HOA without a common set of CC&R's

[mll]

I live on a small private road in California. Some on the road are under the assumption that there is an HOA but as it turns out, there are no common CC&R's for the parcels on the road. In fact there appear to be no less than 5 different sets of CC&R's applying to various parcels.

My question : is it possible to have an HOA when there are no common CC&R's covering the neighborhood? Seems counter-intuitive to me.

 

[FlyingRon]

There's no requirement that the CC&R's be uniform. As long as YOUR property is required to be subject to the HOA by the deed restrictions that affect your property, you are in it.

 

[adjusterjack]

My question : is it possible to have an HOA when there are no common CC&R's covering the neighborhood? Seems counter-intuitive to me.

It's possible that there is no HOA and (as has been suggested) each owner has his or her own set of deed restrictions to follow.

Instead of asking what's possible, why don't you just tell us what is happening to you or between you and the other homeowners on the private road.

Then you might get some helpful comments.

 

[mll]

"Instead of asking what's possible, why don't you just tell us what is happening to you or between you and the other homeowners on the private road."

Nothing is "happening", we are just trying to figure out what we have on our hands. At first it was thought that there was an HOA with a common set of CC&R's. A little digging showed that there are multiple sets of CC&R's (we are at the beginning of understanding how many and which ones apply to which parcels). I was of the understanding that an HOA is - at its core - a group of property owners that agree to abide by a common set of rules (i.e. architectural guidelines, how to elect an architectural committee, how the road gets maintained, other do's and don'ts, etc.) as embodied in CC&R's. I am just trying to wrap my head around what an HOA is if there is no single set of written rules for how it conducts itself. For example, how would you do an architectural review of new homes when there is no common set of architectural guidelines...even the basics of the minimum square footage of the homes differs between parcels.

So...no conflict, no drama, just a little bit of confusion.

 

[LdiJ]

"Instead of asking what's possible, why don't you just tell us what is happening to you or between you and the other homeowners on the private road."

Nothing is "happening", we are just trying to figure out what we have on our hands. At first it was thought that there was an HOA with a common set of CC&R's. A little digging showed that there are multiple sets of CC&R's (we are at the beginning of understanding how many and which ones apply to which parcels). I was of the understanding that an HOA is - at its core - a group of property owners that agree to abide by a common set of rules (i.e. architectural guidelines, how to elect an architectural committee, how the road gets maintained, other do's and don'ts, etc.) as embodied in CC&R's. I am just trying to wrap my head around what an HOA is if there is no single set of written rules for how it conducts itself. For example, how would you do an architectural review of new homes when there is no common set of architectural guidelines...even the basics of the minimum square footage of the homes differs between parcels.

So...no conflict, no drama, just a little bit of confusion.

What sparked you all into digging into this? You had to have a reason. Otherwise why does it even matter?

 

[FlyingRon]

Again, what matters is what YOUR property has recorded against it. If it binds you to an HOA, then you are a member of that HOA. If others are bound to the HOA or the HOA documents allow the HOA to take on additional properties, then those can become part of the HOA as well.

While it is usually most common that the developer of a group of homes sets up the HOA requirement as part of the subdivision process and everybody has common restrictions and obligations, there's no requirement that this actually be the case.

What you're likely going to need is a lawyer to look at the various recorded material that applies to your lot. If you're motivation is shared with other owners in the HOA, you might want to group together and share an attorney to handle looking into it.