How to handle lack of response from HOA Board

We have approached our HOA regarding plans for our home that we would like to move forward with. The board has not addressed our plans directly. The HOA Pres simply forwarded our plans to the HOA attorney and asked them to inform us and the Board as to their judgment.

More than a month has past with no word from either the HOA attorneys nor the HOA Board.

Does a month-plus of no response provide us any legal right to move forward with our plans due to the Board and HOA attorney's lack of a response? While they have not provided us with an approval per se, does the lack of a disapproval almost default to an 'approval' after some length of time with no response either way?

Should we contact the HOA attorneys directly? Should we draft a statement to the HOA Board as to our intent to move forward with our plans indicating their lack of a disapproval in a timely manner is now considered to be an 'approval?'

Any advice?

I would recommend to not move forward with any changes, especially if it is a major remodel without an acknowledgment from the Board or the lawyer. The last thing you want is the Board to halt the work being done or make you remove any changes you make. I would send a certified letter to the management company, or Board secretary if there is no management company. The letter should request an update of your plans. If there is no update from the lawyer, ask when the lawyer plans to give a response to your request.

Based on other posts I believe Karl is referring to establishing a home for the elderly. That is not an issue which is covered by the response from the ARC. It would require not being in violation of the Covenants and approval of the Board.

Thanks to all of those that have responded so far.

Sorry that I wasn't clear in the original post, in this case, it's not an architectural review board matter. It does state in our Rules & regulations that the ARB has 30 days to respond otherwise the plans are considered approved.

In our case, we wish to make our home an Adult Family Home where we would take in up to five unrelated senior people who would live with us 24/7 as a part of our extended family. We would provide meals, laundry & maid services, medication reminders, some transportation and general living assistance for seniors who may not have similar options available with biological family. We would not be a nursing home. Each would have their own private bedroom and share common spaces with the rest of our 'family.' We would all dine together, have cookouts, celebrate birthdays and holidays together, etc. We would receive compensation.

Our HOA is trying to determine if this would be considered a 'business' or if this should be considered to be within the defined Covenant Restrictions of being a 'single family home.' Our rules & regulations do not allow for businesses to be operated from homes. Since our written plans were provided to the HOA Board and subsequently forwarded to the HOA attorneys, 35+ days have passed with no answers.

More recently, we have discovered judge rulings here in Ohio, and in other states, that say the interpretation of what a 'family home' is, is to be broad and inclusive, not narrow and exclusive. A group home of unrelated people with disabilities living with an owner/operator in northeast Ohio was ruled to be considered a 'family home' and not a 'business' for the purpose of any zoning restrictions and/or restrictive covenants. There are other judge decisions in similar cases that support the determination that group/family homes run by either a non-profit or for-profit owner are to be considered a 'family home', not a 'business.' These findings have come to light after our plans were submitted to the HOA Board.

We plan to share these findings with the HOA Board. Because this issue possibly has Fair Housing Amendment Act implications, I am guessing that the board is trying to be extra careful about how to address this. I am led to believe the HOA Pres is not in favor of considering our plans and prefers to not have to deal with it.

How long should we have to wait to hear from the HOA Board about their position? Ideally, we are hoping to be considered in compliance and able to move forward with our plans. We don't want to proceed and force the HOA to have to sue us in the future if they later decide we are not in compliance. We are seeking written documentation from the HOA board that we are in compliance and may move forward with our plans. We would keep that documentation for any future HOA Boards that may want to revisit the topic.

Thanks for any responses you may offer!

Mary:

Met face to face with HOA Pres on Sep. 10. Hand delivered written proposal to Pres on Sep. 15. I was copied on his correspondence to HOA attorney which was dated Sep. 17.

After not hearing anything for over a month, I e-mailed the Pres on Oct. 18th asking for an update and how long it should be before we know something more definitive. He has not responded to that e-mail in any way. Usually, he is pretty good about responding to e-mails. He has not been on vacation and is retired. So, he does not have much on his plate now.

Our written proposal, verbal communications and e-mails have all expressed a sense of urgency on our part to move forward. They are well aware of that.

We were kind of looking for what is a reasonable time to wait for this? It has been over 35 days since the correspondence from the Pres to the HOA attorney along with a copy of our plans. Would we consider this to be several weeks? (five+ weeks)

Janet,

My personal opinion is that it is never wise to move forward w/o approval from the board, regardless of the outcome of other court cases, UNLESS you are prepared to foot the bill for a costly court battle or unless you know for a fact what you want to do is not against state law even in an HOA community.

Yes, we will definitely be looking for something from the HOA Board in writing before moving forward. It would be foolish to do otherwise.

To the point of our original question, what is a reasonable time frame to expect to hear from the Board or the HOA attorney? We are nearing 40 days. Is that sufficient? When does the line get crossed from being studied further to avoidance?

Mary suggested waiting 'several' weeks for an answer. Would you suggest we are there now?

We are leaning toward documenting several court decisions we have discovered more recently that are similar applications. Again, we will emphasize that we are looking for a timely response. Either provide us something in writing stating the Board respects this as allowable under court rulings or provide us with a denial with the basis for that decision.

Karl - you have not said what you are planning to do. Expand your home? You said take up to 5 more persons, each having their own room, PLUS your family. That needs a big house.

We have a group home in our community. Severely impaired adults. We were reminded that it is a violation to meet in order to come up with a plan to prevent persons living together, based on sex, color, age, physical or mental limitations, yada yada . . . so the HOA lawyer is probably being cautious.

But it depends on WHAT you are approaching the HOA board for? Is this Private Pay or will you be in the social services system with your residents?

Please explain.

Susan, we have approached our HOA with the intent of making our home an Adult Family Home. At least face to face, the only concern voiced by the Pres is whether this would still be considered a 'family home' or if this would be considered a 'business' as far as our restrictive covenants are concerned. Our restrictive covenants prohibit a business to be operated from any home. We propose no changes to the appearance or footprint of our home.

We do have a rather large home with an unfinished walk-out lower level of roughly 1,900 sq. ft. Currently, it's just my wife and I with one elderly parent, no kids. We can easily build out five bedrooms on the lower level and meet all requirements for egress, etc. All of our changes would be interior of nature. We would have enough space on that level for one-floor living with 1 1/2 baths, a mini kitchen, dining area, central living/TV space, storage and an office in addition to the bedrooms. High ceiling height and plenty of natural lighting. We would be in complete compliance with local building codes and the state Board of Health requirements who we have already met with.

We are seeking written approval from our Board to move forward with these plans. We recognize that we would be a business in the sense that we would be compensated. More recently, we have found court decisions in our state that support a for-profit group home being able to operate without zoning or restrictive covenant limitations. This and other court rulings is what we now plan to detail and share with the HOA Board in hopes to expedite this process.