CC&R Rules Can't Be Invalidated?

FYI, the "Posting Rules" above state that you should not use actual names of your association.

CCRs can exist in the absence of any association, in fact many properties are deed restricted and no association was ever defined. This is especially common in older developments. An association would only exist if it was created by the CCRs, in that case the association would have the duties, rights, and responsibilities as defined in the CCRs. With or without an association, the CCRs often state that any member can legally enforce the restrictions, which is generally done by suing.

Just because restrictions are defined does not always mean they are enforceable. Illegal restrictions (barring certain races, for example) are not. There can also be statutes of limitations such that if a violation has been allowed to exist for a certain amount of time courts will not enforce.

The CC&R's are a binding contract whether your HOA is "dormant" or not. As Melissa said, any one of your neighbors can take legal action against you if you violate the covenants.

Rich

As there is a BOD it seems to me the Covenants/Bylaws are not dormant. Maybe they not abided by nor enforced but they do not seem to be dormant.

Some CC&Rs also establish the HOA so it would depend how it is written. Generally though, the CC&Rs are attached to the property and are binding regardless of an HOA. I assume in most, if not all, cases that would mean an owner taking the violator to court. That is not unusual. In our HOA the only enforcement available (even for the board or ACC) is going to court, other than a violation letter requesting compliance.

All CC&Rs and state laws are different though.

Your developer included a covenant attached to your property titles regarding the views ... and which was implemented almost 70 years ago.

If you are a Board Member then you potentially have an active and valid HOA. After all YOU could not have been elected or appointed to the BOD without the actions of an active membership in an HOA.

YES ... I would agree is potentially sad to cut down beautiful trees; however, the Court has their hands tied because of the original developer’s Covenant attached to the property titles. The court would have to follow the covenant agreed to by all owner’s when they PURCHASED ... whether or not the judge may or may not personally agree with any such situation would be immaterial. If the Owner’s at any time in past disagreed with the covenant they potentially should have had the covenant removed via owners agreement. Because they did not you then have had an owner almost 70 years later have an issue with trees which have grown in that period of time.

Your local Government and their Planning Commission are faced with these issues all the time. Somebody can have X acres of land and want to establish a subdivision. Surrounding neighbors will state that the new subdivision will be detrimental to their views. If you sit on one of those positions you have to be impartial to everyone’s feelings and note that the Owner wanting to establish a subdivision is following the laws/ordinances and they have a right to do as they want with their property as long as they do not violate established contracts or laws. Vacant land in the future at some point has a high probablity of being built upon. It has amazed me how many people will jump up and down about their property rights ... yet turn around and want to stomp all over a neighbor and their property or right to build what they want under the local laws.

The homeowner might have been better served spending that fortune on getting the CC&Rs amended.

Four years ago I could see the North Star from my back patio just above the treetop of a large 30-yo oak tree. Four years of growth have now blocked that view. My inner Prince Henry the Navigator is not pleased. I wish we had your CC&R provision about too-tall trees because I have no recourse. What's whimsical and "pathetic" to you may be a real issue for someone else. The question of what's "reasonable" is always crucial.