Minimum home size requirements - exemption/grandfather

Good Day All,

I am posting in need of advice regarding a situation we are currently dealing with in our HOA. We recently bought a property which included a small structure of about 400 square feet with all utilities/septic etc. in place and registered with the county as a residential structure with no code violations on file. This structure was built in 1975 (prior to HOA and CC&R establishment) and updated throughout the years to prepare it for eventual development into a larger home. It has been used predominantly as a vacation home for the past 12 years prior to our purchase.

We bought the property with the intent to expand its's size in due time, however currently feel that the financial commitment is larger than we anticipated and therefore we want to postpone our development plans and inhabit the current structure as is (we have completed several upgrades to the cabin to make it more efficient and overall better suited to full time occupancy).
Our HOA are now trying to enforce their covenants which require a minimum 1200 sf structure and pressuring us to start planning for development of the property. I have been aware of this minimum size requirement even before we purchased however also feel that enforcement of this has been lacking given that the structure is still in place after 40 years and we are the first owners being asked to comply with this specific requirement.
My question is whether they can legally force us to increase the size of the structure even though this has apparently not been enforced throughout the previous 40 years? I have asked to be "grandfathered" in, however the HOA has stated this could create a precedent and is not willing to provide such an exemption at this stage.

While we are still trying to find middle ground with our HOA, I would like to obtain more information on our legal obligations should it ever get to that stage and would appreciate your insight and advice.

Have you talked to a lawyer? They would be able to tell you if there is any statute of limitations or other defense against the HOA action. A consultation now is a lot cheaper than defending a lawsuit down the road if the HOA sued you.

Personally, I tend to agree with Mark that you are probably in the clear one way or another, but why guess?

How long has the HOA been in existence, Michel?

There is something called the defense or doctrine of laches, which seems to mean that if everyone knew th cabin was illegal for xx # of years, it may stay the size it is. think you do need legal advice.

HOA was established around the same time our cabin was first built. From word of mouth, I am led to believe the first board did pursue structure size with the first owner of the property but they were ignored and the issue was then forgotten about or deemed not important enough to further pursue. The previous owners were apparently never contacted by the HOA about this issue, again from word of mouth because the cabin is obstructed from view and nobody brought it up for action. It seems because I brought up the matter, the accountability now falls on me to comply with the covenants.

My experience is that ignoring damages, just defending yourself in a lawsuit can easily cost thousands of dollars in attorney fees.