roof color

I agree. From my reading, the courts tend to take the position that, because the owner relied on the ARC's decision in going forward; it appears the owner did so pursuant to the governing documents instructions concerning ARC approvals; and a great deal of money was expended by the owner; the HOA is stuck with this.

The question remains as to whether the roof color truly violates the covenants. This can be tricky. If you quote exactly what the covenants say about roof colors and getting approval, then I think you will get more meaningful advice here.

In the future, I advise enforcing the covenants as written. This may translate to firing the ARC members that approved the roof color. If a HOA member says, "The Smiths over there got xyz roof color. Why can't I have this same roof color," then the Board should just be honest about what happened.

The Board should consider informing the owner with roof with a possibly illegal (under the covenants) that, when the roof next needs replacement, the owner must get pre-approval for the color, and that the ARC and Board will not approve such colors in the future. Put a letter saying as much in this owner's home's file.

Forgot to ask, Dave, are you on the Board?

Copied from CCR:

Unless otherwise approved by the building committee in writing, the roof of each residential structure, including garages and detached structures. shall be constructed with [brand name] shingles, or an equivalent or superior shingle approved by the building committee, which shingles shall be of grey weathered wood color. Upon written application to the building committee, the building committee may approve variances to this restriction if such variance, in the opinion of the building committee, conforms to the architectural standards of the Property. All such variances must be approved in writing by the building committee.

Homeowner got approval for a black roof.

Yes, On the board.

DaveP8, thank you for quoting the CC&R and giving the "approved" color. After reading this CC&R, I am standing by my earlier response.

Thank you all for the great advise. The HOA will have to live with the roof color for now. I also think the architectural committee should report their decisions to the board so time is not wasted sending violation letters that must be rescinded. The problem here is that the architectural committee is also a board member.

Yes, that's what I'm saying.