Brick facade

Started by ChrisP15 • 5 replies • 1249 views

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ChrisP15 (North Carolina)
Posts: 1

Posted:

Our neighborhood covenants require a brick facade. Up until now this has not been an issue because all of the houses built are all brick. In the past 3 months three houses have started being built and the fronts are mostly vinyl with small amount of brick, maybe 75% vinyl 25% brick and that could be a stretch. Has anyone ever heard of this being an issue. The entire neighborhood is upset. All of the existing homes appraise at over $500,000 and these are going for less than half of that price. I have notified the selling agent that he may be misrepresenting these homes and they may not meet covenants. I have also searched for a legal definition of "brick facade" and there are no results for the two words together, but one can deduce that it would mean brick front, not just a small part brick. Anyone have any advise before I spend a ton on an attorney?

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,061

Posted:

You should spend the money on an attorney and have the attorney write a letter on behalf of the Association and send it to the builder, owner and listing agent.

The Board should also adopt a resolution clarifying the meaning of the covenants (25%, 50%, full front and sides, etc. must be brick).

LetA (Nevada)
Posts: 2,679

Posted:

You could also check with your county recorders office to see if their plats are part of your association or see if the deeds for those plats were amended.

AugustinD
Posts: 5,144

Posted:

ChrisP15, what do the covenants say about one owner being able to enforce the covenants against another owner? If this is in the covenants, and because the stakes are so high and time is of the essence here, I would write letters of demand to the offending owners, cc'iing the board. Send them certified mail.

JanetB2 (Colorado)
Posts: 4,219

Posted:

What is the exact wording of that section in your CCR's? Generally it is just the front of the homes, but I have seen wording where it means the exterior of the entire home. It can depend on how stated.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/facade

JohnC46 (South Carolina)
Posts: 14,265

Posted:

Chris

My initial blush is you may have a case but if these homes are selling for 1/2 of the present homes the question becomes how much more would they cost if an entire brick, front facade? Worst case, a brick facade may add say $25K to the selling price and that is close to a wild guess.

I think the issue is you are concerned that "lesser cost homes" will lower your property value. Brick facade or not is this not the issue?

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