Contracts

Great contracts are the foundation of healthy relationships.

Your CIC's declaration / CC&Rs is special kind of contract called a covenant (a dedicatory instrument) between homeowners that "runs with that land."  The contracting discussed on this page is dedicated to relationships between your CIC and third party vendors.

Your association can, and in many cases should work closely with your vendors, but that does not make vendors your "colleagues" or "partners."  Whether formally incorporated or not, you should think of your community as a nonprofit corporation.  Homeowners who share a vested interest via their mandatory assessments are much like partners and/or shareholders of your corporation.  Alignment with a shared interest is the primary reason many CICs require that Board members (volunteer directors) own real property within the community.  The vendors your association hires cannot and will not share the same interest in the overall nuances and success of governing and operating your community as your homeowners.  

While you should not need to consistently reference contractual provisions, contracts are intended to include specific deliverables and protections.  Contracts are only valid when there's something of value exchanged between two or more parties.  This legal concept is called consideration.