If an alleged violation comes to the attention of a board, it should send notice of the violation to the unit owner and either give notice of a hearing date or invite the owner to request a hearing before the board. After giving the unit owner an opportunity to argue and present evidence in his or her favor, the board may levy a reasonable fine. First, the board must consider adequate evidence of whether the violation has occurred and then it must decide what response by the board would best encourage compliance. The board or managing agent cannot simply fine people without having made a formal determination and without allowing the unit owner to participate. In addition, the fine must be related to enforcement. An exclusively punitive fine would not be reasonable.

Ultimately, whether a fine is reasonable can only be determined by the courts in considering all of the facts and circumstances. Some associations try to impose a daily fine for each day that the violation continues. Under some circumstances, this may be a valid fine. In other cases, it may be so punitive that the court would not uphold it.

The board must hold the violation hearing in closed session, with witnesses and involved unit owners present. The deliberations of the board regarding the violations also must be held in closed session. However, the vote on whether to assess a fine must be held in the open portion of the board meeting. The board should enforce its governing documents and rules uniformly and fairly.

Boards should have enforcement procedures incorporated into their rules and regulations, so that there is no question about the methods and procedures for enforcement. The rights and obligations of the board and of the unit owner should be precisely stated. It is sometimes helpful to appoint some person as the "prosecutor" who can put on a case, presenting evidence and testimony to demonstrate that a violation occurred. Then the alleged violator may present his or her case to the board. Although the procedure has the characteristics of a trial, the board is the ultimate arbiter of what evidence or procedure will be acceptable and as long as the board acts fairly and in good faith, the final determination of the board should be upheld.