## Facts

- Burtonwood Manor Condominium in St. Louis County, Missouri, was created by recording a “Declaration of Condominium By-Laws and Indenture” under Missouri’s condominium statute.
- Lorene Ryan owned one of eight condominium units in building 29 and was an original purchaser in the complex.
- The condominium was administered by a nine-member Board of Managers (including Pierre J. Baptiste and other board members).
- The bylaws granted unit owners easements in and to all common elements, including building entranceways and related common areas.
- The bylaws also gave the Board authority to issue reasonable rules and regulations it deemed advisable for the use and operation of the common elements and for the health, comfort, safety, and general welfare of unit owners and occupants.
- The bylaws assigned the Board responsibility for maintenance and repair of the common elements and authorized structural alterations the Board deemed necessary or proper for maintenance and operation of the property for the benefit of all unit owners.
- After multiple reports of vandalism and theft, the Board installed locks on the exterior entranceway doors to the building where Ryan’s unit was located and provided keys to unit owners.
- Ryan sued for a mandatory injunction ordering removal of the locks, claiming the locks infringed her easement rights in the common elements.
- The Board counterclaimed for damages, alleging Ryan caused damage to the locks and doors.
- The trial court granted Ryan’s requested injunction and denied the Board’s counterclaim.
- While the appeal was pending, Ryan sold her unit; the Board had posted an appeal bond.

## Issues

1. Was the appeal moot because Ryan sold her condominium unit while the appeal was pending?
2. Did the bylaws authorize the Board to install keyed locks on exterior entranceway doors as a security measure?
3. Did installing the locks (with keys provided to owners) unlawfully interfere with a unit owner’s easement rights in the common elements?

## Decision

- The court held the appeal was not moot because possible liability on the appeal bond and the still-live counterclaim for damages left a real dispute between the parties.
- The court reversed the judgment granting a mandatory injunction requiring removal of the locks.
- The court concluded the bylaws gave the Board broad discretion to manage common elements and to issue reasonable rules for owners’ and occupants’ safety and welfare, and that the security locks fell within that authority given the reports of vandalism and theft.
- The court treated the unit owners’ easements in common elements as subject to reasonable regulation under the condominium’s governing documents and found the locks did not amount to a denial of access where keys were issued to unit owners.
- The court also reversed the trial court’s denial of the Board’s counterclaim as part of reversing the judgment and remanded for further proceedings consistent with its opinion.

## Legal Principles

- A case is not moot if collateral consequences remain, including potential claims on an appeal bond or unresolved claims between the parties.
- Condominium bylaws are construed as a whole, and an owner’s easement rights in common elements must be read alongside provisions granting the board authority and duties to manage, maintain, and regulate those common elements.
- A condominium board vested with authority to issue reasonable rules for health and safety and to manage common elements has substantial discretion to act for the community’s welfare, subject to limits of reasonableness.
- Reasonable security measures affecting the manner of entry to common areas—such as keyed exterior door locks issued to all owners—do not necessarily violate owners’ easement rights when access is preserved and the measure responds to documented safety concerns.

## Conclusion

The Missouri Court of Appeals held the dispute was not moot despite Ryan’s sale of her unit because claims connected to the appeal bond and the Board’s counterclaim remained, and it reversed the injunction requiring removal of the exterior-entry locks, ruling that the Board acted within bylaw authority to adopt reasonable safety-related rules governing common elements and that providing keys to owners preserved access consistent with owners’ easement rights.


Ryan v. Baptiste, 565 S.W.2d 196 (1978)