Covenant Violation - I Am Not Believing This!

[RonSchon]

I just received a covenant violation from my HOA. In reading the covenants - I don't think I'm in violation, which is specifically why I wanted a Hawk versus a Grandby - meaning the Grandby would possibly hang out over the sidewalk at the end of my driveway. With the Hawk, I'm completely on my property. Here is the paragraph they cited me under...

21. Recreational Vehicles, Boats, Mobile Homes. No boats, trailers, recreational vehicles, buses, inoperative or abandoned vehicles of any kind, unattached camper shells, or boat rigging or other similar items of conveyance shall be parked or stored: (i) on any public street or right-of-way, or (ii) on any Residential Unit lot unless such vehicle can be, and is, totally endlosed within a closed residential garage.

 

[Barko1]

It's not an RV, don't they have a special plate? It's a truck! I have a friend who can park his pickup in the drive

 

[RonSchon]

Yeah, I don't have an RV plate - I'll use that in my argument. A pickup with a topper CAN be parked in the driveway according to covenant.

 

[RonSchon]

Well, a little digging shows me why I'd lose a hearing... 1980 Manufactured Housing Act defines the following...

18010. "Recreational vehicle" means both of the following:
(a) A motor home, travel trailer, truck camper, or camping
trailer, with or without motive power, designed for human habitation
for recreational, emergency, or other occupancy, that meets all of
the following criteria:
(1) It contains less than 320 square feet of internal living room
area, excluding built-in equipment, including, but not limited to,
wardrobe, closets, cabinets, kitchen units or fixtures, and bath or
toilet rooms.
(2) It contains 400 square feet or less of gross area measured at
maximum horizontal projections.
(3) It is built on a single chassis.
(4) It is either self-propelled, truck-mounted, or permanently
towable on the highways without a permit.
( A park trailer, as defined in Section 18009.3.



I guess there is about to be a 1995 Hawk for sale. Sheet.

ALTHOUGH..... It does say - MEETS ALL OF THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONS - and I don't have a toilet/bath room.

 

[DLN]

Oh man, say it ain't true. CC&R's suck.

 

[fish more]

Just move !!

 

[Alex]

I don't think Hawk can be consider as RV. As you said, it does not have a built in toilet/shower. If it does consider as an RV then we should be able to call it a 2nd home(vacation home) for tax purpose like a what class c/a RV owner do. I'm worng??

 

[mtn-high]

Hey Ron

Just a friendly reminder for you to remember to take the neon PINK and GREEN paint chips for the new house colors with you to the Purty Police hearing about the "RV".

My neighborhood is also goverend by a list of covenants....one of which prohibits the parking of RV's anywhere in the subdivision. However, should I get a letter about my FWC I have a list of items/violations on both "common" and private property within our subdivision that the Board of Directors of our HOA have not addressed/are not in "compliance" with "as written" over the 20 years I've lived here .... so they'd basically see my middle finger on the issue until THEY complied with the written Covenants themselves.

IMO, it'd be worth a Benjamin to go talk to a lawyer and see exactly what your rights may/may not be in this instance.

good luck

mtn

 

[RonSchon]

Hey Ron

Just a friendly reminder for you to remember to take the neon PINK and GREEN paint chips for the new house colors with you to the Purty Police hearing about the "RV".

My neighborhood is also goverend by a list of covenants....one of which prohibits the parking of RV's anywhere in the subdivision. However, should I get a letter about my FWC I have a list of items/violations on both "common" and private property within our subdivision that the Board of Directors of our HOA have not addressed/are not in "compliance" with "as written" over the 20 years I've lived here .... so they'd basically see my middle finger on the issue until THEY complied with the written Covenants themselves.

IMO, it'd be worth a Benjamin to go talk to a lawyer and see exactly what your rights may/may not be in this instance.

good luck

mtn

I've got a sister whom is a lawyer, so I will put together my package and sit down with her to see what she thinks. Over on RVnet there is a few guys who say they are retired prop mgrs, and they never lost. However, I don't think those cats understand a FWC compared to a 12' Lance.

 

[CJ8Rockcrawler]

I had the same fight with my HOA about 6 months ago... I was able to beat them though.

Kyle

 

[The Saints]

I live in a condo (townhouse) and I checked with our HOA and was told that I could not store our camper. However I can let it live on our truck. We have to ditch the camper shell, but the Bobcat will be fine. I can take it off, but only if I tell the HOA, and only for a shor period of time, for service or something like that. We only have the one vehicle so the HOA wasn't too worried about the parking lot becomming a RV storeage.
Good Luck to you.

