![]() As to my understanding, a couple of years ago this tract was sold to the previous owners at a tax fire sale because the builder went bankrupt. It is designated on the deed as Community Open Space and would like to change that so as we can put a fence up. We purchased a small tract of land that abuts our property. This sounds harsh, we know, but it sounds like you already need an attorney to defend against a lawsuit, so go ahead and find out how the complex web of Colorado law, the wording of your own deed restrictions, and actions of the HOA when it was active interact in your particular situation. You will need to consult an attorney for an interpretation of how to change the deed restrictions. Often it is more complex than simply re-activating an HOA, and often involves dealing with the descendants of the person or legal entity that created the deed restrictions. Most of us believe that we have long-since abandoned the original covenants by the de facto nature of our lifestyles.ĭo we need to recreate the HOA in order to formalize the many changes we have been living by for decades?Įditors Reply: The answer to your question depends on whether your original covenants allow the HOA to change the deed restrictions. Now, a new arrival has threatened to sue both us as individuals and the (defunct) HOA if we don't revert to the letter of the 1963 covenants. In fact, we have peacefully and happily existed together while essentially everyone has "violated" at least a few of these restrictive covenants. ![]() In the 58 years since the covenants were registered by the developer with the plat, no homeowner has particularly paid attention to the do's and don'ts of these covenants. The HOA has not been active in more than 25 years. We have lived in a small Homesite group in rural Colorado for over 42 years. However, a positive or negative community response could help inform a decision to pay for legal advice or to give up on plans so as not to incur that expense. That might prove somewhat comforting, but if the covenant is still in effect legally, a new property owner should not make an investment decision on the basis of a warm and fuzzy response from the community. If you are sympathetic with the prospective buyer, our suggestion would be to have an informal community meeting or barbecue in which this matter is discussed with the buyer. If after you consult with an attorney, you find that you have deed restrictions or covenants that are still in effect, but you have no HOA, then it really is up to an individual property owner who feels aggrieved to sue to enforce the covenants. So probably a deed restriction is still in effect unless that master deed spells out what happens once an HOA expires. In a few jurisdictions, there is a time limit on all deed restrictions, but that is the exception rather than the rule in the U.S. So if your title is more accurate, and the master deed says that when there is no HOA, the covenants no longer "run with the property," then a new buyer has nothing to worry about if he or she wants to violate something that was in the old covenants. Then you also state that the covenants (which we might characterize as deed restrictions) are still recorded, even though your title calls them "expired covenants." Many things are still recorded but now no longer in effect in fact usually there is no process for something to cease to be recorded. ![]() If that is the case, and indeed in 2000 those tests were met, indeed you have no HOA or HOA officers to help decide current questions. This implies that the original master deed or covenants describe the circumstances under which a homeowners association ceases to exist. You say that a subdivision allowed an HOA to expire. Instead of being able to give you a definite answer, we will give make some general comments about how to think about this question. Anyone concerned about this particular situation would be well advised to consult an attorney who can read the exact documents in question and interpret them in light of Colorado law or case law. How do these covenants affect sale of property? That is, a buyer was concerned that he couldn't put his boat and trailer on the acre and half since it was forbidden in the old covenants.Įditors Reply: The answer will hinge on the exact circumstances. But the covenants are still publicly recorded. Visitor Question: Our rural Colorado subdivision let the HOA expire after 20 years in 2000.
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