Question: My homeowners association has a rule that states “parking is not permitted in the street at any time.”
The streets are wide and the homes have two-car garages. Can this rule be enforced?
Answer: Most homeowners associations have rules called “Conditions, Covenants and Restrictions.” The CC&Rs are essentially a form of “private zoning” that imposes rules of property ownership on the owners within a housing development.
The initial CC&Rs are written by the developer and administered by a homeowners association.
You’ll find a copy of the CC&Rs attached to your title insurance policy in the closing papers that you received from the escrow company when you bought your home.
The CC&Rs may impose standards for lawn and home maintenance, may preserve views and may ban parking boats and trailers in front of your house. These rules are intended to maintain a clean, attractive neighborhood for the benefit of all property owners, and preserve and enhance home values in the neighborhood.
CC&R’s are legally enforceable by the homeowners association. So if there is a rule that states that you cannot park on the street at any time, and you choose to violate that rule, a neighbor could file a complaint against you with your homeowners association.
You would then be subject to whatever fine or penalty that the association board chose to impose, according to its bylaws.
Some homeowners may feel that CC&Rs are Draconian rules that infringe on their freedom to use their own property as they wish. But you were given a copy of the CC&Rs before you closed on the purchase of your home and you should have read the rules, and if you found them unacceptable, you should have backed out of the deal and not purchased the home.
CC&Rs are intended to benefit all homeowners in a neighborhood. Most people want to live a neighborhood where the homes are clean and painted and the yards are well kept. When you drive into a neighborhood that is full of homes with weedy, overgrown lawns and peeling paint on the houses, you get the feeling that the residents don’t care much about their property. Neglect tends to breed further neglect.
If I see a neighborhood like that, I assume it’s on a downhill slide and will only get worse. Who would want to invest their hard earned money to buy a home in a neighborhood like that?
Now parking cars on the street may not seem like neighborhood blight to you, but it does detract from the appearance of the neighborhood.
In my neighborhood it is against the rules to park a boat or RV on the street, but cars are allowed.
The moral to this story is that you should always read all of the documents that you are given when you buy a home. If you don’t understand something, ask somebody to explain it to you.
Once you close and you legally own the home, your only option is to go through the procedures to amend the homeowners association rules, which typically involves getting a large majority of the homeowners to sign a petition and vote on the proposed rule change.
Steve Tytler is a licensed real estate broker and owner of Best Mortgage. You can email him at features@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
