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I saw a covenant for a subdivison yesterday that specified that you can't have more than 2 pets (dogs, cats, etc.). Is this normal? For a subdivision with 1/2 - 1 acre per lot, a restriction of only allowing two pets seems absurd. Personally, my wife and I have two dogs and a couple of cats. I would be affraid to move into a place with rules like that in fear of a knock on my door one day with someone telling me to get rid of my pets or have to move! I can understand something like that for a condo, but not my own house. I haven't read a lot of covenants, so I don't have a sense of how common those types of restrictions on pets are. Does anyone else have any insight?
We would have bought a house in north Raleigh (?). (Somerset s/d) that we really liked except that the covenants said no more than 2 dogs and 2 cats. We have 3 cats. People were telling me, "two of them look like twins. They're indoor cats. Who would ever know it's not just one cat?" Right. The first time both of them sat in a window, I could tell people they were having double vision. I liked that subdivision, but found somethng I like just as much. I think there's another one (New Forest, maybe) that limits pets. I didn't even bother looking there. I'm with you. It's my house, and these are the only 'kids' I have at home now, so don't ask me to get rid of them if they're not causing a problem.
If you don't have a HOA and there is no contact on your restrictive covenants to contact the review committee, what should you do?
We are trying to put up a fence and we haven't had any luck getting information to see if we need approval on this first or who to even contact. We even e-mailed the builders. We were told that there are already privacy fences in our sub-division and as long as we put in something similar to what our neighbors have, we should be fine.
We would have bought a house in north Raleigh (?). (Somerset s/d) that we really liked except that the covenants said no more than 2 dogs and 2 cats. We have 3 cats. People were telling me, "two of them look like twins. They're indoor cats. Who would ever know it's not just one cat?" Right. The first time both of them sat in a window, I could tell people they were having double vision. I liked that subdivision, but found somethng I like just as much. I think there's another one (New Forest, maybe) that limits pets. I didn't even bother looking there. I'm with you. It's my house, and these are the only 'kids' I have at home now, so don't ask me to get rid of them if they're not causing a problem.
Maybe I'm wrong, but I would have assumed that an HOA didn't have any control over what you do INSIDE your house. That's like an HOA saying what colors you're allowed to paint your inside walls. So it seems like you should be able to have as many indoor cats as you want (as long as you don't have so many that you have an odor problem).
Maybe I'm wrong, but I would have assumed that an HOA didn't have any control over what you do INSIDE your house. That's like an HOA saying what colors you're allowed to paint your inside walls. So it seems like you should be able to have as many indoor cats as you want (as long as you don't have so many that you have an odor problem).
If your deed says the HOA has those authorities, then the HOA has those authorities.
In some areas (I've heard Florida) the HOA may have a say over interior colors since they may be visible from the street.
I have rental condos in Raleigh that must have white drapes, blinds, or linings in drapes. All inside, but visible from the street.
The biggest problem I have with HOAs, is like a PP said, they often either lack the funds to pursue legal action, or the management companies don't want to expend the funds to pursue legal action.
I currently live in an HOA n'hood and the last 2 houses I owned were also in HOA n'hoods. The first n'hood I lived in had a problem with embezzlement. One of the neighbors decided to name himself president and started finding ways of paying himself to do work around the n'hood (unbeknownst to the other residents of course!). There was a big ugly showdown when things finally came to light but in the end no one cared, and the guy got off scott free. We moved to a new neighborhood in Apex and just happened to move in next to a guy who was friends with the developer and was building his own house in his spare time. Yep, all this in a PLANNED COMMUNITY. Needless to say by the time we left it had been 7 years and the property still wasn't finished. We tried for years to get the HOA to do something about it. All they would do is threaten legal action or hand out fines, none of which worked. To my knowledge that house is STILL under construction.
I guess my point is---HOAs provide a false sense of security. They charge an awful lot of money for what boils down to is not an awful lot of services. They promise legal action if residents don't follow the covenants, but when push comes to shove most of them won't do anything. But they are always happy to take your money!
Nope not an HOA fan here, although I've found if you want to buy new construction in a planned subdivision, you have no choice since almost ALL new subdivisions have them.
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I liked that subdivision, but found somethng I like just as much. I think there's another one (New Forest, maybe) that limits pets. I didn't even bother looking there. I'm with you. It's my house, and these are the only 'kids' I have at home now, so don't ask me to get rid of them if they're not causing a problem.
covenants
