|
|
|
|
|
|
| IHG Insurance (National Insurance Provider) |
| Providing Community Association Insurance for over 25 years: D&O Liability, Crime Products, Umbrella Coverage and Property Manager's Errors & Omissions Liability. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| You are not authorized to post a reply. |
|
|
| Author |
Messages |
|
MichaelC1
(Iowa)
Posts:1
 |
| 10/04/2006 8:25 PM |
|
We recently had a bully move into our home owners association. He flips people off, screams and yells, fires a gun, lets his dog roam free(he recently put a invisable fence around the complete perimeter of his yard, our deed says all fences must be in the back yard) and mocks our rules. His son is riding a ATV all over. Our Deed restricts everything mentioned except his behavior. Our attorney says that we can not do anything about it because we do not live in the city limits and our deed says no obnoxious behavior or can not do anything that is a nuisance to others is to ambiguous. Our deeds says no firing of guns yet attorney says since we live outside city limits we can not enforce this. I am the registered agent, president, director and developer of our home owners association yet our attorney says I have no right to issue fines for violations even though I have given repeated verbal and a written warning delivered by the sheriff. Our Deed says I have the legal right to issue fines but once again our attorney says that the deed is to ambiguous so I can not issue fines. I am at a lost for words. He says an opposing attorney would pick our deed of restictions appart, using a play on words. How can I sell the rest of the lots if I can not enforce our deed of restrictions? Our home owner association is in Iowa.
MichaelC1 |
|
|
|
|
HaroldS
(Arizona)
Posts:904
|
| 10/04/2006 8:35 PM |
|
| Wow - you might need another attorney for a second oppinion. Is this the same attorney that drew up your documents? Harold |
|
|
|
|
RogerB
(Colorado)
Posts:3724
|
| 10/05/2006 7:53 AM |
|
| Michael, it appears that you need to amend your Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions. Upon having restrictions which do not allow these actions then you can enforce through fines and legal action if necessary. |
|
Roger Borcherding
Official HOATalk.com Sponsor
DARCO Property Management (Colorado)
(303) 925-0150 
*See legal notice below (end of page) or go to www.hoatalk.com/legal |
|
|
BrianB
(California)
Posts:1748
|
| 10/05/2006 12:30 PM |
|
If i accept your statements as factual, i am happy to say, your attorney is wrong.
Being inside a city limit has nothing to do with enforcement of deed restrictions or covenents. Those are CIVIL agreements, contractual obligations that homeowners assume when they purchase. You can certainly enforce, through fines, your HOA rules. In fact, you might be better off in some respects for NOT being in a city, as you have no city laws that might trump your own codes.
Now, to real life: your attorney may be correct that your codes are so poorly written, a redneck could drive his chevy through the loopholes without scraping rust (i know that my own HOA has a bad set like that). It would be wise to have your attorney suggest better wording, and properly change your rules.
Or, you can fine this guy, and wait for him to not pay... simply keep the fines coming, and someday, when he wants to sell his home, the title company will be pleased to get a notice from you that you have a lien on his home. Or, the realator will be happy to inform the potential purchasers that there are $8000 in back fees and fines that must be paid before the home can be sold.
Or, you can fine him and sue him, and actually let a judge tell you which of your codes are well written and enforceable, and which are not. A bit of a risk, and potentially pricey, but an option.
Bottom line, I would personally enforce the rules that you can, fine him properly for every violation, follow your rules and enforce them across the board. And, get your attorney to HELP you rather than just tell you what you can't do.
From your post, my advice:
He flips people off, screams and yells, (not usually an enforceable issue) fires a gun,(probably enforceable) lets his dog roam free (probably enforceable) (he recently put a invisable fence around the complete perimeter of his yard, our deed says all fences must be in the back yard) (Very unlikely you can enforce this... an invisible fence is a wire buried in the dirt... you cannot hope to claim that is a "fence" in the traditional sense and ban it) and mocks our rules (not enforceable). His son is riding a ATV all over. (Probably enforceable)
Our attorney says that we can not do anything about it because we do not live in the city limits (not applicable. has nothing to do with anything) and our deed says no obnoxious behavior or can not do anything that is a nuisance to others is to ambiguous (he may be right). Our deeds says no firing of guns yet attorney says since we live outside city limits we can not enforce this (city limits don't matter). I am the registered agent, president, director and developer of our home owners association yet our attorney says I have no right to issue fines for violations even though I have given repeated verbal and a written warning delivered by the sheriff. Our Deed says I have the legal right to issue fines but once again our attorney says that the deed is to ambiguous so I can not issue fines. (Then get his advice to make it better. this would be a great time, since it sounds like you don't have too many owners yet, since you are still the agent, president, director and developer all in one). |
|
|
|
|
JoeS4
(Kentucky)
Posts:77
|
| 10/05/2006 12:41 PM |
|
| next time he violates anything have a copy of your restrictions and deliver them to him and inform him to read and stop, oh yeah let the local police go with you and see if his attitude doesn't change. Get a new attorney, and start written trails of everything he violates by writing him letters and certified if needed, paper trails always win in court. |
|
|
|
|
|
| You are not authorized to post a reply. |
|
|
General Legal Notice: The content of forum messages are from the posting member and have not been reviewed nor endorsed by HOATalk.com. Messages posted by HOATalk or other members are for informational purposes only, are not legal or professional advice and do not constitute an attorney-client relationship. Readers should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel. HOATalk is not a licensed attorney, CPA, tax advisor, financial advisor or any other licensed professional. HOATalk accepts ads from sponsors but does not verify sponsor qualifications nor endorse/guarantee any sponsor's product or service.
HindmanSanchez Legal Notice: (For messages posted by HindmanSanchez) This message has been prepared by HindmanSanchez for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. This information is not intended to create, and receipt of it does not constitute an attorney-client relationship. Members of HOATalk.com should not act on this information without seeking professional counsel. Please do not send us confidential information unless you speak with one of our attorneys and get authorization to send that information to us. If you wish to initiate possible representation, please contact an attorney in our firm. Our attorneys are licensed to practice law in the state of Colorado only.
Legal Notice For Messages Posted by Sponsoring Attorneys: This message has been prepared by the sponsoring attorney for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. This information is not intended to create, and receipt of it does not constitute an attorney-client relationship. Readers of HOATalk.com should not act on this information without seeking professional counsel. Please do not send any sponsoring attorney confidential information unless you speak with the sponsoring attorney or an attorney from the sponsoring attorney’s firm and get authorization to send that information to them. If you wish to initiate possible representation, please contact an attorney in the firm of the sponsoring attorney. Sponsoring attorneys that post messages here are licensed to practice law in a specific state or states as indicated in their message signature or sponsor’s profile page. (NOTE: A ‘sponsoring attorney’ is an attorney that is a HOATalk.com official sponsor and is identified as such in the posted message or on our sponsor page.)
|
|