A.A. from Santa Clara, California writes:
Dear Mister Condo,
Who is responsible for enforcing the state or city laws in our complex? Example: The leash law? HOA Board, management company, city or state?
Mister Condo replies:
A.A., that is a great question! Let’s start with what the various entities involved do. The Board and the Management Company are involved with the day-to-day operations of the association. They do get involved when association governance and compliance issue arise but they have no legal authority over anyone. They can’t jail you; they don’t hold trials, etc.. Local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies are the law and order part of any society. They can make arrests, enforce laws, jail guilty people, etc.. You have chosen the Leash Law as an example. I did a quick online look-up and found this site with some helpful information – http://svaca.com/resources/animal-ordinances. From what I can tell, the Leash ordinances refer to public land, which your condo association is not. If you were to call a local animal control office and ask if they will enter private property to enforce an ordinance, my guess is they would say “no” because it is private property. Guess who control private property? In the case of a condominium, it is the association and the Board of directors who can pass and enforce their own rules regarding how pets are leashed on their private property.