Condominium associations can offer numerous benefits for property owners. They ensure consistent standards for the condition of individual units. They limit how much maintenance owners have to handle. They also typically offer amenities that individuals might not be able to afford or maintain on their own, such as pools and private gyms.
Condominium associations have maintenance responsibilities, and they also need to enforce community rules. When people live near one another for years or decades, they may develop close relationships. Those relationships may inspire those who serve on condominium boards to offer special consideration to certain people facing hardships.
Regardless of the reason for a rule violation, consistent enforcement of condominium association rules is often important for the preservation of the board’s authority.
Selective enforcement could lead to litigation
Allowing one property owner to violate the rules or ignore maintenance responsibilities for months might eventually inspire others to follow suit. If the condominium board gives one condo owner special consideration because they recently lost their spouse or experienced major medical challenges, then the board could face challenges when enforcing the rules in the future.
Those targeted for enforcement efforts later could point to prior role violations by other parties and allege selective enforcement as a means of avoiding financial penalties and other consequences. Selective enforcement can be a form of housing discrimination. As such, condominium boards credibly accused of selective rule enforcement could lose their authority to enforce certain standards in the community.
Consistently enforcing rules and updating community bylaws as necessary can help prevent scenarios in which condominium associations can no longer hold unit holders to a consistent standard. Board members may need help when dealing with enforcement issues or when facing pushback from condo owners who do not fulfill their responsibilities to the community.