Covenants Only but with ARB

Greetings all,

New here and looking for advice from this very well informed body. We are looking to buy a nice home with a little acreage in Virginia, but without an HOA.

After much searching, we found a nice home in Northern VA that does NOT have an HOA, on 3 acres. I saw a community mailbox a quarter mile from the house while attending an open house and thought that was odd given there is no HOA (very boldly advertised as such on the listing). So we asked the realtor and found out there are indeed covenants.

We have no problem with covenants are very conscientious and compliant homeowners but do not want any overly broad or vague covenants that can be interpreted widely by others and used t force their will on us or any kind of governing body that can impose new requirements on us after we buy.

I received a copy of the covenants and we are now trying to decide if these covenants amount to more bad HOA stuff or if it is a likely benign entity that will have little likelihood of interfering with our enjoyment of our home.

This set of covenants includes an elected ARB of three homeowners with power and authority to "regulate the design and external appearance of the lots, and the external design, appearance and locations of improvements thereon for the purposes of preserving and enhancing property values and maintaining harmonious relationships among structures and natural vegetation and topography, ensuring continuity of quality of the established unity of character among the lots and maintaining the character, appearance and value of the community" The ARB also has the power to adopt standards as it deems appropriate. Elections of ARB are to be conducted by homeowners. The covenants also require homeowners to gain ARB approval for all exterior modifications to the lot or its improvements prior to making any changes, with the ARB having the power to have any unapproved changes removed at the cost of the owner. Also, the covenants on file with the county include a section about easements (unknown what they are) that are to be maintained by all homeowners with costs spread evenly among all homeowners. Apparently this community has three phases or sections and the community dates back to about 2004. This seems a lot like an HOA but the listing agent is very adamant that I am overthinking it and there is NO HOA and there might not even be an ARB in place right now.

After two back to back bad experiences with HOA boards that went rogue (selective enforcement, reprisals against me for sticking up for myself and others, broad interpretation of Declaration to and adopting rules that target individuals or standards that exceed the covenant language or requiring homeowners to change their lot to please the board), I am reluctant to stay with this contract because it reads like any other HOA only without the name, Articles, By Laws or periodic assessments or Reserves.

The house is nice, needs some work, the lot is beautiful but we would want to make improvements to it like changing vinyl siding to hardiplank, etc which is not allowed in the covenants.... At the same time, we are having a hard time finding any homes without an HOA...…. and the realtor is telling us that it is likely dormant to a degree.

Does anyone have experience with acreage lots in Virginia without an HOA but with covenants that read like an HOA and that have an ARB? Any feedback would help us make a decision about this house. Would hate to pass this up but also would be angry at myself if the day after moving in Cynthia knocks on my door to tell me we have much work to do to please the ARB.. or that I have to remove the apple tree I planted.....

Thanks and sorry if this was too long.

If I read your post correctly the ARB is made up of 3 people that have a broad range of authority. People come and go which means there will always be a risk that they make decisions you don't agree with. If you can live with this make the purchase and accept the risk. If you can't, I wouldn't do it. This really is a personal decision based on your beliefs.

If the ARB does not have fining ability in the CCRs, likely the only enforcement method is via the courts (suing). Since that is hard to do with no money, an ARB without an association seems fairly toothless. Even absent an ARB, in most associations individual members can enforce CCRs against neighbors, again this would require suing to have any effect. In many jurisdictions court records can be searched online. You might try to see if the ARB has ever sued anyone to enforce covenants, if they haven't so far they most likely never will, but that's just a free opinion from a random stranger on the internet.

Of course, that doesn't stop some power hungry idiots from trying to enforce by bullying or intimidation, so you might want to talk to a couple of current residents and see how things work there in practice.

The clause that requires owners to collectively maintain easements is a concern, who collects this money and hires contractors?

Unfortunately, as you've found, in many areas finding non-HOA properties can be challenging.

Thanks John (s). Sound, sage advice. Appreciate it.