No HOA

How has this effected the value of your home exactly? More details than perception that amy or may not exist. You can find out your restrictions at the court house records department. If no HOA then may be reported to the city code or building/permit department to handle.

Kim,

If there is no Association or violation of State laws/County Codes (allowing the government to become involved), the only other option is to enforce the covenants yourself. This requires going to court.

It's best to at least get a legal opinion of your position prior to filing legal action. I'd suggest an attorney versed in contract law (as your CC&Rs are a contract between all owners of the properties they are attached).

This will take time, money and energy. There will likely be animosity between you and your neighbor/s as well. However, this would be the way to enforce the covenants on those not willing to comply with them.

Thank you all for your respond. It is a deed restricted community with no hoa. Brick or wood single family home, mininum sq ft. down 1200, or 1500 if single story. The person has built a metal house ( he calls it a storage building). It is approx 1000 sq ft, front door and back door, 10 windows, indoor plumbing, a/c, front porch. He told us when he built it, they would be building the main house within a couple of months, that was almost a year ago. The restrictions plainly state that a garage must be accomp. with a single family home. They also state, no one can live in a garage or shack either permantly or temporary. He comes down on week-ends and stays for 3 0r 4 days.

They got nastly with us last week-end when we ask when they were building. We called it a fishing shack and the Realtor wife when crazy. Told us it was a storage building.

I know I'm on my own and not sure what to do. There are 19 lots and I'm the only one that has built so far. We live on a lake, and I bought here because it had restrictions. I know what can happen if this continues. Next it will be rv and buses to live in.

Two of the three homes I have owned have had CC&R's but no HOA. As I understand it, this is not uncommon. Sellers added covenants to deeds long before HOA's became common. (My grandfather sold a part of his farm in Wisconsin back in the 1940's and added a covenant to prohibit anyone from ever building a bar on the property.)

We have no common areas so no need for maintenance. The CC&R's restrict things such as no detached garages or no guest houses on the properties. At my current home, the CC&R's mostly address what could and could not be built under the original developer 30+ years ago. (There were several different builders in the original subdivision.)

The CC&R's are pretty much worthless as it requires an aggrieved to privately sue on his own dime to enforce them. There are few homes in my subdivision that would pass muster with the HOA nazis. I have a tow truck parked in my backyard right now. My neighbor has a 65 T-Bird and a real live pig in hers.

Some argue that HOA's improve property values. When we purchased our home last year I saw nothing on the appraisal that said the home would be worth more if the neighbor properties were better kept.