Home Paint Colors Request

Started by CourtneyS2 • 17 replies • 746 views

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CourtneyS2 (Texas)
Posts: 74

Posted:

Hello I'm a BOD looking for anyone's input.

We have a resident that decided to paint their house a very bright blue without getting approval. The resident states they do not know the original color of the home. Our attorney has stated legally we have to allow them to paint it back the original color. Which I agree with however,the resident doesn't know the original color.
Any suggestions we're definitely not allowing any blue colors. They have to chose something within the color scheme of the community.

MelissaP1 (Alabama)
Posts: 13,836

Posted:

They could find if they really tried. However, we will give them a break. Why does it have to be original? Why not one of the approved colors? I had a guy who painted house 3 times because wasn't matching our selected colors. Plus have to consider that some colors do go on brighter when first applied before it weathers down.

I would simply give them examples of the approved colors and have them go with it.

Former HOA President

CourtneyS2 (Texas)
Posts: 74

Posted:

Hi Melissa we don't have any approved colors set in place. I recommended the resident ride the community and if they see a color similar to or one they like then they could submit. The house is now turquoise, the original looked grey. I'm okay with it not being the original color but keeping it within the color scheme of the community. So I guess we should get together and approve colors and show the resident which colors are allowed.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

As long as it's the color scheme of the community, there shouldn't really be an issue.

Take this as a lesson and start documenting the colors of the homes in files so the Association has them.

GeorgeS21 (Florida)
Posts: 3,808

Posted:

This sounds like sloppy HOA management.

So, no list of approved colors?

So, no photos of the house in question to determine original colors?

Are there actually words in governing docs restricting colors? Please post so we can review?

GenoS (Florida)
Posts: 4,276

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By CourtneyS2 on 08/12/2020 5:12 PM
Hello I'm a BOD looking for anyone's input.

We have a resident that decided to paint their house a very bright blue without getting approval. The resident states they do not know the original color of the home. Our attorney has stated legally we have to allow them to paint it back the original color. Which I agree with however,the resident doesn't know the original color.
Any suggestions we're definitely not allowing any blue colors. They have to chose something within the color scheme of the community.

You have nothing in your records that specifically identify approved paint colors? If you don't have anything like that from, say, old board meeting minutes, or written specifications, then there's a good chance you're going to have to allow anything.

CourtneyS2 (Texas)
Posts: 74

Posted:

Our Management Company is owned be the developer. The developer states he doesn't know the color of any of the homes.I will ask if they have any past approved color in the meetings since the Management Company were the past BOD. I would think he had to approve of the color scheme before he built the community. I also don't see anything in our CC&R about exterior color.

MelissaP1 (Alabama)
Posts: 13,836

Posted:

We had a color swatch of approved colors. Posted them at the front entrance for people to choose. Plus they could contact someone on the board or ACC to get them.

Will state this. Paint color name do change about every 7 years. That is why you don't go by the name of the paint as much as the recipe. It's important to keep a record of the paint mixture ratios. Otherwise your "Chipmunk Brown" in 10 years from now may now be "Alvin brown". Which 10 years can be the timeline most people may start changing paints.

Our "theme" is New England fishing village. Which is muted blues, purple, pink, and browns. Trim was "off-white". Your place may look like a "Texas Range". There is usually a "theme" in multiple builds for conistency.

Former HOA President

CathyA3 (Ohio)
Posts: 6,299

Posted:

Is the homeowner the original owner? If so, he/she could contact the builder's Customer Care department (if they have one) and see what sorts of records they have. The original owner should also have that information in the stacks of paperwork they received when they signed the purchase contract or during the building process.

I agree that the owner probably could find the info if they tried hard enough, since it sounds like the new color isn't close to anything else in the community.

I also agree that the management company should be able to come up with something if they're owned by the developer. They may no longer have the info online, but it's probably buried in paperwork somewhere.

Melissa is also right about paint colors being discontinued or going out of fashion, so the board or management company may need to dig out paint swatches and try to match. In my community, we know the brand of paint, the original paint color name/number, and the approximate date the building was constructed. That info would allow workers at the paint store to get us something close to the original color.

JohnM95 (Texas)
Posts: 24

Posted:

What we've done, in cases like this, is request that they repaint the house to an approved color.

We also request that they submit the color request first, so that we can review it against approved palette. Our CCRs don't specify a palette, but instead a generic 'in keeping with the composition of the neighborhood', as well as language that our Architectural Control Committee has the right to define (and even change) things like color scheme.

In practicality, what this means is that if someone submits a paint request and it is an existing color scheme (even if it isn't their current scheme), of course it gets approved. If they vary from it, we weigh it against a more refined definition we've published as part of our design guidelines, which are a supplement to the CCRs (as required by our CCRs).

My guess is the argument "we don't know the original color" is a bit of delay/defer technique on the part of the homeowner. I would counter, as others suggest, that any approved color is acceptable if the original is unknown.

MartyS5 (Georgia)
Posts: 23

Posted:

We had a similar problem about 10 years ago in our 30 year old subdivision. I made a trip to the paint store to find out the most popular colors in the city and they identified about 30. We list these on our website. We also allowed original paint colors which were all earth-tones.
_________
Former HOA President

LarryG8 (Texas)
Posts: 2

Posted:

Depending on how long ago the house was repainted you may be able to view a old image on Google Earth street view. It provides the option of viewing older versions of the images.
If you have Sherwin Williams paint stores in your area you can get your approved paint colors listed on their web site. Check the follow link.
https://www.sherwin-williams.com/homeowners/color/find-and-explore-colors/hoa.

CourtneyS2 (Texas)
Posts: 74

Posted:

Thank you'll so much. I did go on google maps and the home was a dark grey. Two of 3 BOD don't agree to allowing the resident to paint the house dark grey color being that we don't know the original color.

CourtneyS2 (Texas)
Posts: 74

Posted:

Thank you Larry I learnt something new. I'll share this info with our MC AND BOD.

SueW6 (Michigan)
Posts: 814

Posted:

Unless you have CCRs, bylaws or ARC that gives the board power to set house colors, it will be impossible to enforce anything.

How old is this complex? Hard to believe some other homeowner hasn’t painted before.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By SueW6 on 08/23/2020 5:34 AM
Unless you have CCRs, bylaws or ARC that gives the board power to set house colors, it will be impossible to enforce anything.

All the governing documents I have seen specify Association approval for all exterior changes.

Expecting this is the case with the OPs documents, they would have the authority (since the change was made without prior approval).

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