How Long Can a Condo Board Take to Enforce Rule Violation?

C.P. from Fairfield County writes:

Dear Mister Condo,

I am looking for a citation that says if the Board hasn’t enforced a rule within a reasonable time after a rule violation has occurred; it waives its right to enforce the violation against that unit owner. Thank you!

Mister Condo replies:

C.P., I am not aware of any such provision as a matter of law. However, rather than simply tell you I wasn’t sure, I reached out to an attorney friend of mine who practices in this area. Here’s the advice the attorney offered:

“There is no specific deadline for enforcing a rule. Generally, a board has very broad discretion in deciding when to take action against a violator, if ever. If a unit owner sued to challenge an enforcement action as untimely, a court might consider an argument that the Board waited too long to act, especially if the unit owner could prove he specifically relied on that inaction with the Board’s knowledge. But this would be entirely within the judge’s discretion and this argument has apparently never succeeded in the Connecticut courts.”

That sounds like some good advice to me, C.P.. All the best!