Can my HOA require me to organize my garage so that there’s room for a vehicle?

Can my HOA require me to organize my garage so that there’s room for a vehicle?

I have one vehicle which I park in my driveway. I have personal items in my garage. My HOA inspected my garage and told me that it’s fine to have the personal items in my garage but they need to be organized so that there is a room for a vehicle. If I don’t do that then I will be fined $50 a month.

We have wording in our CC&R’s that states that we cannot convert our garages. I don’t consider placing personal items in my garage converting it but the HOA does consider that converting it.

Thanks for your help

Do your CCRs allow for driveway parking? If they do then what you store in your garage is none of the HOA business. Loads of people in my HOA use their garage for storage and park both the cars in the double driveway. Unless your storage is really a business run from home then I can’t see the HOAs action as reasonable

Our HOA states that carports and garages must be for use of parking vehicles and cannot be used as storage.

That being said, we do NOT go look in people's garages to see if there are "other" things in it. I feel that is an invasion of privacy.

I wouldn't say it was converted unless you made it a part of your home (that is only my opinion though). I would double check your rules and quote it to them if it does not specifically say nothing can be in the garage other than the vehicle.

I hear you. And I am actually not a fan of people using garages for storage, filled to the max, on account of the fire hazard. But let's operate in reality and lay out options.

Option 1.
Do as the board asks. Rent a storage unit if you have to. Less is more. The risk of fire is less. Put this behind you.

Option 2.
Send the board a letter like the following:

Dear Board,

On December ___, the HOA sent me a violation notice requiring that I clear out the space in my garage so that there is room for one vehicle. The basis for this is the covenant stating that garages may not be converted. Respectfully, my understanding is that, where the covenants give a board discretion, the discretion must be exercised reasonably. I have doubts that merely storing items in a garage such that a vehicle will not fit represents a "conversion."

Will you please re-consider your interpretation?

I would like to discuss this further at a hearing. I understand California statutes require such a hearing, as described at https://www.davis-stirling.com/HOME/D/Due-Process-Defined. Would you please provide a date when I may have this hearing?

Thank you,

name
address
email addie
phone number

This is almost a reworking of your previous conversation about taking some of the visitor parking and issuing permits to people who have three vehicles so they can place one of them in those spaces. I said that parking should be on a first-come, first-served basis - the people who bought multiple cars without taking a good look at where they might keep them didn't think to plan, so that's their problem. It appears others may have pointed this out and so the board has now advised homeowners to make space for another car. They didn't say you had to get rid of whatever your items are, so why are you being so contrary?

If it were up to me, I'd save the fining for people who had three or more cars who did things like use up the visitor's parking spaces or create blind spots for oncoming traffic parked everywhere, and I would suggest you point that out to the board. That said, has it occurred to you that this could be a good time for you to go through this personal stuff and get rid of stuff you've forgotten you had and haven't used in years? It would leave room for something else (like another car and you can put the third one in your driveway instead of monopolizing the common area). Besides, you do know some of that stuff might be creating a fire hazard or living space for bugs that would then come into your home, don't you?

Maybe you should read this article to ponder your next step:

https://todayshomeowner.com/garage/guides/20-things-you-should-not-store-in-garage/#:~:text=The%20temperature%20in%20a%20garage,accessible%20to%20insects%20and%20rodents.

Thank you for your feedback. This is the first time I have ever used this website so please let me know what previous conversation you are referring to and then I will address the issues you’ve raised.

This sounds like a money grab . Just like the 20k new construction fee in the other thread .

Show them your property card from the county tax assessors office you live in . It probably describes the structure , what habitable rooms are and use . If there s a garage it’s still a garage and never been converted into an excercise room or workshop . ( btw, if you have a private plane and rent a hangar , your lease most likely says for aviation use only . You would be surprised what renters put in there . Sometimes there’s hardly any room for the plane)

I probably agree with Jeff and others. But I think we want to see the actual verbiage in the CC&Rs about 1. use of garages and 2. parking in driveways. 3. Any other verbiage in the CC&Rs about vehicles & parking.

Does your HOA also have Rules that stem for and perhaps elaborate on this topic? If so, please cite th ewording , Jeff.

Sounds like nonsense at first glance.

Please quote the verbiage the Board cited. I think there is a 99.9% chance it does not suggest they can tell you how you can arrange your garage. And I’m 99.9% that “converting” a garage, if brought to a judge or mediator, would have to consist of physical changes to the structure. I doubt it could be considered converted unless the garage door was removed.

But nobody here can give an educated opinion without the wording involved.

I agree.

I don't think some people understand the impact of not using your garage as car space versus storage. It doesn't make your home look that attractive to potential buyers when they see your "treasure" packed in a garage. It's NOT the car being in the driveway except if it's a commercial advertisement vehicle. It just gives the impression in some situations (not all) that the house doesn't have enough space to fit someone's stuff in it. You want to make your home look like if someone buys the house THEIR stuff will fit.

So I don't think having the rule that must park in your garage is necessarily and over reaching control issue with your HOA. It's partly to make sure your home looks attractive to potential buyers.

OP = Original Poster (whoever initiated a topic)

If the Board sent you a violation warning/notice, they should have quoted verbiage from your CC&Rs. I have heard of HOA's that have rules, but given that they seem to be referring to "converting" a garage I can't help but think you don't have such a rule, and they are trying to stretch the definition of "convert."

Well, then, it sounds like they are right. You are going to have to make room for a car.

This does not state that you have to park in the garage. Nor does it state you can't park in the driveway.

The violation he received was not for parking; it is for not having adequate space in his garage to park a vehicle. He would get this violation even if he didn't own a vehicle.

The board inspects all of the garage in our complex.

That is absurd. It is about parking. They would be trespassing or peeping if he didn't have a vehicle.

Yes, the CC&R's allow for driveway parking.

No, I don't have any type of home business. All of the items in my garage are just misc personal items (bikes, skis, etc).

Note that the board is NOT telling me that any items need to be removed from my garage... Only that those items need to be organized better so that there is room for a vehicle.

Our garages are detached so not possible to make it part of our homes.

Would be interesting to know the reason. Insurance requirement? A rule has to be reasonable. If a rule is not reasonable, it can be overturned by the membership.

It is not a board-created rule. It is a covenant. Covenants in the original declaration do not have to pass a "reasonableness" test.

Jeff said it's a rule. He should check his Declaration to see if the board is given power to make rules for life in a separate interest because I didn't see that the detached garage is a common area. Our board can only make rules concerning the common area.

Sorry for the confusion. This is all new for me. Learning as I go. Thanks for your help and feedback.

Jeff

You are not being told you cannot use the garage for storage. What you are being told is regardless of what is in the garage there must be room to park your car in there but the parking your car in there is not mandatory. Could you not rearrange the stuff in your garage and make room for a car?

We have a situation in our association where our trash barrel must be out of sight. One person said well she cannot put hers in her garage. I said I drive a Ford Explorer, which is no a small car, and there is room in my garage for the car and barrel. I said not wanting to put your barrel in the garage is not the same as you cannot.

Thank you for your feedback. All of the units in our complex have 1 car detached garages.