Home Owners Association Bylaw advice (Washington: HOA, condo, attorney)

[sfikloon]

I live in Peter's Topwnship, and according to the our Home Owners Association's (HOA) bylaws, “No structure shall be erected, altered, placed, used or permitted to remain on any lot other than a Unit and garage meeting the construction standards set forth herein.” The “unit”, which is defined by the bylaws as “A building situated upon a lot and designed and intended for use and occupancy as a residence by a single family”, already exists and has been designed and built by Ryan Homes six years ago. A subsequent section states "No unit or part thereof shall be erected on any Lot in the plan unless it becomes attached to and becomes a part of such lot". A "Lot" is the parcel of land that has been zoned for the unit and garage. Our HOA does not have a review/approval process, and I have already obtained a zoning permit to permanently attach a 4'x8' section to the house, but before ripping off the siding and permanently attaching the hutch. Does the zoning permit allow me to add the addition to the unit based on the definitions listed above? The siding and roof shingles match the Ryan homes colors and exact manufacturer type.

Also, there are no sections in our Bylaws that currently prevents sheds, attached or detached. The way I interpret these bylaws is that they do not say the existing unit is not allowed to be altered, but specifically says that a structure, other than the unit and garage, shall not be used on the lot. Also, can it be interpreted that the addition I am about to permanently add to the existing unit could be seperate unit? I would think this would be incorrect interpretation since the addition to the existing unit does not meet the criteria of how a unit is defined in the Bylaws.

Look forward to your prefessional advice.

[MeinGlanzendMotorrad]

I would ask your HOA board because a lot of them are literal Nazis and will wait until you're done and then ruin you over it.

[Kippy]

It sounds to me like the covenants are written in such a way to prevent residents from building any kind of outbuilding (e.g. shed, pool house, greenhouse). While I believe that an attached shed, as you describe, would be permitted, it is sound advice to consult a professional before going ahead with the construction.

[sfikloon]

Originally Posted by Kippy

It sounds to me like the covenants are written in such a way to prevent residents from building any kind of outbuilding (e.g. shed, pool house, greenhouse). While I believe that an attached shed, as you describe, would be permitted, it is sound advice to consult a professional before going ahead with the construction.

Thank you for the reply - the problem is I cannot find anybody that specializes in HOA law to advise me - any suggestions?

[Burghgirl17]

Originally Posted by sfikloon

Thank you for the reply - the problem is I cannot find anybody that specializes in HOA law to advise me - any suggestions?

As someone stated above talk to your HOA board. That's what they're there for.

[Kippy]

Originally Posted by sfikloon

Thank you for the reply - the problem is I cannot find anybody that specializes in HOA law to advise me - any suggestions?

The declaration for a planned community and the community covenants would have been drafted by an at attorney behalf of the developer and submitted to the county. In addition, you should have been furnished a copy of both documents before you settled on the house, as you had to agree to the terms outlined therein.

I would look at your documents and contact the attorney who drafted the covenants in the first place. If you do not have a copy, you should be able to contact your county's Recorder of Deeds to obtain one.

I know for Westmoreland County, you can even look them up online and view the original documents digitally, at no cost. I am not sure if this is the case for Washington County.

[robrobrob]

Ultimately, it doesn't matter what an attorney says. The HOA may sue you after the fact regardless of what your attorney says if they don't want the strucure erected. So, be on the safe side and get approval from the HOA. It only takes one neighbor with connections to the HOA to make your life a nighmare.

[Velvet Jones]

Originally Posted by robrobrob

Ultimately, it doesn't matter what an attorney says. The HOA may sue you after the fact regardless of what your attorney says if they don't want the strucure erected. So, be on the safe side and get approval from the HOA. It only takes one neighbor with connections to the HOA to make your life a nighmare.

HOAs are pure evil and have the power to basically destroy your life. If you doubt this just do a quick search on the subject. Most HOAs require a approval form to make any sort of major change, so asking for approval is likely not optional. Once you have an official OK it will give you some sort of legal protection if they come after you later, though that is not a 100% guarantee. Just because the current board said OK doesn't mean the next board can't come after you if the alteration violates the CC&Rs. We had a similar problems with sheds in my own neighborhood. There covenants were extremely strict when it came to location and the board agreed to change them, but they couldn't just issue a waiver, as that wouldn't have have protected home owners from a future board going after them for a violation. We had to go through a whole voting process to officially amend to CC&Rs. At least it woke people up to the fact that their property was not really theirs.

[Copanut]

The best way to avoid any problems with condo or pud living is to do some research prior to purchasing. It's that simple.