5 acres in the country.... NO LIVESTOCK?!?! *EDIT*

[wjallen05]

oh and one more thing, not sure what significance this would be, if any, but the property was bank owned. (the previous owners foreclosed and we bought it from the bank)

 

[Countrywife]

None that I can think of- but again, the final answer will come from your attorney. Who you bought it from doesn't matter when it comes to disclosure and enforcement of covenatns.

 

[wjallen05]

We Did Not Know About It Until After We Signed The Contract. It Was Not Written In The Contract.

 

[miss_thenorth]

We looked at a house like this too, but we were told upon our second visit to the house, that no livestock was allowed. It was in an area of upper-class houses, all on five acre lots. As soon as we found out, we were gone. It was about the prestige. these were considered estates, and therefore the community did not want any livestock. I admit, it was a beautiful community, but seriously--why have 5 acres if you can't have livestock. It's better instead to mow the whole five acres? At least we were warned ahead of time.

good luck with trying to work around this. If you weren't informed, that totally sucks. If it was the real estates agents fault for not telling you, the responsibilty could fall on their office. glad to hear you have a lawyer working on it.

 

[texasgal]

Our 5 acres is in a subdivision too .. They have pretty strong deed restrictions, but we made SURE that we could have livestock before we bought. The biggest pain in the butt is that they expect us to turn in "plans" and get approval for EVERYTHING .. fencing, pump house, sheds ..

But, I guess we'll put up with that .. we also left a HEAVY wooded front on the road frontage so that nobody can really see what we're doing back there .. lol.

But I'm sure everyone knows I have a rooster .. by now..

 

[texasgal]

Quote:
That's the truth .. we went to a board meeting and there was one guy there that made the comment that people move out here and "think they are living in the country" .. I laughed and said "this IS the country .. YOU need to move to The Woodlands". I think the "real folks" have outnumbered the snobs in our community, so we're going to be fine.. restrictions and all.

Best wishes for your situation.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
First, do you have a copy of the covenants? If so, read them through and through. Find out if there is a provision for making changes (since it seems to be a new development, I would expect there is), and the procedure.

Next, find out who is charged with or able to enforce the covenants. Chances are that the other lot owners can enforce the restrictions (via lawsuit), so the big question is whether anyone else can do so--the city, county, an association, the developer?

Third, since there are only 4 homes with these covenants, it will be much easier to get the covenant changed, even if there is no specific means for changes included in the document. If everyone with a say (100%) agree to the change, it can be done. Getting 100% approval if there were a few dozen or more homes would be difficult; with only 4 properties, there are far fewer people to convince.

One kicker might be if the developer still has control (which is likely if any of the lots are still vacant, or if the development is within the first very few years of existance), and does not want to make changes.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
You can probably sue successfully to have the covenant enforced--the question is whether or not you would also be able to recover the costs (attorney and court) from the one who violated the covenant. Of course, if costs are awarded to the prevailing party, then you would have to pay thier fees should you lose. Consult with a local attorney who specializes in property.

 

[WingingIt]

First, OP = Original poster = the person who started the thread.

OK, if you are 'getting' a loan on it then you haven't bought it yet,right? If you are still in the stages odds are that they are doing the title research right now in preparation for closing. If they are, then the realtor probably didn't know until they found that info. in research and gave it to the realtor. THEIR job is to get that info. to you. The title company will give you a copy, but our realtor sent us one, too, to MAKE SURE we had it. Your contract should have verbage in it that if the property is found to be unsuitable for your intended usage, you can get out of the contract.

Hopefully your lawyer will be back to you shorly letting you know that you are covered and OK to back out of the deal.


Now, if I misread that and you already closed on the property and loan, then, yes, you need to check the title work given to you and see if it's in there. If it is, then you were notified, even if you didn't read it, and you're going to have a harder time getting around it. If it's not, the title research company is going to owe you some $$$$.

Good luck!

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
Mostly I like our documents--they are very reasonable. However we have one provision that states that livestock are not allowed to graze in front of the residence, and another provision says that fences designed and used to contain horses or other livestock may be built up to and conterminous with the front property line. I asked out attorney if these two provisions contradicted each other. After she read and re-read them she said, "no, technically they are not contradictory. Horses are allowed in the front yard. They simply are not allowed to eat the grass while they are there."

and