 

[chnlisle]

I think Kyle had the same problem with his HOA.

 

[brett13]

It's an RV methinks. Just store it in the garage when not in use or rent space at a lot for $30/mo. Beats having to give up your camper.

 

[ScottBailey]

Last time I had an HOA issue, I politely emailed the property management, suggested I was not at fault (I wasn't, but I couldn't prove it), and asked who complained. No response other than an apology. I still wonder who complained.

Maybe you are in violation. So what. Ask for an exception and plant some trees to hide the rig. Our campers are no more annoying than large truck toppers or conversion vans.

 

[RonSchon]

Kyle,

I'd love to hear how you won with your HOA. I had a conference with an attorney today, and we have a game plan, but I'd like to hear what you did.... Thanks

 

[RonSchon]

BTW... I had an hour with my attorney today... She thinks it is a winner. She pointed out several points where we can win, and if not on any individual point, the cumulative effect will make it a winner. Her point being - before it gets expensive - show up with both the attorney, as well as a deep packet on why we will not lose - and they will just let it go. Living 4 houses down from a family that has had a conversion van parked in the driveway the whole time is going to be hard to argue against.

Very nice having a lawyer in the family.

 

[CJ8Rockcrawler]

BTW... I had an hour with my attorney today... She thinks it is a winner. She pointed out several points where we can win, and if not on any individual point, the cumulative effect will make it a winner. Her point being - before it gets expensive - show up with both the attorney, as well as a deep packet on why we will not lose - and they will just let it go. Living 4 houses down from a family that has had a conversion van parked in the driveway the whole time is going to be hard to argue against.

Very nice having a lawyer in the family.


My issue was somewhat different as it sits in the backyard and is not visible over the fence line unless it is popped up or someone is on my property. If it is on the truck, it is in the garage. I also pulled several RV definitions off of the internet, but never needed them. I believe the RV definitions I had discussed having a form of locomotion of some sort. Obviously, that doesn't apply to our campers as they are NOT vehicles. Another home in the neighborhood has a conversion van, never needed to point out that fact either. It also helped that the property manager can't tell the difference between a camper trailer (which is what he was calling the FWC) and the FWC. While we were in the process of discussing the issue, the property manager decided that our home was in need of special attention and cited us for weed violations as well. The neighbors thought the whole issue was hilarious because that can't see the camper at all AND they had a weed infestation with no violation notice. It went all the way to a hearing with the board, but I was unable to attend due to a conflict. I sent a letter discussing my points and they came back with as long as it can't be seen over the fence, I can store it in the back yard. I'll be sure to look for a home in an area WITHOUT an HOA next time I buy though. I'm tired of asking for permission to make improvements to my yard or my house.

Good luck!
Kyle

 

[RonSchon]

Thanks for the info Kyle,

I'd like to say next time I'll skip the HOA/Covenant situation too, but I'm not sure I'll be able to find a place that both my wife and I like that DOESN'T have one.

I do know this - the next house will have at minimum, a 4 car garage with at least 1 with a high entry point.

My lawyer/sister said she thinks what MIGHT have happened here is that a real-estate agent turned in a "list" of things they didn't like, and the HOA just sent out a list that they CC'd the agent on and that is the end of it.

I have a few weeds in the front yard - I better get those taken care of, just in case.

 

[The Saints]

Well 13 years ago Valerie and I bought the house of our dreams. And it was the house of our dreams for about 1 1/2 to 2 years. Then the neighbor from hell moved in to the house next door. For 8 LONG years we fought and put up with SH_T. When it came to the end instead of Valerie leaving me, or me sniping my neighbor from the hillside, we moved. We decided that we wanted a place where there were rules. We needed structure and confines for our next house, so we bought our townhome. I couldn't be happier. Fortunately there are only 10 homes so we are small, and there is a small bit of rule bending going on, but things get slapped down when it gets out of hand.
Sorry for your experience, I hope all goes good for you. When we made our move the way the economy was we sold low and bought high.

 

[RonSchon]

Sell low and buy high is my middle name...

Truthfully, what I'd like to do is buy a "personal warehouse". Basically it's storage units gone condo. That might be what I end up doing with the next residence - buy a condo to live in, and a condo for storage of motorcycles, jet ski's, campers, and all the things that go with them, plus have a little bit of a fabrication shop set up in there.

There are some fairly close to me now, but they just want too much money for them. I'm hoping to find one on the used market and the price has fallen to a reasonable price. These are fairly close to my house, and I can see about $30,000 of value for them, but they were selling new for $60,000. They probably won't lose as much value as I need them to lose, but I'll keep looking.