What is a kangaroo court?

A kangaroo court is what residents call it when a board decides a violation or fine without following the process its own governing documents require, skipping past the CC&Rs, bylaws, and hearing steps that are supposed to come before a decision is final. It often looks like fining one resident within 48 hours of a complaint while letting an identical violation from someone else slide for months.

Why does a kangaroo court matter?

Selective or shortcut enforcement doesn’t just anger the resident on the receiving end, it hands them a real legal argument, since they can point to the mismatch and claim the decision was arbitrary rather than fair. Following the same documented steps every time, no exceptions, is a board’s best protection against ever being described that way.

When You’ll Run Into This

This term gets used the moment a resident feels a hearing or fine was decided before they ever got a real chance to respond. Our guide to a fair approach to HOA rules enforcement covers how to make sure that never becomes a fair description of your board.