HOA glossaryGoverning documents

What is a declaration?

The recorded instrument that creates the community, submits the land to the association's authority, and defines what is common and what is owned.

Also called: Declaration of Covenants, Master deed

The declaration is the founding document. It describes the property, divides it into lots or units and common area, submits all of it to the covenants, and creates the association that will administer them. In many communities the declaration and the CC&Rs are the same physical document, which is why the two words get used interchangeably; in others the covenants are one article inside a broader declaration.

It is also where the boundary lines of responsibility are drawn — which surfaces the association maintains, which the owner maintains, and which are somewhere in between. Most maintenance disputes are resolved not by fairness but by reading this document carefully.

In condominium and other common-interest communities the declaration additionally fixes each unit's percentage interest in the common elements, which typically drives both the assessment share and the voting weight.

Why it matters to a board

When an owner asks why the association will not fix something, the answer is in the declaration's maintenance provisions, and it should be quoted rather than paraphrased.

Where the answer lives

Your recorded declaration and bylaws first, then the act that governs associations in your state. Whichever is stricter is the one that binds you.

Related terms

CC&RsThe recorded covenants that run with the land in a community, binding every owner to the same set of use restrictions and obligations.Common areaThe land and improvements owned or controlled by the association for the benefit of all members.Limited common elementCommon property assigned to the exclusive use of one unit or a small group of them, such as a balcony, patio or assigned parking space.Common interest communityA development where owning a lot or unit carries automatic membership in an association and an obligation to pay assessments.DeclarantThe developer who records the declaration and creates the association, holding special rights until control transfers to the owners.AmendmentA formal change to a governing document, adopted at the threshold that document requires and, for covenants, recorded to take effect.
General information, not legal advice. This entry explains what the term means, not what your association must do about it. Any notice period, cure window, fine cap, vote threshold or deadline comes from your recorded declaration and your state's act — those differ in all fifty states and are amended every session. Updated August 2026. Confirm the current requirements with an attorney licensed in your state before acting.
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