New HOA and "grandfather" previous improvements

We are a new HOA that had no "official" architechtural/design standards/covenants for the first 2 years of existence. Over this period, homeowners have been adding decks and other improvements, some of which now violate the recently approved (Feb. 2006) design standards by our BOD. Our BOD determined that these standards would apply to all improvements going forward and those that were completed prior to the approval of the new standards. This seems unfair. Has anyone faced this issue and are we opening ourselves up for litigation?

How have others handled the transition from builder managed HOA to homeowner managed HOA?

Thanks for the input. As it happends, I am chairman of the ARC

This is a tough issue and we are trying to be reasonable about the situation because, due to several reasons, homeowners did not submit requests for improvements prior to the approval of our design standards, and now their properties are in volation. For example, the new standards do not allow for white railing on decks, but we have several of these in the community, and they look great. However, when the design standards were developed the ARC decided against white rails. Now we have this dilemma, paint over the white railings or rip them down and rebuild. I know the homeowners could have avoided this situation by simply submitting a request prior, but there were no specific standards at the time to judge these requests against other than the existing covenant that states all external modification must be approved by the HOA, so they probably would have been approved anyway. What a mess.

You may be opening up for litigation, and your right, it is not fair. You can't change the rules in the middle of the game. Most places that I have read about have always "grandfathered" in previous improvements which were NOT in violation at the time of their construction. If white rails are no longer accepted, who is going to pay to change it? You? The HOA? The BOD?

Thanks for your responses. I am in Alexandria, Va. Ultimately, it would be the homeowner's responsiblity to pay for any modifications. It just does not sit right with me to go to those extremes. We all have to live together, and there must be a middle ground on this. It just seems senseless to me that we are going to ask someone to modify/tear down a deck just because the ARC decided a year and a half after it was constructed that white railings were not acceptable.

Todd, any guidelines developed by the ARC should not go into effect until after the homeowners are provided a copy of the guidelines. Don't ask anyone with existing white railings to modify or tear down. It is not their responsibility.

ToddJ,

I could not agree more with JosephW's post on how you should proceed.

Legislating taste is a tricky matter. What is more important is legislating what can and cannot be done to common elements, since those are what the HOA/COA must maintain.

Elements on property in an HOA community that is owned outright by the resident(s) should only have a degree of legislation so as not to infringe on owner rights and liberties. That sliding scale is developed by each association and is unique to the state and the tastes of the residents within that community. What is right for residents in my community, may not be right for those in yours.

Here's some skinny on how our ARC standards were developed. None of our ARC standards went against the cc&r's but they were developed after owners did modifications. Some owners, not educted in coa living mistakenly modified as if they owned the place and did so before the owners controlled the board. Some of the modifications (annual/perennial flowers, wreaths on doors) were fine, they became standards but some limitations on placement were developed. Other modifications, were not fine, and were in contrast to state/federal/local rulings and our cc&r's. For example, satellite dishes on townhouse roofs. We developed 2 exclusive use areas for satellite installation since our cc&r's said they could not be placed on the roofs and only on the deck railings. The developer changed the railings from wood to painted metal so installing the dishes on the metal was next to impossible.

In my opinion, an HOA should develop a color and material choice for railings, white being one, and other colors complimentary with the houses.

Standards to modify should provide the owners a pallete of material, color, and location choices. The reason is that it maintains harmony both visually, and politically.

Best of success!!
GeraldT1
NNJ