What is the name of your state? Ohio
My HOA’s by-laws have many restrictions that include: no metal fences of any kind are allowed, no structures besides your house are permitted on the lot, no satellite dishes are to be seen from the street, no recreation vehicles shall be permitted to park for an extended period of time on the property, etc.
All of these restrictions have been violated, especially the metal fence issue. There are approximately 15 metal fences in our neighborhood. My husband and I wrote a letter to the board and asked for a variance, the same type of variance the homeowners who have metal fences must have, to erect a small shed in our backyard and the board responded by saying that according to the by-laws no variances can be given by the board. In essence, they just said that all of the metal fences are violations. They did not approve them, and nothing was done to remedy the situation.
My husband and I built a shed, knowing that we are in violation of the by-laws, but felt that the by-laws were not being enforced and other people were reaping the benefits. As we were building it, a board member came over and said legal action would be taken against us. I asked her if legal action was being taken against the other violators (metal fences, play structures, etc) and she said no. This board member has expressed in the past that she does not like sheds. I was upset because no other home owner was threatened with legal action over their violation. I think the board takes no action on metal fences and satellite dishes and huge play ground structures erected in backyards because most of them don’t mind these infractions.
If they do take legal action against us, can we counter sue claiming unfair enforcement?
My HOA’s by-laws have many restrictions that include: no metal fences of any kind are allowed, no structures besides your house are permitted on the lot, no satellite dishes are to be seen from the street, no recreation vehicles shall be permitted to park for an extended period of time on the property, etc.
All of these restrictions have been violated, especially the metal fence issue. There are approximately 15 metal fences in our neighborhood. My husband and I wrote a letter to the board and asked for a variance, the same type of variance the homeowners who have metal fences must have, to erect a small shed in our backyard and the board responded by saying that according to the by-laws no variances can be given by the board. In essence, they just said that all of the metal fences are violations. They did not approve them, and nothing was done to remedy the situation.
My husband and I built a shed, knowing that we are in violation of the by-laws, but felt that the by-laws were not being enforced and other people were reaping the benefits. As we were building it, a board member came over and said legal action would be taken against us. I asked her if legal action was being taken against the other violators (metal fences, play structures, etc) and she said no. This board member has expressed in the past that she does not like sheds. I was upset because no other home owner was threatened with legal action over their violation. I think the board takes no action on metal fences and satellite dishes and huge play ground structures erected in backyards because most of them don’t mind these infractions.
If they do take legal action against us, can we counter sue claiming unfair enforcement?