What are the difference between condo house rules and bylaws?

Answer 1

Condominium communities -- private democracies, really -- operate the business of the community by way of governing documents. Typically, the list includes:

• Covenants, Conditions, Restrictions and Regulations (CC&Rs)
• By-laws
• Board Resolutions
• Other governing documents

'Rules' are probably an extrapolation of the details contained in all the governing documents as a simple way to distill the most common guidelines. Examples include quiet hours, parking rules, animals and so forth.

No rule can disagree with or conflict with any existing governing document; each must be traceable directly to a section(s) and paragraph(s) in the governing documents.

(One can think of the CC&Rs as the community's constitution; its By-laws as amendments and Board Resolutions as refinements particular to the community. More member votes are required to modify the CC&Rs than to modify By-Laws, and Board Resolutions are constructs of individual boards.)