Grandfathering a motorhome

I am a homeowner that had covenants when I purchased my home that did not address motorhomes on the owners property. It does address temporary structures "no structure of a temporary character, tailer, mobile home, basement, tent, shack, garage, barn or other outbjuiling shall be used on anyu lot at any time as a residence, either temporarily or permanently"

Also the original covenants under terms states that these instruments are to run with the land and shall be binding on ll parties and persons for a period of 20 years, and shall automatically etend for successive periods of 20 years unilt the recordation of an instrument of termination within 2 years of the expiration of the initial 20 years.

The developer has no relinquished control to a Homeowners association, stating that they are required to enforce these covenants.

They now want to add various rules, one of them being that motorhomes, Recreational vehicles are not to be allowed on the owners property. I purchased my property with the promise that I was permitted to keep my motorhome discreetly on my property. Now they want to change the rules. My question is, should I be grandfathered in for the rules that were in force from the time of purchase of my home? Any help wold be most appreciating.

George

George,

Glen is right. If you don't have something in writing saying you were granted this permission, or if it isn't in the minutes of meetings that it was said, you will not be grandfathered.

Tim

George please understand I'm not picking on you specifically but making a general comment.

As to the developer promising things; that is pretty much SOP (standard operating procedure), promise anything, make the sale and move on and let the new HOA BOD deal with it. But for the most part you'll notice the people who claim the developer told them this or that never have it in writing.

It never ceases to amaze me that in this day and age if you buy a $100.00 used car you have to sign a piece of paper stating that there were no promises made by the salesman that are not included in the contract. Yet you buy a $100,000.00+ home and people are willing to take someone's word on something that can affect them for decades. Every state protects you from the men in plaid polyester pants but there are only a few that protect you from the women in designer suits.

George, you posted:
"the original covenants under terms states that these instruments are to run with the land and shall be binding on ll parties and persons for a period of 20 years and shall automatically etend for successive periods of 20 years unilt the recordation of an instrument of termination within 2 years of the expiration of the initial 20 years."; and

"no structure of a temporary character, tailer, mobile home, basement, tent, shack, garage, barn or other outbjuiling shall be used on anyu lot at any time as a residence, either temporarily or permanently".

So unless there is other language which allows the Developer to amend the Covenants, they can not be amended the first 20 years. They can try to add rules and regulations but since the Covenant restriction does not list motor homes, and if you have had your motor home on the property for over a year, I doubt that such a rule would be upheld by a court. Rules and Regulations must be reasonable and therefore should include a grandfather clause, IMO.

Roger, ours state something similar, but then in another section provide direction on how to amend and there is no time restriction on them. In other words, all that covenant does is establish that the covenants run with the land and are automatically extended unless terminated by X, Y or Z.

That section does not say they cannot be amended or changed during that time.

I would have George look further in the documents to see how the amendments/changes are handled.

Ours says this:

Section 5. Amendments to Articles and Bylaws. Nothing in this Declaration shall limit the right of the Residents Association to amend, from time to time, its Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws.

And then the by-laws detail how to amend either.

My covenant also only allow for special rights granted by the developer to "last" only as long as we are in the sales and developement period. Once transitioned, all bets are off.

Donna,

We could parse words here but I would think "temporary character, trailer or mobile home" would be constured to include motor homes. Motor homes are defintely "temporary". By the way what defines "mobile homes"? A motor home is defintely mobile.

Donna, I'm confused when you said "your motor home falls under this category and is not allowed".

He isn't using the motorhome at any time, ON HIS LOT, AS A RESIDENCE so I don't see why you say it is not allowed based on that particular covenant.

Aaaaahhhh, good point Mary. Kind of reminds me of my suggestion to look at all possible covenents in the "hazardous tree" thread. One may not apply to allow/disallow something but another may.

Roger,

I had not picked up on the fact that the OP said the restriction related to a CO which prohibits temporary living accommodations. This just reinforces my thought that the intent of the "temporary structures" restriction is meant to apply primarily during construction. Otherwise I cannot understand why garages and basements would be included as they are both part of the permanent structure.

Perhaps the confusion lies in the meaning of Rules vs Restrictions. As an HOA property manager, to me rules means Rules and Regulations; and changing or adding Rules does not mean amending the Declaration CC&Rs to add restrictions. Amending the Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions would allow for adding restrictions, but that would require changing the "original CC&Rs" which is not allowed based on the why I read the orginal post. If I were to speculate rather than take the poster's statements to be accurate and complete perhaps their CC&Rs may be amended prior to 20 years by the Developer.

How many times has a poster asking for help failed to state full and applicable portions of the CC&Rs or other factors? Too many!! This can lead to numerous replys and speculation which may clarify or confuse the person asking for help.

Roger,

Following is the statement the OP made regarding what the CCRs say under "terms": "Also the original covenants under terms states that these instruments are to run with the land and shall be binding on ll parties and persons for a period of 20 years, and shall automatically etend for successive periods of 20 years unilt the recordation of an instrument of termination within 2 years of the expiration of the initial 20 years."

As you can see this provision only relates to the term of the CCRs and has nothing to do with amendments; that would be another article or another section of the Terms article. At least that's my opinion.

If the "Temporary structures" article relates to obtaining a certificate of occupancy that would lead me to believe it was intended to apply to homes that are under construction. But, "temporary structures" really has nothing to do with parking a motor home. IMO, that would come under parking restrictions.