Simple answer is YES. I’ve dealt with something similar and have asked lawyers about it. Bottom line is, you’re SOL if they’re following the HOA guidelines. If you decide to sue, the HOA’s fee pays for their lawyer fees and if you win, your HOA fee will go up due to the cost of the lawyer fees. So, in short, you’re best to just pony up the fine and get the problem fixed.

HOA boards do not have a legal relationship with tenants of their complex, but with owners. So they have to rely on owners to inform their tenants of the rules and make sure they follow them.
I used to own condos in San Diego and always made sure tenants got a list of HOA rules and regulations of the complex that they would need to comply with. Too few owners do this, which is one reason condo buildings with high concentrations of renters acquire a bad reputation, go downhill, and are avoided by lenders.

[quote=EconProf]HOA boards do not have a legal relationship with tenants of their complex, but with owners. So they have to rely on owners to inform their tenants of the rules and make sure they follow them.
I used to own condos in San Diego and always made sure tenants got a list of HOA rules and regulations of the complex that they would need to comply with. Too few owners do this, which is one reason condo buildings with high concentrations of renters acquire a bad reputation, go downhill, and are avoided by lenders.[/quote]
I am not a lawyer.
I am, however, an expert on real property contracts and a former HOA president.

It is often the case that parts of a CC&Rs are unenforceable or voidable.

Let’s take 2 examples:
1: I closed a deal for a Pigg a few years ago (this person can feel free to chime in) that had an HOA requirement that the owners be of a certain race. That is an extreme example and obviously unworkable.

2: I (while still a secretary on an HOA board) sued the HOA for damage to my unit. There was a storm and the drain outside my unit had not been maintained. The drain backed up and flooded my unit (specifically the nursery where my son was sleeping). This resulted in 3 weeks in a hotel and replacing carpet and other flooring. The judge took all of 5 min to rule. The HOA attempted to rely on a stipulation in the CC&R’s stating that the individual owner had to pay for all interior repairs irrespective of culpability.

Obviously, the judge thought that was horse shit.

I am not so sure it is a good idea to presume the courts will choose to enforce/not enforce anything. Playing it safe from the beginning to me makes more sense. Additionally it is always such fun to spend time going to court fighting off something stupid that your tenant did.

As others have implied, having a very strict lease requiring the tenant to comply with all hoa bylaws and ccrs is a good idea. Furthermore there is usually a notice of violation of the hoa when the unit is in violation. You may want to even put in the lease that upon notification of violation the tenant has x number of days to remedy the violation or else the tenant is in default.

Obviously the lease will be tailored to match the individual HOA. While it may be a pain in the ass to understand the HOA bylaws and such, any responsible landlord should know them, especially the rules regarding the notifications so that they can protect themselves in the lease. A simple call to the HOA or PM with a question of where in the bylaws or CCRs is/is not the instructions regarding notifications should get an answer. If there is not any notification then the lease should be tailored to account for that. Unfortunately for the original poster, they are going to have to deal with it directly through the HOA or fight it in court unless they had some sort of protection. Kind of a bummer.

HOA’s make sense where they make sense — in condos which share common structure and mechanicals. Otherwise, yeah, I’d sooner make sweet love to a methed-out Orangutan than live in a detached house in a HOA-infested area…

I think my wife also forbade me from making sweet love to other primates.