No HOA, never seen CC&R's

I purchased a home from "for sale by owner". I was told there was no HOA, and I was never given any CC&R's. A year after purchase, my neighbor gives me an 'old' copy of their CC&R's and tell's me the same rules apply to our property. A year after that, another neighbor tell's me he was the Treasurer of the now defunct HOA, but still 'files' an annual report each year.

My questions are:

If I never signed any CC&R's, do I have to abide by an old faded copy that my neighbor gave me?

Where do I go to find out if any CC&R's are filed?

If there is no HOA active, and I want to rent out my property even if the 'faded CC&R's' tell me I can't, can I rent?

You find a copy of the CC&R's at the RECORDS department of your local courthouse. It should be free to view but may have to pay for copies. It is viewed as the purchaser's responsibility to know about the CC&R's and NOT the seller, lawyer, realtor, or the HOA itself. The CC&R's are considered public records. Whether or not you know such information is public is a private matter...(joke of frustration)... Granite the seller should have given you a copy out of consideration. However, if they were a disgruntle member of the HOA, they probably wouldn't so they could sell the house and get out...

Are you paying any dues or have common areas? That common area could be as small as a sign to a golf course...So make sure you know if there are any such areas and if you have to pay money to maintain.

As for renting...I am of the school of thought that a HOA can't limit if you rent or not. A contract between an owner and renter can't be interfered with by the HOA. Your loan/mortgage company may limit you from using the property as rental but not an HOA. A good lawyer could easily ovverride any such rules if push came to shove.

I wouldn't worry about that issue if I were you as the HOA is so poorly formed. Just know your a member and what other details you have the right to know.

Selina – In Arizona, the CCR’s should be recorded at the county recorder’s office ( i.e. Maricopa County Recorder). If they exist, you can view them on-line by doing a records search at the county web-site. You can also view the association’s tax records at the county assessor’s web-site. And you can view the association’s corporate records at the web-site of the Arizona Corporation Commission. I don’t believe the CCR’s are enforceable if they haven’t been recorded with the county.

If anything related to an HOA is on your deed or previous owners deeds, your in an HOA. You do not have to be given the rules, ccr, bylaws etc, but you do have follow them. So its in your best interest to find them. You do not need to join. When you buy the property you are automatically a member.

If you move into a new city/state do you get a copy of the laws? No.
Do you have to follow them? Yes.

If you have an HOA then you must have a board of directors. If you don't have a board of directors then who would enforce the CC&R's anyway ? There must be something in the CC&R's that state your requirements for a board of Directors. Is there only the "treasurer" acting on his own ?
It sounds to me like you are in an HOA who decided they no longer want to be an HOA and are just ignoring the legalities of the whole thing.
I would talk to the former "treasurer" or others and get some explanation of exactly what the situation is.
No one can pick and choose what bylaws they want or don't want to follow/enforce so if other owners are ignoring the bylaws and no one is doing anything about it then I would just go ahead and rent your property and hire a lawyer only if necessary. I wouldn't believe everything your "neighbor" said either.

I think the translation and use of the term "Owner Occupied" is the issue here. Owner occupied is of course in reference to the property is to be lived in by the owner. However, there is a ratio/quota component to this issue. A Property can be "Tenant Occupied" in a HOA. It's just that a majority of the HOA should be owner occupied. It's really ONLY the owners that are members of the HOA. A tenant has no voting rights or responsibilities directly to the HOA. However, the actions and activities the tenants does is the responsibility of the owner which is held accountable for by the HOA. Whew...

So what I am saying is you can rent out your property but understand you as the owner are responsible for paying the dues and enforcing the rules of the HOA onto your tenant. It should be drafted into the lease agreement at all possible that the tenant is aware of the HOA existence and rules, and if they fail to adhere to them the lease can be terminated. This isn't in most formulated off the shelf rental agreements FYI... The HOA isn't responsible for sending the tenat the notices of violations...they will be sent to you the owner...

I rented my HOA property out and it's not easy. Make sure you do some research into "tenants rights" before deciding to rent the place out. The good news is that the HOA dues are tax deductible and so are the repairs to the rental property. HOA dues are NOT tax deductible when the property is owner occupied.

Just understand if you rent your HOA property out, the HOA isn't paid babysitters of that property. You will face some scrutiny and not always be the favorite owner on the block...Nothing illegal about it though...