Which concept refers to a missed opportunity to enforce a covenant?

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Laches is a failure to timely pursue a legal remedy, and it can bar enforcement when the delay prejudices the other party or changes the circumstances so enforcement becomes unfair. In terms of covenants, if a board or owner waits years to enforce a violation, the affected party may have relied on the status quo or made further improvements, making it impractical or unjust to enforce the covenant later. That waiting period is exactly what laches addresses—the missed opportunity to enforce a right due to undue delay.

Waiver would involve voluntarily giving up a known right, not a delay-driven bar to enforcement. Estoppel involves relying on someone’s conduct or representations to bar contrary actions, which centers on fairness from a different angle. Selective enforcement concerns unevenly applying rules, not the timing of enforcement itself. So the best fit for a missed opportunity to enforce a covenant is laches.