Nahrstedt v. Lakeside Condominium Association

1994

Venue: CA SC
Facts: Condos prohibit cats.
Posture: Demurrer sustained by trial court. Dismissal reversed by Ct. App. Cert granted.
Issue: When can a condo owner prevent enforcement of a restriction included in the condo complex rules (established by the developer)?
Holding: This time, anyhow. Reversed.
Rule: An equitable servitude will be enforced unless:
  • It violates public policy
  • It bears no rational relationship to the protection, preservation, operation or purpose of the affected land
  • The burdens are so disproportionate to the benefits that it should not be enforced.
Reasoning: A stable and predictable living environment is crudial to the success of condo developments, and recorded use restrictions are a primary means of achieving that.

We want these rules enforced simply and clearly, both for the sake of the owners, and for the sake of the judicial system.

Deciding whether a given restriction is unreasonable depends not on facts specific to a homeowner, but to the development as a whole.
Dicta: Arabian (dissenting): There are substantial benefits to pet ownership.

This is the tyrrany of the commonality.