Strange Rules You Might Find With A Homeowners Association
If you are looking at a home for sale in a community with a homeowners association (HOA), you should understand that this organization will have a set of Covenants, Conditions, & Restrictions (CC&Rs). Before you buy the home, you should thoroughly read this document, so that you fully understand the rules of the community. If you are not careful, you might encounter some strange rules. Here are three strange rules found in the CC&Rs of some HOAs.
The number of flowers you can have
The purpose of the CC&Rs is to control how the community looks. While most of the rules are somewhat normal and expected, there can also be times when the rules seem a bit too much. One example of this is if there is a rule relating to the number of flowers you can plant in your yard.
This rule is designed to keep yards clean and tidy, but it can be a hard rule to follow, especially for a person that loves flowers, yard work, and outdoor decorating.
No activities in the yard
A second rule you might find in some CC&Rs relates to the things you can place in your yard. For example, the covenants in this community may state that you cannot have the following items in your yard or driveway:
- Basketball hoop
- Swing set
- Trampoline
In addition, you might not be allowed to leave bikes, power cars, and other types of children's toys outside of your home. While you might be allowed to use these things, you may be required to store them in the garage as soon as you are finished with them. There might also be a rule that prevents your kids from drawing with chalk on the driveway.
No signs in your yard
Another rule you may find is one that prohibits placing any types of signs in your yard. While this may not matter a lot to you, it can matter to people who are highly involved in politics. When there is a political race underway, a lot of people like to place signs in their yard for advertising purposes.
If this community prohibits this, you will never be able to place any type of sign in your yard without getting fined or in some other type of trouble.
Rules in HOAs are important, but it is also good to fully understand them before buying a house in a community. If you are interested in getting a homeowner's association started in your community, visit Cornerstone Properties Inc.
