4.9 Uniformity of Amendments

• Jurisdiction: Arizona

§ 4.9 Uniformity of Amendments

Amending restrictive covenants, on its face, is a matter of following the requirements of the Arizona Condominium Act ³⁶⁵ or the specific amendment provision of the restrictive covenants. There is a common law requirement, however, that amendments to restrictive covenants be “uniform,” unless approved by all owners of property affected by the amendment. The common law requirement that amendments have uniform applicability was first enunciated by the court of appeals in 1967 in Riley v. Boyle. ³⁶⁶ The court held:

Paragraph 19 of the restrictions . . . gives the power to 51 per cent of the lot owners to change completely the restrictions applicable to the entire subdivision but it does not give the power to change the restrictions as to one or more but less than all the lots. The restrictions imposed pertain to all lots in the subdivision and a fair construction of the words permitting amendments indicate that the power to amend is only as to restrictions for all lots in the subdivision.
Taking these words to mean that particular lots could be excepted permits the obviously

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