restrictive covenant enforcement

[Ohioguy]

My neighbor is selling his property(house on ~3.5 acres), and the buyer wants to split off and sell part of the lot to another person to use as a building lot. The deed on this property has restrictions that say no lot splitting is allowed. What recourse do I have to stop this? (In Ohio.) Is there any other way than hiring an attorney?

 

[HomeGuru]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Ohioguy:
My neighbor is selling his property(house on ~3.5 acres), and the buyer wants to split off and sell part of the lot to another person to use as a building lot. The deed on this property has restrictions that say no lot splitting is allowed. What recourse do I have to stop this? (In Ohio.) Is there any other way than hiring an attorney?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Who else would you rather hire, perhaps your accountant or auto mechanic? You could represent yourself if you understood the legal issues but I take it since you posted here, that you do not know what to do.

 

[Ohioguy]

Well, obviously I'd rather hire no one. I was asking if anyone knew of another way, such as the local zoning board, (tried, no help), county attorney, etc.--someone who is on the public payroll that can help with an issue like this. I was looking for advice, not condesending comments, thank you very much. If anyone has any USEFULL comments I'd appreciate it.

 

[HomeGuru]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Ohioguy:
Well, obviously I'd rather hire no one. I was asking if anyone knew of another way, such as the local zoning board, (tried, no help), county attorney, etc.--someone who is on the public payroll that can help with an issue like this. I was looking for advice, not condesending comments, thank you very much. If anyone has any USEFULL comments I'd appreciate it.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

There should be professionals called private land use consultants that could be architects, attorneys, land planners, retires City workers etc. that specialize in land use issues (zoning ajustments, variances, building code and zoning appeals etc.) but do not work for the government.

If you know that the action is occuring, you could easily file a written Request For Investigation with the zoning department to put them on notice of a zoning violation. Another action would be to file a complaint in civil court pro se if you wish.

Would this information be useful to you?

 

[Ohioguy]

Thanks. Yes, that was much more helpful. I've already been in touch with the zoning board, and they say they won't get involved in the private deed restrictions. (Local zoning laws have no problem with the split, so in their eyes there is no violation or need for variance.) I've talked to the sellers, who've confirmed the buyer wants to split, but they (seller) were under the impression they (buyer) were trying to get a variance. I don't know who the buyer is, and the listing agent won't return my calls. (Not that he would tell me who the buyer is, but I'd like to see if he knows about these restrictions, and if so I'd like to report this unethical behavior--representing a lot as splittable when he knows it's against the restrictions.) My biggest problem is not knowing what exactly is going on--is the buyer in good faith trying to see if he can get around the restriction legally, or does he plan to just try and get away with it? If he knew there was a fight waiting for him maybe that would make the decision easier for him. I assume it would be much easier to stop before the split occurs, rather than later, so I also need advance warning on the split approval. I'm going to talk to the zoning department again today, and maybe some county offices to see what they suggest. (May also talk to an attorney I was referred to.) Thanks for your time.