In 2020, an Idaho condominium association changed owners’ common-property shares and rental and boat-mooring rules; an October 30 Supreme Court ruling revived a challenge to the ownership allocations despite an 88% vote

The Idaho Supreme Court has brought a legal challenge by condominium owners back to life over disputed changes to shared property ownership. The court ruled that even a large majority vote cannot override laws that protect individual property rights. According to legal documents published by Justia Law, the state’s highest court issued its ruling on 30 October in K & L Crystal Beach, LLC v. The Crystal Beach Condominium Association (Docket No. 52887). The decision partly overturned an earlier ruling by a lower court in Valley County. It allows condominium owners K & L Crystal Beach, LLC and Kathleen Glover to continue their legal claims against changes made to the property’s official declaration by their association. The dispute began after a 2020 vote in which the Crystal Beach Condominium Association recorded an amended declaration. The changes affected owners’ property shares, rental rules and access to boat moorings across the development.

Supermajority vote altered long-standing property allocations

Under the original 1965 declaration for the Crystal Beach development, each condominium unit had a fixed percentage of ownership in the shared areas. Every unit was given a 1.595 per cent share of the common property, along with matching voting rights. In 2020, the association approved changes to the declaration with the support of 88 per cent of its members. The new rules changed how ownership shares in the common areas were divided among unit owners. They also introduced new rules for rental activities and access to boat slips within the shared areas. After the updated declaration was officially recorded, K & L Crystal Beach and condominium owner Kathleen Glover filed a lawsuit to challenge the changes. They argued that changing ownership percentages without getting approval from every owner broke the Condominium Property Act. They also claimed that the changes unfairly reduced their legal property rights.

Lower court dismissal reversed on core ownership claims

A judge at the Fourth Judicial District Court in Valley County had earlier ruled in favour of the condominium association through summary judgment. The trial court decided that the plaintiffs did not have the legal right to bring several of their claims. It treated the case as a dispute brought on behalf of the association and its members under the Idaho Nonprofit Corporation Act, rather than as a direct case involving the owners’ personal property rights. After reviewing the case, the Idaho Supreme Court overturned part of that decision. The justices found that claims challenging changes to individual ownership shares in common areas involve direct harm to personal property rights. They are not simply disputes about how a company or association is run. The court explained that association rules covering general operations, short-term rentals and boat-mooring access apply equally to members and are generally covered by company governance rules. However, changes that directly affect an owner’s percentage of legal property ownership must strictly follow the laws governing property rights.

Case remanded for further proceedings in Valley County

The ruling keeps the lower court’s decision on general association rules, including shared mooring arrangements and rental restrictions. The Supreme Court agreed that these matters were related to the association’s overall management and should be treated as group claims. However, by overturning the dismissal of the main ownership claims, the high court has allowed the plaintiffs to continue their direct legal claims. These include requests for declaratory relief, quiet title and slander of title. The case now returns to the District Court of the Fourth Judicial District in Valley County. The lower court will continue examining whether the changes to ownership shares approved in 2020 followed the legal requirements for condominium property declarations.