted pursuant to Senate Bill 323 (effective January 1, 2020) may contain provisions that supersede Bylaws and CC&Rs. (See Election Timeline and Candidate Qualifications.)

Internal Conflicts. Conflicts between provisions in the same document can often be resolved by applying general rules of interpretation.

ASSISTANCE: See hierarchy of governing documents and conflicts between documents and statutes. To amend or restate governing documents, contact us for more information. To stay current with issues affecting community associations, subscribe to the Davis-Stirling Newsletter.