The declaration of covenants, conditions, and restrictions (CC&Rs) are recorded with the register of deeds in the initial phase of development of a planned community.

The CC&Rs govern what an owner may, may not, or must do with respect to the real estate. In them, you’ll typically find things like a description of the property covered by the CC&Rs, language establishing an HOA, a protocol for levying annual and special assessments for common expenses, and a description of the common areas and amenities.

The governance of the HOA corporation belong in the HOA bylaws. HOA bylaws are governing guides. Bylaws are about the government of the corporation. They cover things like how often you have meetings, how many people are on the board, how often you have to have membership meetings, and what’s a quorum.