Rules & EnforcementMI
When Is a Michigan HOA Rule Unenforceable?
By The HOARebel Team · June 1, 2026 · 3 min read · Updated June 2, 2026
Not every rule a Michigan board announces is automatically enforceable. The rule has to come from somewhere in the recorded documents, follow the procedure those documents specify, and be applied evenhandedly. For your specific situation, a licensed Michigan attorney is the right resource. This is general information, not legal advice.
Rules flow from authority, not preference
A Michigan community association's rule-making power comes from the recorded Master Deed and bylaws (for site condos and condos) or the recorded CC&Rs (for plat HOAs), supplemented by the Michigan Nonprofit Corporation Act for incorporated entities.
A rule has to fit within what those documents grant. A board cannot use a rule to reach a result the Master Deed (or CC&Rs) does not authorize, and it cannot use a rule to cut below owner rights the Condominium Act or Nonprofit Corporation Act guarantees.
Due process for fines
Michigan caselaw has emphasized due process in condo and site-condo fine procedures. If the Master Deed requires written notice and an opportunity to be heard before a fine is imposed, those steps are not optional. A fine imposed without them is procedurally vulnerable, regardless of whether the underlying rule is sound. See Challenging an HOA Fine in Michigan.
Selective enforcement
A rule applied to one owner but not to identically situated neighbors raises a recognized fairness problem. The association's own records and minutes are usually where any pattern of selective enforcement surfaces.
The condo-bylaw arbitration provision (MCL 559.154)
For condominiums and site condominiums, Michigan law adds a dispute-resolution wrinkle that surprises many owners. MCL 559.154(8) requires that the bylaws "contain a provision providing that arbitration of disputes, claims, and grievances arising out of or relating to the interpretation or the application of the condominium documents . . . shall be submitted to arbitration . . . upon the election and written consent of the parties." Two points matter: arbitration under this section is not automatic — it proceeds only if the parties elect it and consent in writing, so a bylaw letting one party force the other into arbitration would itself be unenforceable; and by its terms the requirement applies to condominium projects established on or after the 2002 amendment that added it. Whether and how this provision affects a particular dispute is a question for a licensed Michigan attorney.
Where federal and state law overrides a rule
Some rules fail no matter how they were adopted, because higher law preempts them:
- Fair housing — the federal Fair Housing Act and the Michigan Persons with Disabilities Civil Rights Act and Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act bar discrimination and require reasonable accommodations, including for assistance animals
- Display rights — the federal Freedom to Display the American Flag Act and the FCC's OTARD rule limit bans on the U.S. flag and on certain antennas and satellite dishes
- Servicemembers — the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act protects owners on active duty
- Solar — the Homeowners' Energy Policy Act (Act 68 of 2024, MCL 559.301 et seq., effective April 1, 2025) makes any HOA provision that prohibits or has the effect of prohibiting a solar energy system invalid and unenforceable as contrary to public policy, and it requires every Michigan association to adopt a written solar energy policy statement by April 1, 2026
A rule that collides with any of these is not saved by being in the Master Deed.
What people generally do
When a Michigan rule is in question, the points that commonly matter are:
- Whether the rule traces back to a specific Master Deed/CC&R or bylaw provision that authorizes it.
- Whether the rule was adopted under the procedure the documents require.
- For condos and site condos, whether any fine followed the Master Deed's notice-and-hearing process.
- Evidence of how the rule has been enforced against others.
- A licensed Michigan attorney is the resource before a disputed fine feeds the statutory lien under MCL 559.208.