2026-09-08 · Idaho · Courts

What happened. On 6 January 2026 the Idaho Supreme Court decided North Henry's Lake Homeowners Association, Inc. v. Norton, Docket No. 51990³, and answered a question it called one of first impression: when Idaho Code § 55-3211 bars an association from adding a rental restriction without the owner's written consent, does the statute protect that owner or that property? The Court held it protects the property.¹

Justice Brody wrote for a unanimous Court; Chief Justice Bevan and Justices Moeller, Zahn and Meyer concurred. The judgment of the district court — Seventh Judicial District, Fremont County, Judge Joel E. Tingey — was affirmed.

The subdivision, the vote, and the savings clause

North Henry's Lake Lodge Subdivision sits near the Henry's Fork of the Snake River, about twenty minutes from a Yellowstone entrance. It contains thirty properties.

Idaho Code § 55-3211 took effect 24 March 2016, originally codified as § 55-115(3), and was carried into its present place by the 2022 recodification that created the Homeowner's Association Act.² Shortly after the 2016 enactment, the association polled its owners on banning rentals of fewer than thirty days. Twenty-three of thirty voted yes; five voted no. Among the five were Craig and Linda Lee, on behalf of C&L Lee, L.C., who owned the property at issue and noted that they had occasionally rented it.

The amended covenants were recorded on 22 August 2016. The association had written its own savings clause into them:

• The amended CC&Rs recorded 22 August 2016No property may be leased for a period less than thirty (30) days by any owner who acquires the property after the effective recording date of these amended CC&Rs. This restriction shall not limit or prohibit rental of any property of any owner of record as of the effective recording date of these amended CC&Rs unless expressly agreed to in writing by the owner at the time of the adoption of these amended CC&Rs.

Three deeds, each reciting the covenants

The property then changed hands three times. C&L Lee, L.C. conveyed to the Johnsons on 28 September 2017; the Johnsons conveyed to the Nortons on 3 August 2022; the Nortons conveyed to Henry Virgil, LLC on 17 October 2022. Each warranty deed expressly stated that the property was subject to all the recorded covenants. No owner in that chain ever agreed in writing to the rental restriction.

In October 2022 the association found the property listed on Airbnb and sued for breach, an injunction and a declaration. Both sides moved for summary judgment on a pure question of statutory interpretation; the district court ruled for the homeowners, and the association appealed.

1. North Henry's Lake Homeowners Ass'n, Inc. v. Norton, Docket No. 51990 (Idaho, Jan. 6, 2026) (slip opinion) ↩
2. Idaho Code § 55-3211, Prohibited conduct — rental restrictions (Idaho State Legislature) ↩
3. North Henry's Lake HOA v. Norton, docket entry (CourtListener) ↩
4. North Henry's Lake HOA v. Norton, full opinion text (FindLaw) ↩