I was not informed of any restrictive covenants when I bought my home. Can I be forced to follow them?

Question

When I bought the house there were no covenants disclosed to me throughout the purchase process. I even refinanced it two years later and when I resigned all the purchase papers, again, no restrictive covenants. I received a certified letter informing me that my new shed is in violation of these covenants. Can I be forced to make the necessary changes? What legal options do I have?

Answer 1

1) That you were unaware of the covenants in no way relieves you of the requirement to follow them. You still must comply with them.

HOWEVER

2) It does give you the basis for a lawsuit against the seller as well as the agents involved. I know of people here in California that got their houses paid for by these lawsuits. Talk to an attorney, as every case is different and the laws are also different in every state.

Answer 2

You said you got a certified letter stating that your new shed is in viloation of covenants.

Check who sent the letter to you.

If it was the city in which you live I am sure they were talking about the shed not being legally permitted or didnot comform to city code. Or it might not have a permit at all.

When you purchased the house unless the appraiser mentioned it in his appraisal report the lender would not know about the shed whether it is legal or not.

If this is the problem you simply have to get a retroactive permit or take what ever action the city requires to make the shed legal and or conforming to city codes.

Now if you got the letter from the county you might have a problem with a covenant as to where your shed sits in relationship to your property. Most of these problems come from not knowing where your properrty line is located.

Even if you did not build the shed, and it was there when you purchased the property, it does not take from the fact that an established property line has been established and your shed is on someone else's property.

The owner of the land might even have agreed to allow the shed to be built because they had a relationship of sorts with the old owners, but since the property is now owned by someone else they are establishing the fact that the property line has been violated.

If you can not work something out with this neighbor you might have to remove the shed to your side of the property,even if it means tearing it down to do so.

You may talk to the county to find out which if any covenant has been broken and if there is a variance t hat can be made or an exception.

You need not involve an attorney at this stage of the process. The county is your best bet to talk to unless your letter is from the city, then talk to the city.

Any restrictions or easements or covenants would be in your title report that you should have gotten a copy when you purchased your property at closing. You probably got one, but with so many documents to sign and keep you probably over looked it as so many of us do.

I hope this has been of some use to you, good luck.

"FIGHT ON"

Answer 3

Talk to a lawyer who specializes in real estate before you do anything else. The same thing happened to me and he was real helpful.

The covenants should have been disclosed when you bought the house, but you may not have any recourse. There was probably some fine print that mentioned "other" restrictions on the deed or something like that.

Answer 4

You have no options. You failed to perform your due dillegence when you purchased your home. Your mistake. You probably won't make that one again!

A direct restriction unique to your deed and any unique easements should be on the deed or the title extract that you received at closing. However, any CCRs that apply to the subdivision are on the master plat and are not typicially disclosed to buyers voluntarily. You need to ask for an extract from the master plat and review it for CCRs and general easements such as for utilities, etc. Such things as no fencing forward of the rear wall line of the house or requiring sheds to be of similar materials and color scheme as the house, as well as property line offsets for buildings would be located there. I've bought homes in CA, TX and MO and always had to ask for the general CCRs.

You could apply for a variance on the shed. Most jurisdictions don't like to grant those after the fact though. They'll probably require you to tear it down first and then go through the variance process.

You probably should have been notified when you applied for the building permit for the shed though it's still up to you to know if there are any CCRs on the property. Appealing based upon the fact that they did issue a permit is probably your best and only shot.

Answer 5

The covenants should be spelled out in your deed. You don't mention who the certified letter came from, but if was from planning and zoning, see if you can a variance. Did they tell you to remove the shed? If you can't get a variance for the shed, or permit wasn't required and if planning and zoning won't work with you, then go back on the previous owner. One other thing, did you have a owner's title policy when you financed it the first time? Look for the language in your deed and also see if you have a owner's title policy, then I would contact the lawyer than performed the closing. Look on the deed at the bottom, it should say prepared by""Atty...."

Answer 6

You have to look at the deed to the property. (On file with the county.) Any encumbrances, covenants, or restrictions that would survive a transfer of title should be listed on that document. This sounds like a situation where you should have the help of a local real estate attorney.

Answer 7

" . . . there were no covenants disclosed to me."

Oh yeah? Read your title insurance policy --the one you got when you bought it -- . Somewhere in there, probably Sec "B" you'll find language excluding "covenants & conditions of record" or "common to the subdivision," or "subject to the XXX Homeowner's association," or smilar language. You'll probably also find similar exclusionary language in your purchase contract.

When you read that in your title commitment (what you get before closing to inform you of the exact state of title & what instruments are required for closing) you can say to your attorney: "Hey what's this?" and he'll explain it. Most people don't read it. And most restrictions are pretty common & innocuous. Did you check your neighborhood to see if any of your neighbors had a shed before you installed one? In any event if the restrictive covenant is recorded in the public records in any instrument (deed, plat, etc.) , the whole world, including subsequent purchasers, are on notice of its existence. That is the purpose of public records.

Answer 8

not knowing the situation in it's entirity, i can say that it is difficult to break a covenant if you signed it.

the exception is the display of an american flag in your neighborhood, no matter what the covenants say.

although some restricted areas try to stop you from doing so, some states have enacted laws specifically for displaying the u.s. flag.

-eagle

Answer 9

Contact the attorney that handled your settlement and refi. You may be due some compensation, but you prob will still have to followthe restriction. And winning a suit even for compensation will be long and arduous for not much money.

Answer 10

like an hoa? the hoa is supposed to notify you of all the rules and crap when you buy. just ask specifically for all the rules from the hoa. it may just be a pissed off neighbor complaining.