Can ungated HOA restrict activity inside my house?

I am an attorney and I am transitioning to Adoption law. I have had women who are placing their babies through adoption stay at my home (4 girls) I have large 6 bed home which I live in and have a home office. The HOA says I cannot work from home in my office or have girls who are pregnant stay at my house. We are not showy or noisy at all. The girls do not wonder the neighborhood at all. One may walk up and down the street but not all at once. I am outraged at this. Before I had guest stay from out of town and had a live in housekeeper. I am single and have no kids. My home is valued at 600K and the home values are strong here 550-900K is the range. I live in an established neighborhood that was developed in the 1970's. It is nice. Not gated. My house is 7000 SF on half an acre. Any thoughts would be good.

Glen and everyone...I have a question. Our Deed Restrictions have an ammendment that states "no trade, business, industry, profession or occupation shall be conducted on any lot. This provision however, shall not prevent the maintenance of any carrying on of business of Declarant, it's successors and assigns as builder or real estate developer on the premises until such all plots are sold (including maintenance of an office, for sale signs and the like." We have a former president who is running his business out of his home and has his business license registrated to his hoem address. The current president's opinion is that we can not regulate what mail he gets to his home....and that's all he has to say about this. Any opion or suggestion.

Anne, home based businesses is an area regulated by state law, municipal codes, and case law. It is different in every state.

What you will find is this is an area where such covenant restrictions as you have posted are unenforceable if the home based business is not intrusive into the peace and quiet of the neighborhood. Courts have routinely held that covenants and zoning codes cannot restrict conducting non-intrusive business from homes.

Typically, you can have a home based business, regardless of what covenants specify, if you do not have lots of customers coming to your door, if you do not have lots of shipping and receiving, such as using your home as a warehouse, and if you do not have more than one or two employees working out of your home.

For instance, most likely, you can run a small business accounting firm from your home or a medical coding business, a publication/webpage design service, or real estate brokerage service if these operations do not require customers to come to your home. And you don't particularly have to worry about daily UPS or FedEx deliveries.

My best guess is that the operation being run by the original poster would be held to violate the deed restrictions by a court. And, as Glen notes, it may violate zoning, housing, health, and other codes as well. As an attorney Marcie is trained to research the statutes and case law in Oklahoma to answer her own question.

What she is describing is akin to a bed and breakfast, in which unrelated people stay in her home for a short period of time as part of a business operation. That is fair game for control under a declaration of covenants.

Marcie - get "temporary" guardianship of these girls. They now are a part of your "family"

Susan,

Wonderful response to this dilemma. Good going!

Brian,

Yes, that would be a hoot to hear that Marcie did not read her deed restrictions. But other than that, no HOA could prevent me from having an office where I conducted a business that would not be doing any of your above mentioned services. My Husband does all of his design work from a home office. 9 to 5 and is considered his business. Proof reading documents is a paid service and my friend does that from a home office--9 to 5 so that is what I am saying, would be not enforceable but have a turnover in people residing in a home might be considered a business that the HOA bans. This comes to look like short term renters which would be also a business not allowed in a single family residence.

A Mom (parent) raising her own kids in her home is even running business. I've seen numerous occasions where someone will ask a mother 'what do you do for a living'? Many people would agree it argued that is a job. So she is running her 'business' from home. Are they going to stop that 'business" too?

I know, I know, it is a stupid argument but ...it's Saturday.

I really doubt Marcie has violated any covenant, except perhaps the home business. However, George has give good info on that and I doubt the HOA could restrict a business that does not cause traffic, noice or any other type disruption to the neighborhood. I think we have an over zealous board here who just doesn't like these pregnant girls in the neighborhood. Marcie lives in a big home, on a very large lot so I'm sure she and the girls are not causing any type disturbance to the neighbors. She did not state this is a 55+ community which might have restrictions on the age of residents. When you live in a single family home the HOA has no business telling you who can live in that home with you. They cannot regulate how long guests can stay at your home either. If I was Marcie, I'd be inclined to tell the board to "take a hike"!!

just to sum up a bit: Marcie, are you in violation of the covenants? If they say "no home based business", then technically, yes you are.

