Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions of a Common Interest Development
Q: Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions of a Common Interest Development covered under the Davis Stirling Act are public records, available at the county clerk’s office. Can copies of Covenants Conditions and Restrictions be posted on a web site?
A: Although we cannot provide specific legal advice on this situation, as a general matter, information from public records can be freely disseminated. See Florida Star v. B. J. F., 491 U.S. 524 (1989) (imposing damages on newspaper for publishing name of rape victim lawfully obtained from police records violated First Amendment); Smith v. Daily Mail Publishing Co., 443 U.S. 97 (1979) (state law punishing publication of name of juvenile offender unconstitutional where name was lawfully obtained by publisher). If there is some agreement in place as to what can and can’t be published on the web site, though, and if the agreement would prohibit posting the documents on the web site, then there might be some sort of contractual liability for the posting.