Selective enforcement is the argument that an association can't cherry-pick who has to follow a rule: cite you for a fence, a parked trailer, or a short-term rental while ignoring the identical thing a few units down, and the enforcement action itself becomes suspect. Louisiana doesn't have a section of the Condominium Act titled "selective enforcement," but La. R.S. § 9:1123.102(11) supplies the hook. It only authorizes the association to levy "reasonable fines for violations of the declaration, bylaws, and rules and regulations," after notice and an opportunity to be heard. An association that enforces a rule against you while knowingly letting it slide elsewhere is straining that "reasonable" qualifier directly, and the hearing the statute already guarantees is your forum to put that inconsistency on the record.
The same logic reaches the permission-based architectural rule in § 9:1122.113: if the association is granting permission for a change everywhere else in the building while denying the identical request for you, that inconsistency is worth raising the same way, even though neither section defines "selective enforcement" as its own separate cause of action.
Use your records right to build the pattern
This is where La. R.S. § 9:1123.108's broad "all financial and other records" right becomes genuinely useful beyond its original purpose. Board minutes can show whether other violations were raised and quietly dropped, and financial records can show whether fines have only ever landed on certain units. Pair that with your own dated, direct documentation of the comparable violations themselves, since the association's own paper trail rarely tells the whole story on its own. If the fine or denial you're fighting later turns into a privilege under § 9:1123.115 that you have to sue to release, § 9:1123.115(A)(4)'s fee-shifting rule means a documented pattern of inconsistency is worth preserving all the way through.
The authority
The statutes behind this
Cited by name as authority, for your own reading. Informational only, not legal advice.
La. R.S. § 9:1123.102(11)
Limits fines to "reasonable" ones imposed after notice and a hearing, a framework that inconsistent, cherry-picked enforcement strains.
La. R.S. § 9:1123.108
The records right that lets you obtain the association's minutes and financial records to document a pattern of uneven enforcement.
La. R.S. § 9:1123.115(A)(4)
Shifts your reasonable attorney fees and costs onto the association if a fine tied to uneven enforcement turns into a wrongful privilege you have to sue to release.
Step by step
How to document and raise selective enforcement in a Louisiana condo
Build the evidentiary record that supports a selective-enforcement argument against a Louisiana condo fine or architectural denial.
- 01
Identify the exact rule and its source
Pin down the specific provision of the declaration, bylaws, or rules the association says you violated, and confirm it traces back to something actually recorded or adopted, not an unwritten practice.
- 02
Photograph and date comparable violations
Document other units with the same condition that were never cited. Use unit numbers or addresses rather than the names of the owners living there.
- 03
Request the association's own records
Use your § 9:1123.108 records right to ask for board minutes and financial records that might show a pattern of citations raised and dropped, or fines landing only on certain units.
- 04
Raise the pattern at your hearing
Present your comparables and any records you obtained at the notice-and-hearing session § 9:1123.102(11) already guarantees, and ask that the inconsistency be reflected in the minutes.
- 05
Preserve everything in case it becomes a privilege
If the fine stands anyway, your documented pattern is the raw material for a selective-enforcement argument, and for the fee-shifting protection under § 9:1123.115(A)(4), if the association ever liens your unit to collect it.
Straight answers
Common questions
Is selective enforcement a real defense in a Louisiana condo?
There's no stand-alone statute naming it, but § 9:1123.102(11)'s limit to "reasonable" fines imposed only after notice and a hearing gives an inconsistent-enforcement argument real statutory footing, since arbitrary, cherry-picked enforcement strains that reasonableness requirement directly.
What's the difference between waiver and selective enforcement?
Waiver argues the association let a restriction lapse so broadly across the condominium that it can no longer enforce it at all. Selective enforcement is narrower: the rule may still be alive, but singling you out while ignoring identical violations elsewhere is inequitable. They often travel together.
What evidence do I actually need?
Dated photographs of comparable, uncited violations, and, where available, the association's own minutes or financial records obtained under § 9:1123.108 showing a pattern of inconsistent citations or fines. A pattern carries the argument, not a single example.
Should I name the neighbors who weren't cited?
No. Document the units by address or unit number, not the individuals living there. Keep the focus on the association's own inconsistent conduct, not on your neighbors.