Having two lots zoned as one

I am a board member of an HOA in SC. WE have a homeowner who has had their two lots zoned as one. The President gave them time to do this because they are neighbors and good friends. They havew not paid any lot rent for the two years it took to get the lots zoned. No vote was allowed or offered to the other homowners. The President gave perission on his own. What recourse do the rest of the homeowners have? They feel ripped off because they bought into the neighborhood with 49 lots and now it is 48. They also feel it is unfair for this homeowner to be "forgiven" their dues for two years while waiting for the lots to be zoned.

Polly,

I'm at a loss as to how this was done w/o amending the CCRs to show one less lot on the plat. Are you sure this was done legally? Also, I'm wondering where were the other board members when the Pres. was making this decision. They should be aware that all actions of the board should require a majority vote not just the approval of the Pres.

Our covenants state nothing giving the President that authority. It says nothing about being able to combine lots. It was written up to include 49 lots, now 48. No different dues amount was assessed, they just missed paying for two years becaseu everyone thought it was already a combined lot. The President told them they didn't have to apy because "They thought it was already combined, it was their lawyers fault for not filing the papers earlier."

Are these mobile home lots? homes?

If your documents don't address prohibiting it, and if your local municipality allows for it and has combined it, I would consider it over-reaching on the HOA's part to tell me I can't combine two lots into one deeded property.

We have 3 multi-lot owners in our development.

Two have never combined their lots. They pay an assessment for each lot, and they receive one vote for each lot.

One of the multi-lot owner has combined her two lots into one. She now only pays one assessment and has only one vote.

We have no authority whatsoever in the legal aspect of combining lots. Only our local municipality does.

I can't imagine trying to prevent a homeowner from working out a legal structuring of his or her own property.

Lynette,

First of all, this has nothing to do with zoning change. Zoning is when you do a physical change for use of a property. In the eyes of the original plat and layout of the developement, each lot is a UNIT OR PARCEL. I own 2 lots that are combined into 1 big lot but it is still 2 UNITS OR PARCELS. I pay property taxes for a larger lot, one which is not built on , therefore, a non dwelling lot according to the County but I still pay for 2 lots within the association.

According to the association, these are still 2 parcels or units. That means that I pay for 2 units. This is not tough to understand.It would be nice if they cut me a deal for the extra lot but this will require a change in the documents.

Imagine that there are 100 lots with the assessments and budget and expenses for the association being figured for 100 lots. Along comes a bunch of homeowners who want bigger lots and they each buy an extra lot. Now you only have 50 owners but there are still 100 parcels. All of the common area and amenities are still the same, according to the budget. So unless the expenses are reduced and your documents allow for a reduction in an undeveloped lot, you will need to pay for 2 lots--IMHO!!!

THanks.

This is an old thread from 2009 but I would like to add that if they pay assessments on two lots they would also be entitled to two votes, one for each lot.