Have to quit before I start.

[AllTheseCreatures]

I don't think it's an EITHER/OR proposition. The way I understand it, covenants are the legal leg the HOAs stand on. HOAs enforce the covenants. The OP said in his post there IS an HOA that has never met.

Covenants can be modified and nullified. Talk to your neighbors and consider pooling your resources. It's possible a compromise can be found that makes your neighbor happy (i.e. no roosters, limit to # of hens, kept in penned area . . .) Legal council can be found for free or at a reduce cost as well.

 

[Mattsculpt]

I appriciate all the help.
This wa s bit of a rant.
The neighbor who came by isn't a ratfink. He lives down at the end of the road. He honestly didn't know I was building a coop, he thought it was a shed untill he saw the windows. He came by to warn me not to waste my money buying any chickens. (The timing was just a bit too late.) The lawsuit he is bringing is because another neighbor who lives next to him has chickens, ducks, several goats, including a billy, 4 dogs and 2 horses on an acre plot of land. Said animal keeper is also burning the horse manure to keep it from piling up. The smell and flies make it hard for anyone down at that end of the road to enjoy their yards.
The only way to enforce the covenants is for one of the homeowners to bring suit against another. I'm just mad because I didn't know of the problem before hand. I rarely walk down to that end of the road because there are too many barking dogs. Last time I was down there the animal keeper only had the dogs and some chickens.
The developer still owns the majority of the plots and hence controls the HOA. The plots aren't selling (way overpriced since the housing bust) so the developer will continue to have control for the forseeable future.

 

[Adenium]

Sounds like he should let you enjoy your chickens and bring suit against the neighbor for the specific issue of piles of manure and the smoke from the burning....

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

I appriciate all the help.
This wa s bit of a rant.
The neighbor who came by isn't a ratfink. He lives down at the end of the road. He honestly didn't know I was building a coop, he thought it was a shed untill he saw the windows. He came by to warn me not to waste my money buying any chickens. (The timing was just a bit too late.) The lawsuit he is bringing is because another neighbor who lives next to him has chickens, ducks, several goats, including a billy, 4 dogs and 2 horses on an acre plot of land. Said animal keeper is also burning the horse manure to keep it from piling up. The smell and flies make it hard for anyone down at that end of the road to enjoy their yards.
The only way to enforce the covenants is for one of the homeowners to bring suit against another. I'm just mad because I didn't know of the problem before hand. I rarely walk down to that end of the road because there are too many barking dogs. Last time I was down there the animal keeper only had the dogs and some chickens.
The developer still owns the majority of the plots and hence controls the HOA. The plots aren't selling (way overpriced since the housing bust) so the developer will continue to have control for the forseeable future.

Sometimes there is a maximum amount of time before allowed before the developer must turn over control, regardless of developer still owning the land. Check your state laws.

 

[cassie]

Just because your neighbor says something is so does not mean it is in fact so. If I were you, I would just wait to see what happens. The covenant may not be enforceable. Not being a nice person, I would straight out ask your nosy neighbor if it is really all that important to him to make you an enemy. Because if he pursues this nonsense, that is exactly what will happen.

The first thing I did when we bought this property in Missouri was to make sure there were no covenants on the deed or HOAs that I had to answer to. I had all the HOA nonsense I could stand in California while I was clearing out my mother's upscale mobile home and readying it for sale after she had to move to an assisted living facility. I was always locking horns with the HOA board over nonsense. Once I got a call on my cell phone from them complaining about my mother's dog being left alone for long periods. According to them the dog was barking and running wild through the mobile home park at that very moment. When I got the call I was at my own home 2 hours away and the dog that was supposedly running around the park was with me. I had fun with that conversation.

 

[bakerjw]

I'd say to heck with the neighbor and raise chickens anyway. And I'd be willing to dump money into a good attorney if he made an issue out of it.

I agree that I'd also ask if he wanted me as an enemy. Not that it's right but a properly implied threat does carry quite a bit of weight. Of course I normally carry a sidearm while working in my yard and oftentimes keep a loaded shotgun with me in case of stray dogs.

 

[thaiturkey]

What a pain for you.

As you have built the coop and bought the chickens, you might hang on to them while you look into the practical application of the law. Your neighbour is right to take action against his own near neighbour, if only on the grounds of nuisance. However, if your flock isn't bothering anyone and other people in the area are keeping chickens, then the restrictive covenant might be waived. That's if common sense comes into it.

I don't know how this sort of thing works where you are but I've had some experience of rc's in England. My first owned home had one that said I couldn't keep bathing machines on the land! They were the things that Victorians took behind horses down to the sea, changed in and modestly stepped from into the sea for a paddle. The house was close to what had been a favourite seaside spot for Victorians. The rc was obviously redundant. In more modern houses, I had rc's imposed by the builders intended to keep the open nature of front gardens intact until the development was finished, After a decent period of time, or even sooner, they were ignored. Perhaps it's the same with the rc that is troubling you and, with support from like minded neighbours, you might succeed in having it waived.

Good luck and don't give up yet.

 

[OldGuy43]

And then take a look at his place and compare it to the Covenants. He might be going against some of them too.

Personally, I like SherrieT's idea. I've won many a disagreement by simply insisting that, "If you want to play by the rule book that's all right by me but understand something, we're gonna play by the WHOLE(!) rulebook. Not just the parts you like.", and than be prepared to point out the other person's transgressions. Actually, a printed list works best, and the longer the better. Just nitpick him to death. If you'd like a couple of examples of how I've made this work, PM me. I'll be happy to tell all.

 

[thaiturkey]