Buying a condo is often touted as the perfect hybrid experience of “owning your own place” while still having a lot of the benefits of having a management company handle some of the major issues as if you were a tenant.
However, you don’t want to jump on a great deal for a condo without fully understanding how you might be affected by the condo’s Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (CC&Rs).
What are CC&Rs?
CC&Rs are basically the rules imposed on everybody living in the tenant for living there, and they can drastically affect your experience in a place. These documents are part of your formal contract to buy, an they outline both your rights and responsibilities.
CC&Rs are broadly designed to maintain property values and harmony amongst the condo’s residents – but they can also feel deeply intrusive. They can control things like:
- What type of pets you are allowed to own, down to specific breeds, numbers, size and weight
- What sort of quiet hours and imposed and the use of musical instruments or entertainment systems where they can be heard by others
- What rules are imposed upon guests and visitors, especially in common areas, community rooms, pools, gyms and the like
- Where you can park, how you can park and even what you can park on the lot
- What standards are expected for the property, including things like what decor you can have up (and when), what color you paint your front door and more
- Restrictions on smoking, home-based businesses, signs, decorations, our ability to sublet or offer short-term rentals
CC&Rs can also impose significant financial obligations on condo owners, with special assessments for major repairs or improvements and penalties for late payments.
Given all that is at stake, it’s never a good idea to just “sign off” on a CC&R without fully understanding all the ways (big and small) that they could impact your life in the future. The key to avoiding future legal battles is understanding exactly what you’re about to agree to do.
