Legal Help (?)

[Sapphire Sebright]

Okay, good.
Man, some people... terrible neighbors. I wouldn't mind having a neighbor with birds, even roosters and guineas. I much prefer the sound of a rooster crowing over a dog barking.

 

[dawg53]

What is the zoning of your 2 acres?

 

[blackfishfin]

Rural. We are about a 45 minute drive away from any main towns or schools.​

 

[blackfishfin]

Rural. We are about a 45 minute drive away from any main towns or schools.​

If we wanted to, we could even keep cows if we had enough space.

 

[dawg53]

If you can have cows, then you should be able to have birds. What is this covenant, is it in writing, did you have to sign any paper agreeing to it? It almost sounds like a homeowners association which could supersede zoning regulations.

 

[blackfishfin]

If you can have cows, then you should be able to have birds. What is this covenant, is it in writing, did you have to sign any paper agreeing to it? It almost sounds like a homeowners association which could supersede zoning regulations.

It is written down and typed up on a sheet of paper. We did not have to sign it and we were not given it when we first moved in. The covenant states that we can have chickens if they lay eggs and we can have roosters as long as they are fertile. The only part of the covenant that we are inherently disobeying is the "nuisance" part. They sent the covenant to our house with the parts highlighted that we were doing wrong, but we got the entire thing and read through it and the "nuisance" part was the only thing that we were doing wrong, but "nuisance" is very general term and we live with these birds and they don't crow too much to be a problem. In fact, when we moved the chicken coop the neighbors behind us couldn't hear the crowing anymore and actually called our house to make sure that our roosters and us were alright.

 

[Criticalicious]

You might check with an attorney in your area, but generally in the US, unless those covenants were filed/recorded with the property records clerk or a court, they are not legally binding. They are just an agreement between neighbors, and you as the new property owner did not agree to it. For example, I bought a house and was told by the previous owner that my neighbor will not mind if I cut through their property to get to the lower part of my property (an easement basically, there's a road behind their property that connects our properties, old farm track). That's an agreement the neighbors had between them, but it's not legally binding and I would technically be trespassing but nobody enforces it.

HOA covenants are usually recorded with the county and would have been presented to you at closing along with the title search. You would have had to sign them.

In the short term, I would recommend, fence in your poultry or build a large enclosed run to protect them. The easiest thing would be a moveable electrified poultry fence. Your birds will be safer from ground predators, including neighbors. It'll cost you around $300-$500 to set up a mobile poultry fence from Premier1.

Check your property records as to the zoning of your property (look for a a GIS website) and then call the county land use office as to what is or isn't allowed in that zone. They will tell you straight up what the ordinances are as to chickens and roosters and other livestock, i.e., what you can and can't have.

If, after arming yourself with the above information, the neighbors persist, I might consult with an attorney to possibly draft a cease and desist letter.

 

[blackfishfin]

You might check with an attorney in your area, but generally in the US, unless those covenants were filed/recorded with the property records clerk or a court, they are not legally binding. They are just an agreement between neighbors, and you as the new property owner did not agree to it. For example, I bought a house and was told by the previous owner that my neighbor will not mind if I cut through their property to get to the lower part of my property (an easement basically, there's a road behind their property that connects our properties, old farm track). That's an agreement the neighbors had between them, but it's not legally binding and I would technically be trespassing but nobody enforces it.

HOA covenants are usually recorded with the county and would have been presented to you at closing along with the title search. You would have had to sign them.

In the short term, I would recommend, fence in your poultry or build a large enclosed run to protect them. The easiest thing would be a moveable electrified poultry fence. Your birds will be safer from ground predators, including neighbors. It'll cost you around $300-$500 to set up a mobile poultry fence from Premier1.

Check your property records as to the zoning of your property (look for a a GIS website) and then call the county land use office as to what is or isn't allowed in that zone. They will tell you straight up what the ordinances are as to chickens and roosters and other livestock, i.e., what you can and can't have.

If, after arming yourself with the above information, the neighbors persist, I might consult with an attorney to possibly draft a cease and desist letter.

Woah, thanks for the advice! We already know what is allowed in our zone (we checked in with them before we bought the house because we moved there wanting to have some livestock in the future), so we don't have to call. We haven't pinned our chickens up because our neighbor hasn't been complaining since we got rid of the Guineafowl, but I'm still really worried. Since we are home all of the time, we can watch the chickens so I don't think that pinning them up is necessary, and we have a run for them if we leave the house. It is predator-proof.
I will definitely consider your advice if the problem persists. Thank you!

 

[blackfishfin]

I thought I might give you all an update on the situation. We have not talked to our neighbor since and the shooting has stopped! We are very careful around the chickens, though and are watching them closely to make sure that they do not go into their lawn.

 

[FloorCandy]

I was actually about to buy property that had an old covenant on the books, I’ve watched a bunch of homestead you tubers who were run out of their land due to covenants. Our covenant had the same loosely worded nuisance warning. We passed on the property, and the seller threatened to sue us for backing out, however the title company took our side, and the seller backed down. If the covenant is on the books, then all current parties need to agree to remove or change it, one jerk can ruin it for everyone.

You should contact the police that this lunatic is firing a weapon at your property. Mention the potential poisoning of livestock and that you have children on the property. Look into the validity of the covenant, if it is officially recorded, and your title company didn’t disclose it, maybe something can be done about compensation for relocating your family.
https://www.useful-community-development.org/not-informed-about-covenants-and-restrictions.html

another option is find something more irritating that they have no protection from in the covenant and do it until they move, like buy a loud motorcycle and warm it up for your trip to work at early hours every day. Probably not an option for you, due to the nuisance thing, but to others in this situation, there are many abandoned,LOUD parrots that would probably love an outdoor aviary that could be adopted, I’m sure the neighbors would be delighted.

No matter what anyone says or thinks, everyone lives in glass houses, and these jerks have been throwing stones unchecked for too long. If they make noise in any way after a predetermined quiet time, report them, be a more squeaky wheel, just find their weakness. Do you suspect they’ve erected a permanent structure without permits? Contact the town. If you feel so strongly you are in the wrong that your animals have died mysteriously and a lunatic is shooting at your yard, then you need to move for the sake of those you care for on the property. Otherwise, fight back. Many covenants are started by an hoa, or other cooperative group, so if the covenant was filed by i.e. Village Acres LLC and that company hasn’t filed paperwork for anything in 20 years, it is probably defunct and unable to enforce the covenant.