A buyer purchases a home in a subdivision whose CC&Rs, recorded in 1975, limit each lot to single-family residential use. The buyer begins operating an auto body repair business out of the garage, with customer vehicles parked on the lot and a spray booth in the driveway. The CC&Rs say nothing about home-based businesses. Can the HOA stop the business?
Correct Answer
D) Yes, because a commercial repair business is outside the single-family residential use allowed
A use restriction in recorded CC&Rs is enforced according to the ordinary meaning of its words, so a lot limited to single-family residential use may not be given over to a commercial enterprise even though the covenant never names that particular business. An auto body shop with customer vehicles and a spray booth is commercial activity that changes the character of the lot, and the association may enforce the restriction through the remedies in its governing documents or by injunction. The association's right comes from the covenant itself, so it does not depend on a matching zoning ordinance, and covenants do not expire merely because they are old.
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Related Topics & Key Terms
Key Terms:
Related Concepts
A planned unit development (PUD) is a zoning classification that allows mixed land uses (residential, commercial, recreational) within a single development with flexible zoning standards. Homeowners typically own their lot and share common areas.
Police power is the government's authority to enact laws and regulations to protect the public health, safety, morals, and general welfare. It is the broadest power government has over private property.
Restrictive covenants, also known as CC&Rs (Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions), are private agreements written into deeds or HOA documents that limit how property can be used. They are enforced by property owners, not the government.
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- → A developer plans to build a new condominium complex. The developer must create and record certain governing documents before selling any units. What document is the foundation of the condominium's governance structure?
- → A homeowner in an HOA community wants to install solar panels on her roof. The CC&Rs do not address solar panels. The HOA's architectural review board denies the request, citing aesthetic concerns. In many jurisdictions, how do solar access laws affect this dispute?
- → In a planned community, what is the primary role of the homeowners' association (HOA)?
- → What does the term 'covenants, conditions, and restrictions' (CC&Rs) refer to in real estate?
- → When a zoning ordinance and a deed restriction both apply to the same property but impose different standards, which standard controls?
- → What does it mean when a deed restriction is said to 'run with the land'?
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- → A developer creates a 200-lot subdivision and records a declaration of CC&Rs before selling any lots. The CC&Rs include architectural review requirements, landscaping standards, and HOA membership obligations. When a buyer purchases Lot 45, how is the buyer bound by the CC&Rs?
- → A buyer's agent is reviewing the CC&Rs for a subdivision. All of the following provisions are typically found in CC&Rs EXCEPT.
- → A subdivision's CC&Rs require the approval of 75 percent of the lot owners to amend any restriction. Only 60 percent of the owners vote to remove a restriction that limits fence height to six feet. Is the restriction removed?
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