If you’re shopping for a home in a development, particularly one with an active homeowner association (HOA), be sure to get a copy of the CC&Rs- Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions before signing the dotted line. These are rules that run with the property that every homeowner agrees to abide by when they purchase the property whether they’ve read the CC&R document or not! The purpose of these CC&Rs is to assure that property owners don’t do things that in the opinion and rules of the homeowner association might damage the value of properties in the development. The range of restrictions for these documents is huge, going from just a few easy restrictions (like, don’t stake out livestock in the front yard) to more controversial ones (like, no flagpoles over 10 ft. tall). Usually it has more to do with limitations on the design of fences, limiting what you can park, like boats or semi-trailers, or how architectural review for new construction works.
Some neighborhoods have the CC&Rs documented but don’t have an active homeowner association that collects dues. One of the purposes of these dues is to have money available to hire legal help if the association decides to go after an offending property owner. The CC&Rs are a legal agreement among the property owners, but they are not laws that the local police can enforce. Enforcement comes from pursuing a legal action in court with the CC&Rs as the basis for the complaint. If there’s no HOA or individual(s) willing to foot the legal bill, then it’s not likely you can do anything about an offending property owner.
These CC&Rs are recorded with the Register of Deeds and are public record, usually available online. You can go to the county Register of Deeds, sign up for a free account, then search for the CC&Rs, although it may take some digging. If you’d like to check out the details of a particular CC&R and are having trouble finding it, you can go to the HOA and ask them for a copy, although they may charge for this, or you can call me, and I’ll find it and send you a digital copy via e-mail. They usually run anywhere from a few pages to 30 or more.