However, as George, Mary, Donna, and many others point out, that particular covenant is often judged by courts to be too vague to be enforceable as a blanket ban on ANY business. Judges tend to side with homeowners when the business has little to no impact on the activities of the neighborhood, and with the HOA's when the business does impact the neighorhood, cause safety issues, etc.. If your business is low impact, quiet, etc., most likely a judge will side with you, should the HOA impose sanctions and you sue. Your mileage with a judge may vary, as judges are not bound to uphold any laws, etc..

As others have pointed out, allowing young mothers to stay with you might (or might not) violate other provisions of the covenants (running a bed/breakfast, renting or subletting), but you can easily sidestep these concerns with a bit of finesse: you don't charge them rent or room and board, they are merely visiting/recouperating/etc.. Their staying with you has nothing to do with your business, just a happy coincidence, perhaps.

There's been lots of good advice offered.. hope you take it. And my advice: pin the board's ears back a bit. Demand, in writing, that they document the violation, and then demand in open meeting that they enforce that "no business" ban on ALL homes. I bet most every one of your neighbors is running a home based business, enlist them on your side as well. After all, if your business is first, then the babysitter next door is second, the blogger who accepts advertising on his website is third, the tax preparer is fourth, the guy who fixes his buddies cars for a beer is fifth... they are all running a business.

I was prez of an HOA for a decade with the same "no business" rule, and I never could figure out how to enforce it legally either. If the board wants to cause you a little trouble, make them do their job 100% right. By the book, by the letter of the law, etc.. a little civil disobedience can go a long way.

Which reinforces my comments. Marcie is free to do as she wishes in her home. If she wants to invite 10 homeless people in for the weekend that's her perogative. The board cannot tell her who can be a guest in her home and they cannot tell her how long a guest can stay in her home. While she's telling the board to "take a hike" she should include the busybody neighbor to go along!!!!

This. . . .

Why go through that legal hurdle? The assn has no right to dictate who can live in your home!!!! This is a single family home and it is NOT a 55+ community.

Foreign exchange students.

Not a business.

Not members of the family.

If the number of residents in a home is in line with what local zoning regulations and statutes dictate, I would be hard pressed to think of a leg that an HOA would have to stand on that would prohibit a resident's ability to have people of their choosing staying in her home.

If we are going to try and get caught up in an argument about when something becomes a business, then one must consider that often times receiving reimbursements from expenses is in fact viewed very differently then receiving pay for providing the very same services.

And we are talking about adoptions here. I am sure that this line is always on the mind of the poster since the mothers can receive expenses, but not compensation. And as the attorney helping these mothers she would also probably be walking that line.

Along the same lines, there are foreign exchange programs that pay partial expenses for hosting the student. This is not considered income as the amount received would be expected to be less then the actual expense of hosting the student. And yes, this has passed muster with the IRS.

In many areas though Covenants must be written so as to show impact to prohibit business activity. For instance, in my covenants they state that a home business is in compliance if no more then one car per day visits the house (exclusive of the resident's cars). Thus if the girls don't have cars, then all is fine here.

But the real problem is that unfortunately, some people thing teenage pregnancy is contagious. They still feel that the sight of one pregnant teen will encourage others to become pregnant. (Or to be less concerned about the possibility.) They don't realize that this situation is yet another example of how devastating pregnancy can be on a teen mother.

Good point. The only place in the world that has laws about how many children you can have is CHINA. The US does not dictate how many kids one can have. Very Good point. Unfortunately these girls are not my kids, alot are 16-18 years old and I must be appointed as their guardian in some cases.

Just want to point out, the supremacy clause does not provide that federal law always trumps state/lower laws. Federal laws override CONFLICTING lower laws, not necessarily all lower laws. Courts must determine the intent of the higher law, then the impact of the lower law, and determine if there is a conflict. If there is a conflict with intent, then Marcie is correct, lower laws lose. But if it is not in conflict with the intent, then the lower law can stand and override the higher law.