Land Covenant Law Discrimination Question? (HOA, houses, job market) - North Carolina (NC) - City-Data Forum

crua9 · 05-29-2013, 11:28 PM

My parents recently bought some land behind them, and the next door neighbour is PO

because a survey was done and he thought he own a stupid amount more than he did (about 2000 square feet. I know he had to get a survey done when he bought his house because he used a military bank to buy the house which he never wanted to stay in). The good news is he is trying to sell his house. The bad news is he is being stupid.
There is about a good 20 or so houses in the neighbourhood my parents live in. All the houses have some covenant that is out dated.(Nothing but wood windows, no this, your house must be built in a year, etc.) (BTW no HOA)
Well the neighbour cry to the original landowners, and he said we were breaking the covenant. He said our trees were to close to his property (they aren't. they are 2 feet off the line and they are like a foot high. They were planted so they can become a privacy block.), he said we have birdhouses (isn't in the covenant), and so on. Well the original land owners looked at everything, and they agreed that the guy was being stupid. (i'm calling him happy hands because he likes to move his arms a lot when he is mad) They did point out some things like we have a burn pile and so on. We pointed out to them almost every house has one.
If they try to enforce the covenants onto us, won't it be discrimination since everyone (including happy hands) is breaking more than one part. Even the original landowners mom and happy hands is breaking the no wood windows one. There is also a rule saying there could be no vinyl on a house. ALL the homes have some vinyl. (Most of them have it for their windows. This is including us because the wood kept rotting.) Happy hands has vinyl on part of his house. (He bought the house like that from someone) (There is even a rule saying no fence around your property, and there is 2 homes with super nice brick fences on their property.)
Also, isn't discrimination when happy hands has a fit over our trees when the neighbour on the other side of him (their house has been their longer) has trees to act as a privacy between the 2 lots?

Anyways, is it possible they can use the covenant against my parents? (Happy hands is one of those people who gets PO when you buy something, then change it without his permission. So moving the trees and seeing his crap isn't the answer.)
Also, giving that over half of the land isn't the original owners anymore. Do they even have the right to enforce the covenants anymore? Giving that well over half to all the homes in the area break part (to all) of the covenants. Does the covenants even have any power or is it useless? (The covenants was made about 1990 and many of the homes have been breaking it with multiple owners going through them.)

I don't know if this makes a diff but this is in Wayne County NC.

(BTW, giving happy hands didn't want to stay here when he BOUGHT a $250k house in 2008 or 9. I'm wondering if he has a record of bullying his way out of places. I mean it's been 2 months since the survey, and I seen him today yelling about the survey to his drinking buddy)

crua9 · 05-30-2013, 12:35 AM

I've been looking at the laws, and I am confused.
Chapter 47F

The area I am at has about 74 lots, and 49 of them are taken. The original land owners had/has a covenant they don't use. But now they are talking about making a HOA. I know hardly anyone will want a HOA since over half of the people here are trying to move and people aren't buying HOA homes as much as non.
(Also, a lot of people flat out can't afford it. Job market and what not)

The reason why I don't want a HOA is because we can't afford any extra going out. (We sometimes have to skip meals. THANKS TO THE LAST GOV OF NC)
On top of that, HOA is known to do shady things.

Personally, I think the original owners want a HOA because they are selling out all of their land, and they want more money.

So what does it take for a HOA to move in a 70-80 lot area? What can keep them away?

Boss · 05-30-2013, 04:26 AM

Check in county records to see if community has covenants filed. If they do then read and learn what is common property to the HOA. Stay involved as the HOA will need members on the board and by-laws will need to be written if not part of covenant.
The date which is on the filed covenants will help determine how to read 47f

Understanding the law may require you and neighbors to talk to lawyer.

faabala · 05-30-2013, 04:43 AM

Typically you can't start a mandatory HOA unless it was in the original restrictive covenants. You could start a voluntary one. My neighborhood in Wayne county, Suttons Run, had an inactive HOA for the first three years we owned there. Then they started it back up and had a really hard time getting owners to pay up. We even had private roads that needed maintained.

faabala · 05-30-2013, 04:46 AM

If there is no HOA to enforce the covenants then they will have to sue you in court to enforce them.

crua9 · 05-30-2013, 05:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by faabala

If there is no HOA to enforce the covenants then they will have to sue you in court to enforce them.

Is it possible they can do that when they are discriminating against 1 property over another?

Also, I heard sections of the covenants can be "waived" if most of the area did the same thing, or if they let it go long enough. I would just have to prove that the problem is all over, or it's been around for a long time. (I'm guessing the length of time is up to a judge.)

crua9 · 05-30-2013, 05:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by faabala

Typically you can't start a mandatory HOA unless it was in the original restrictive covenants. You could start a voluntary one. My neighborhood in Wayne county, Suttons Run, had an inactive HOA for the first three years we owned there. Then they started it back up and had a really hard time getting owners to pay up. We even had private roads that needed maintained.

The covenants doesn't have anything about a HOA in it. When this area only had 7 houses, they tried to make it then. No one agreed to it then.
(I don't know if you need a 100% giving it's 74 or so lots. I think 47f is for 20 lots or less)

The covenants was made around 1990.

faabala · 05-30-2013, 07:57 AM

Then then can't make you join now. They will have to sue you to enforce the existing covenants. You can also sue to enforce them on your neighbors.

faabala · 05-30-2013, 08:00 AM

It would probably not be a positive defense to say I did it because everyone else is doing it. You know the rules so you are expected to live by them. The judge will probably say you can sue the neighbors for their violations.

roadpony · 05-30-2013, 11:34 AM

The problem with trees being planted two feet inside the line is that when they mature, they will likely have limbs that hang over the neighbor's property. Even if not required by law or covenants, I think it's always a good idea to plant anything far enough inside your own property so when it matures, it's still all the way inside your own property.