CC&R Filed, but land never transfered

CC&R's were filed for our subdivision by a developer/builder that did not own any land in our subdivision. The CC&R used the name of our subdivision, but since the developer/builder that
wrote the document never owned any property in the subdivision, no common ownership property was
every transferred to homeowners. (They could not transfer common property because they did not own any.)

The CC&R from the non-owner developer/builder comes up in state records searches under the name of our subdivision.

Do CC&R's that were written by a non-owner developer/builder have any impact on homeowners?

Buck,

Your question actually has two parts: common areas and who may record CC&R's.

I am unaware of any requirement that common areas must be created. Both my own home and my retirement property are subject to CC&R's but neither development has any common property. Likewise, I am not aware of any law that requires recording CC&R's to create common property, although it currently seems to be the vehicle of choice to do so.

In researching the title history of my home I found concluded that the developer did not own the lot when he sold it to the first buyer. It appears that there was a trust agreement between the developer and the land owner; no deeds to lots were issued until the land owner was paid. The first deed has a reference to a trust agreement number that I have not been able to track down. In both of my properties, the title company recorded the CC&R's.

CC&R's cannot be recorded (and the land sold) without cooperation of the land owner. Read your CC&R's very carefully to see if there is some statement about a trust agreement between the developer and the land owner. It is unlikely that a title company would insure your title if there was some serious irregularity, such as the seller having no authority to sell the property, and it is unlikely that a lender would write a mortgage where the title to the home was in question.

Thank you for your reply.

Open space exists as part of subdivision. The ccr document written by company Y started out by saying they owned open space and would transfer it. They never owned open space and never could transfer any land.

There was no trust agreement.

Seller Y had authority to sell land and did. But, seller Y is not the company that filed the CCRs. CCRs were filed by company X.
Company X did not own the land. Never did. No trust agreements referenced.

Title company did not catch the mistake.

What impact do ccrs filed by non-owner have on existing homeowners?

What do you mean by "attached" to deed? Thanks.

What does "filed with deed" mean?

These ccrs were filed separately. They were not filed with deed.

Covenants were not mentioned in deed to first homeowners. Not sure what agreement you are referencing. There is no document showing any agreement in first deed of homes in subdivision. No mention of covenants or ccrs. Just a plain deed.

You are asking my question. Can anyone write ccrs? Can a company that does not own any
land and does not sell the homes write ccrs? If so, can I write ccrs for your subdivision and file them?
Can I bind you in a land transaction where I have no legal interest in any of the land involved?

Covenants were not referenced or attached to deed.

Covenants were not filed by land owner.

Back to original question - are ccrs filed by non-owner valid? Can I file ccrs on your subdivision? As long as I file them, even though I do not own any property in your subdivision, you are bound by them?

This can be stated another way - the owner of the subdivision never filed any ccrs.

So, are there any ccrs that bind existing homeowners?

In your case I would say no. Nothing was attached to the title, it just came out of the ether.

Thank you. That would appear to be where we are.

Timb4 said:
Covenants were attached to something. Otherwise you wouldn't be aware of them.

The Declarant/Developer may have granted certain Declarant rights to the Builder, including the ability to record CC&Rs. Even if those rights were not transferred, it's likely that the developer agreed to said covenants or they would not have been attached to your property.

As I said, a lot of what your asking about and stating as facts needs to be researched before informed answers can really be given. This research would best be done by experts (say a title company or an attorney).

We can give you opinions based on the facts as you present them. However, without knowledge of the development, the land records, the actual covenants in question, filing status, ownership records, business agreements between developer and builder, etc., those opinions may be very inaccurate.

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No, the covenants are not attached to anything. They show up in records searches under the name of the subdivision.

OK - let's try this again. Maybe this information will help clarify:
The ccrs were written by company X and start out by saying that company X is the land owner. They weren't and never were.
There was never a transfer of any land to company X. The first sentence in the ccrs is false. Company X never, ever was a land owner. They owned nothing, they could not confer any rights in any land.

CCRS were filed by a company that was not a party to any land transactions in our subdivision. We have no idea why this happened. There is only one set of ccrs and they are from this unrelated company.

The records have been researched. Land records have been searched. There is nothing else. Business agreements would not be part of the public record and the companies do not exist anymore.

The actual owner of the open space land never, ever filed any ccrs.

It is very helpful to be able to discuss this with this forum. It helps to flesh out the details.

It appears our subdivision is the .000001% exception?

Would suggest that you hire a Maryland attorney versed in Homeowner association law rather than pursuing legal advice through HOATalk.com. JeanI.

I'm lost. Resolve what? You have CC&Rs not attached to anything. Do you want to leave it like that or actually encumber your and others properties? If you don't, I think the issue is over unless you want a definitive legal court finding saying fini, at which case it'll cost money and time.

That may be difficult, since it is not attached to your property you are not an involved party. I wouldn't think you have a legal right to get involved, that's probably why your lawyer is throwing up his hands, there isn't a legal avenue. But I don't see a way that it could interfere with future sales.

Buck,

It is quite possible that someone once recorded CC&R's for your subdivision without the standing to do so.

For example, I know of nothing that would prevent me from recording deed restrictions on my neighbor's home. The deed restrictions would not be binding as I had no standing to impose them but they would show up in every title search from now until the end of time. Once something is recorded it is on the books forever even if it should not have been recorded in the first place.

You may have a similar situation.

There's no requirement that the CC&R's be filed by any particular party.
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Actually, there is. A property owner creates covenants that are then transferred to subsequent owners.

If there was no requirement as to who filed ccrs then there would be tons of them on file, from all sorts of people. That would be nothing short of chaos in land use.

Buck

Y seemed to have started by asking questions about something being possible but as the chat went along you seemed to be answering your own questions.

What is your end game in all this?