Help on getting HOA changed to allow backyard chickens

[Sonoran Silkies]

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Not true. HOA can have rules that are more strict than city or county or state laws. The CC&Rs are a legally binding contract between each memebr and the association.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

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No, our association has allowed poultry from its beginning 39 years ago. The simply are not allowed to "wander off or fly about." But for the most part, no one really cares that much if an occasional chicken wanders. DH & I used to enjoy watching a neighbor's rooster round up his hens and lead them home after they had wandered to the "greener" grass across the street from their yard. The only animals that we cannot have are swine, but then the city does not allow swine, either. Well, we can't have exotics like elephants or various types of wild or protected animals, but that is law, not CC&Rs.

 

[pjknust]

I would never move to a neighborhood with a HOA
My daughter lived in one in GA. They told them what to plant in the front yard.
Im too used to doin what I darn well please, and I plan to keep it that way.

pam in TX

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

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Not necessarily. Since it is a new HOA, it may still be under control of the developer, in which case, yes, he/she can indeed ignore the signatures and do what he/she wants.

But, once the development has reached a certain percentage of build-up, or a certain time has elapsed from the beginning of the development (these numbers depend on state law), control over the HOA is passed to the membership. The members elect a board to oversee the association; these board members almost always must also be association members. In many HOAs, the board hires a management company to run the day to day operation of things. In other HOAs, they self-manage, appointing different board members or association members to oversee specific issues, and hire out individual work that needs to be completed (lawn and vegetation care, facility maintenance, etc.).

The CC&Rs may be a time limited document, meaning that they expire after a certain timeframe (20 years might be typical), or they self-renew every 20 years, with the option to make changes to the document during hte last year or they may be a living document, where a certain percentage of the membership can approve changes to them. Typically the properties within an HOA do not have individual deed restrictions listed with each property. Rather, the deed will list that the property is a part of the association, and is subject to its CC&Rs. In the case of a non-living document, unless your state has granted the right for a percentage of the residents to approve CC&R changes (becoming more and more common), you must have 100% approval to change the CC&Rs. This basically follows the logic that if all parties to a contract agree to change it, it can be changed. In a living document, the percentage of approval to change CC&Rs is usually pretty high: usually 2/3rds or 3/4ths of the association must agree to the change. Most states also allow a percentage of the membership to force a vote; this percentage is usually much lower, can be as low as 10% or as high as 25%. So, if there are 50 members of the association, with 47 signatures, it can almost certainly be forced to a vote of the membership. However, if that 47 signatures is out of 2000 members, it is nowhere near enough to force a vote.

The management company has no say in determining rules or restrictions, so there is no point in petitioning them. You must petition the board to change the rule, or bring it to a membership vote to change a CC&R provision.

 

[Michie]

WOW!! I have a similar situation, but luckily no one has found out about my chickens. Good Luck with your HOA and I am going to subscribe to this incase I ever need similar help! I am in Bulverde/SA area! I really hope you can keep your chickens, I dont know what I would do if we had to get rid of ours, if people can have cats, I dont see the difference in why chickens would be an issue?? (I personally think cats are difficult) lol Good Luck, my fingers are crossed for you!!!

 

[ashandnate]

Well I actually have good news. I didn't think it was going to end up good but luckily for me, it did! We met with our HOA board with all kinds of information to present. We had a signed petition, pics of our chickens in the house, other neighborhoods with higher property values that allowed hens, letters from realtors stating that having chickens does not lower property values, etc. We also did research and found a case in Maryland where a woman fought her HOA on the basis that a small flock of backyard chickens CAN be considered a domestic pet just like a cat or dog. This woman represented herself in court and won so we showed them that case. Bottom line is they didn't care about any of the info we compiled. They said they could even change the regulations to specifically state "no chickens" but then they said something that made me almost jump out of my chair in excitement! They said, well, if you keep your chickens inside the house at night, we will relate your chickens to a rabbit. We don't allow backyard caged rabbits but we could care less what you have in your house even if that animal comes to play outside. So they said that they could be outside the whole time we are at home and we just have to keep them inside at night! So, we are currently trying to figure out what to build for inside and are on the hunt for some chicken diapers for when we want to keep them inside some and not have them in their cage! Thanks for all of your posts! We can't even explain how excited we are to get our girls back!!!!!

 

[cluckberry]

I've seen people on this forum whose coop is a part of their garage, with a pop door to the run outside. Perhaps that might work for you?

good luck!

Jen

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

www.chickendiapers.com

The original and the best. Also one of, if not the least expensive. Custom made to your measurements in te material of you choice.

 

[Moogz]

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Great to hear! I have the same issue with my HOA, but haven't brought anything up yet until i have more ammunition. Do you think you could send me some of the information you compiled? It would be very much appreciated.

Ofcourse.. i also have to work on the city too.. sigh

 

[Kaugomu]

Hi everyone, I know this is an old thread, but I have a friend going through a similar situation. I was wondering if anyone could help her out. Her HOA has asked her to submit the proposed changes for their CC&R that she would like to allow backyard chickens. She would like to be able to site examples of other neighborhoods who have successfully allowed domestic fowl. If anyone has an HOA with a CC&R allowing domestic fowl in any capacity would you please share the wording of the document and how long your neighborhood has had it in place? Thanks SO MUCH!