Is it possible to secede from a restrictive covenant that does not have HOAs?

[Draino80]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?NY
Ok, so we purchased a home with seven acres, and were never told their was a restrictive covenant on the property. We purchased the home from the builder,and the original address was that of the street that ran to the west of the house before the new road was completed and the address changed to the road that now runs in front of the house. We have already put in a large garage, and wanted to store our camper/get chickens/literally use our and they way we wanted, but we have one neighbor that brought to our attention that we are already out of compliance with the covenant. There are no HOAs that are paid. Is it possible to secede from this ridiculous covenant and move the mailbox back to the original road? Please help!

 

[justalayman]

Move your mailbox wherever you wish but if there are restrictions on the use of your property , you will have to live with them.

 

[Sloop John D]

What is the restriction?

 

[csi7]

Move the mailbox, and do what you want.

The use of restrictive covenant and the terms of the restrictive covenant are not legally enforceable as it stands now.

 

[Draino80]

What is the restriction?

The covenant reads very similar to a traditional HOA: no above ground pool, no storing campers or boats on property, no clotheslines, no more automobiles outside the garage than there are garage spaces, no outbuildings larger than 120sf, no farm animals, no commercial use of the land. Where we are located is in a very rural area, and was extremely surprised about this document. If there aren't any HOAs, how can they enforce it?

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

The county can cite you for the violations. I suggest you put any boats or campers you wish to store in a closed garage.

 

[LdiJ]

The covenant reads very similar to a traditional HOA: no above ground pool, no storing campers or boats on property, no clotheslines, no more automobiles outside the garage than there are garage spaces, no outbuildings larger than 120sf, no farm animals, no commercial use of the land. Where we are located is in a very rural area, and was extremely surprised about this document. If there aren't any HOAs, how can they enforce it?

Can you please clarify something for me? You mentioned the change of address as somehow being connected to the covenant. How did you find out about this covenant? Who is telling you that it pertains to you and how? Does your specific deed reference this covenant?

 

[FlyingRon]

I suspect CSI7 has it right. Absent any HOA or the like to enforce the covenants it's going to take some neighbor to sue you. Even if they do, the fact that things haven't been enforced for a long time most likely makes them unable to prevail in such actions. Covenants are not code, I don't see where the government would have any right to sue (unless they were an abutter or such), certainly they can't just fine you for violating them.

 

[FarmerJ]

Do your self a favor learn all you can about your city /county/ township ordinances I say that just to make sure you have covered yourself Your local govt may not have restrictions say about campers etc but just make sure. Also curious here , are there other properties beside the yours and this one neighbor that are supposed to have these restrictions too ? if there are then go take a look at them and get pics of any others doing the same , chickens , campers etc.

 

[Draino80]

Can you please clarify something for me? You mentioned the change of address as somehow being connected to the covenant. How did you find out about this covenant? Who is telling you that it pertains to you and how? Does your specific deed reference this covenant?

1. We found out about the covenant after putting in our separate garage, and I was talking to "the neighbor" that has issues, and told her I wanted to get chickens, when she replied, "you can't have them here, along with certain outbuildings". At that point I went to the county clerks office and pulled,records, and found a copy of the covenant in the previous owners file, and my name had been typed into the form. On our deed it states, "we adhere to all neighborhood restrictions, etc", but were not aware there was a covenant, as the previous owner knew what our intentions were, and knew we wouldn't purchase the home if we did.

2. The home was the first built in a new development, and is bordered by two roads. The home's original address was on "Smith" road before the new development road was complete. Once the new road was complete, it was named "Turner" road, and the Smith address changed to a Turner Road address. My thought was the it would be easy to secede from the neighborhood by changing the Turner address back to Smith, relocating the mailbox, and even the driveway if necessary, just to be out of this ridiculous covenant. So far, I haven't been able to find anyone who has actually done this.

 

[Draino80]

The county can cite you for the violations. I suggest you put any boats or campers you wish to store in a closed garage.

That's the point: we would love to add onto the garage for indoor storage, but it is restricted! And the town inspector came out and passed the inspection on the garage when it was being put in, and they never mentioned anything about a restrictive covenant.

 

[Draino80]

Do your self a favor learn all you can about your city /county/ township ordinances I say that just to make sure you have covered yourself Your local govt may not have restrictions say about campers etc but just make sure. Also curious here , are there other properties beside the yours and this one neighbor that are supposed to have these restrictions too ? if there are then go take a look at them and get pics of any others doing the same , chickens , campers etc.

There are a total of five homes in the neighborhood, and two lots left for sale. From the looks of it, we are the only ones with a large outbuilding, and no one else has an RV, chickens, etc. The only issue I can see is one neighbor that park their cars outside of their arame (which is a supposed violation), but they are not the ones that have an issue. The covenant says it can be changes every 13 years if 70% of the neighbors agree, but it seems ridiculous, as there isn't an association.

 

[Sloop John D]

An HOA is not typically necessary to form restrictive covenants, as far as I know. There's a lot of rules about when restrictive covenants can and cannot be enforced, and those rules can vary from state to state. There's a possibility that your covenant would not be valid because you didn't have adequate notice, and there's a possibility that it won't be valid because it's not the type that will run with the land. The best way to find out whether or not this covenant is valid is to consult with an attorney.