No HOA but there are CC&Rs

Hi Everyone!

I've googled & googled and can't find an answer so I'm hoping you can help me out! When DH & I were looking to buy our home, we specifically avoided and neighborhoods that had HOAs because we knew we were going to have chickens. Come signing day, there are CC&Rs!! And one says NO CHICKENS!! We were past the point of no return and so, we did purchase the home, figuring we could see about getting an exception or a change made. Here's my main problem, there isn't an HOA to present a petition or proposal to, no sort of governing board or enforcement that I've been able to ascertain in the 3yrs we've lived here. Chickens are allowed in town as long as coops are 8' from the property line so, no problem there.

I'm of the ask forgiveness, not permission school of thought but DH definitely is not. My perfect plan would be to install a small coop and purchase 2 hens, knowing that I have friends that would take them if, for some reason, the CC&Rs were enforced. What do you think? What's the best course of action?

Thanks so much for your help & advice!

Sarah

PS Our immediate neighbors on one side want chickens as well, there is a flock 2 blocks over (with a rooster) and across our main cross street, there are COWS!

If the HOA has "died", the laws in some states dictate that the enforcement of rules and such fade away with them. If the HOA is defunct, check your state law to see if the CC&R died along with the HOA.

Chris

The proper time to have questioned the CC&Rs was before you signed the purchase agreement. Doesn't mean that you would not have purchased, just that that was your best time to have a whole bunch of folks (everyone wanting the sale to go through) jumping through hoops to find the answers for you.

Check the county recorder's website for record of an HOA. Check your deed for deed restrictions. Find out who has lived in the neighborhood the longest, invite them over for coffee and ask what they know.

I've been researching similar issue re enforcement of CC&R's where there is no HOA and found this leaflet on the California Department of Real Estate's website which pretty much confirms everything else I've found -- that it's up to the homeowner to file a lawsuit against the other homeowner to have the CC&R's enforced and that local governments are not bound to enforce. Here's the link: http://www.dre.ca.gov/files/pdf/re39.pdf

I am going through EXACTLY the same thing here in rural Arizona. Our CC&Rs were put in 25 years ago and there hasn't been an HOA for over 20 years. But there are no poultry or fowl allowed and I have a neighbor over an acre away that has sent me a Demand Letter threatening to sue. From what I can tell, my only courses of action are 1) to let them try to sue and take my chances in court (I would have to defend myself because the cost of a lawyer -- I already met with one -- would be out of the question). I could lose and end up paying their court costs, which could be substantial. They are also highly connected within the court system and our county government. This is a political vendetta, but that's irrelevant. 2) I can get a simple majority of the neighbors to sign an official notarized document saying they want to amend or revoke the CC&Rs and there would be no case. A simple majority would be half plus 1. I'm going to try the second route. If the neighbors knew how punitive these CC&Rs are (you can't work on your car in your own driveway, for instance) I think they may want to at least revise them. So it may cost me some money to have a lawyer or a paralegal draw up the document and I need to research exactly how to file it, etc., but I'm willing. They also want me to remove a wooden shed on the property. This is never going to end unless I do an end run around them.

So maybe you should look into joining with your neighbors (great way to get to know them, by the way) and see if they would work with you to accomplish this. You need to know your CC&Rs backwards and forwards and be able to convince them that anyone can sue them at any time for anything they have done that is not in compliance and they would be in the same boat that I am. Good luck!