Shared Maintenance Agreement Not Recorded

Three years ago my husband and I purchased a home on a lake in North Carolina that shared a three slip boathouse, deck walks, storage shed to individual slips, and gravel driveway. Us and the other two neighbors purchased our homes from a

family trust all within a few months each other. Each us signed deeds that included a schedule "A" which established a shared maintenance agreement specifically for the common elements that were shared among the three owners. Last year,

one of the neighbors sold his property and the new owners seem to believe that they can claim exlusive rights to certain areas of the shared dock by installing a kayak lift. Even though the properties are located in an HOA community with

recorded covenenats, the docks and decking are not in our little cove are not managed under the HOA.

I did some research and obtained the recorded deed from the last owner that included the schedule "A" just like ours and the recently recorded deed of the new owner. They are different, in that the recently recorded deed did not make

any mention of the shared maintenance agreement or the common areas that are to be shared with the other two owners.

The deed that was recorded in 2020, Secheuld "A" Section 16 states "The covenant set forth herin shall be conclusively construed and defined as a real covenant and shall run with the real property herin described and conveyed and the

remaiing lots which are owned by the Grantor herein". The covenant fully describes each portion of the shared elements and refers to them as common areas and common element are responsibility of each lot owner to share the cost of

maintenance equally.

The deed that was recorded in 2022 only mentions the improvements of the lot and slip #11 being sold and that there is a 10' shared pedestrian easement and a 9' shared gravel driveway and it also grants access to their boat slip

over and accross a utility easement via the wooden walk. In closing of the deed it states "This the identical property conveyed to the previous owner dated June 2020 and recorded in the registry with a book and page number. There is

no mention of the nearly 100 feet of deck walks and a 27' X 20' Sun deck, water or utilities that are billed through individual meters on one of the other lots.

My question is, does the maintenance agreement that was recorded in 2020 convey automatically to the next owner whether or not the attorney who prepared the most recent deed omitted it? Is there any statute that the maintenance

agreement will need to be re-recorded after a certain period of time?

I live in Virginia, this is a second home for me and my husband.

It does not say anything more than the covenant runs with the land. I mentioned that in my post, about half way through where it begins with the deed that was recorded in 2020 stated....

BernieJ,

I suspect the restrictions (including any maintenance agreement) contained in the 2020 deed would carry over to subsequent deeds. I believe these restrictions (from the 2020 deed) should have become apparent in a title search.

Identifying restrictions on land is one of the main purposes of a title search.

I do not know in what manner the 2022 deed should have incorporated these restrictions. The latter is getting deep into real estate attorney territory and expertise. As a layperson somewhat smarter than the average bear (in only my opinion), all I can say is that, for a few reasons, I think the 2020 restrictions do apply today. I also think the buyer (who eventually became the newest owner) should have had these restrictions disclosed to him, in some manner or another.

It's possible the mere fact that the 2020 restrictions were recorded (apparently via the recording of the deed) served as legal notice to the buyer.

Did the title search company drop the ball? I do not know.

Did the attorney who wrote the 2022 deed drop the ball? I do not know.

I am curious: Is there actually a recorded document that says "shared maintenance agreement" at the top of it?

I am keeping in mind that "deed" is not at all necessarily synonymous with, nor interchangeable with, "covenant." Nor is "deed" synonymous with, nor interchangeable with, "shared maintenance agreement." Deeds can contain covenants (a.k.a. "restrictions"). I hope you understand that I do not have in front of me what you have in front of you. Respectfully, the more precise you can be as you talk about documents here, the easier communications will be. Answering questions put to you is also helpful.

I expect this forum will not be able to help you beyond this.

I think your next step is to retain a real estate attorney.

Thank you everyone for your input on this matter. I finally was able to talk to the attorney who prepared the original deed that had the shared maintenance agreement attached, as he was the one who authored it.
He did clarify, that since the maintenance agreement was written with language that it would run with the land, it did not have to be included in the deed for the purchasers who purchased the house last year. He did elaborate that the buyers should have known and it should have been explained to them that the covenant (maintenance agreement) was in place and would be enforcable. Which I don't think it was because they really beleived that they could claim exclusivity to any area of the common dock and boathouse.
For the time being the neighbors have calmed down and have not interfered with any of my guests using the dock space. I hope it stays this way.