Cora Carleson...........................4

Hey Cora, I just bought a new house and there were CCRs (Covenants, Codes and Restrictions), but there is no active homeowners association. Does that mean I can do what I want? Signed in-need-of-chickens.

Dear Chickens, well…..no! Actually, a big fat no. Really a tremendously huge, bold face, big font, NO! CCRs were put in place by the original developer. He or she wrote the document so it would fit the look and style of the neighborhood. There are always people that bought homes in that neighborhood specifically because they liked the protection of the CCRs.

Now, some neighborhoods are new, and they have not established all the things that are required in the CCRs for the running of the Homeowners Association (HOA). Others are old, really old, and no one has held the HOA positions for many years. Let’s look at some of the possible scenarios and see what you could do as a homeowner.

New Neighborhood with CCRs: There are a total of 20 lots in the pretend neighborhood that we are talking about, and we are going to call it “Belly-Acres”. Now Belly-Acres has all the typical restrictions, no chickens, no horses, no pigs, no dog teams as well as a bunch of other stuff. Of the 20 lots, only 5 are sold. This means that 5 are owned by individuals and 15 are still owned by the developer. You can write up a petition to have the CCRs changed. So, let’s say that 2 owners of Belly-Acres homes, wants chickens! Best thing to do would be to contact the developer because he owns the most lots. Let him know that chickens are your thing, they are your “mo-jo”, and you are in love with their little chicken hearts! The developer says, “okay, we will change the CCR’s to allow chickens, but no roosters!”. This works for you. He writes an amendment, to the CCRs but 80% of the homeowners must agree. He owns 75%, your vote will push it to 80%. It’s signed, it’s recorded at the state recorders office and chickens are now part of Belly-Acres! It can be done. If all the lots are sold, you would need 16 lot owners to agree to the changes, record them with the state recorders office to change them.

Non-Active HOA with CCRs: Okay, so this one is a little different. So, let’s call this makebelieve neighborhood Quartier Ordinaire Park and everyone has been simply taking care of their homes over the years. There are a few violations of the CCRs like small chicken coups, a few wellkept conexes, but nothing over the top. While there are CCRs, there is no HOA. This means there is no governing body to enforce these CCRs. So, here’s your new neighbor thinking YEAH! Whoot Whoot, chickens, goats, a lean-to on the side of the house, a garage made of pallets and an old school bus for spare room. Not so fast neighbor! Just because there is not currently an active HOA does not mean that one cannot be established quickly. The CCRs are still valid, and any homeowner can organize with other homeowners and decide it’s time to enforce the rules. Of course, a large percentage of the neighborhood would all have to agree on this. The reason for CCRs is to keep the neighborhood even, so that one lot owner’s “school bus spare bedroom” cannot bring down the value of the neighboring lot. Now, the new neighbor could create an amendment to abolish the CCRs all together. But he would need 80% (or whatever percentage the documents require for Quartier Ordinaire Park) to sign off on abolishing the CCRs. Depending on the neighbors, he may or may not be able to do this.

Old CCRs: Sometimes, CCRs were written back in the ‘70s. And because most of the Mat-Su Valley is not under the jurisdiction of city zoning or codes, CCRs are in place to keep things nice. Now sometimes, CCRs were written for only a specific amount of time. Like 40 years, however, most of the time, there is a provision in the document that states, “these rules shall run with the land” meaning they do not expire. Again, there will be a percentage of lot owners that will have to agree to amendments to the CCRs and they must be recorded with the state’s recorder’s office. Let’s say we find a house in Tres` Vieux Vista, all the homes were built in the 1970s and the trees are all large and in charge. You want to cut some trees because they are damaging your roof. But the CCRs say that you cannot cut trees down without permission from the HOA. There is no active HOA, so you just get out the old McColloch Chain Saw and zip those leafy offenders down! Your neighbor, Sir Knows-A-Lot, comes out and says, “You are in violation of the CCRs, and I am going to sue you for the value of those trees!” and he shows you some yellow stained document that says: “Cutting of trees must be approved by the HOA”. Well, nobody likes the phrase “sue you!” But before you explode or cry or stomp off, read the entire document. The CCRs could be expired, if they are not, you will have to wait to see if Sir Knows-A-Lot knows a lot of his neighbors because they would have to form an HOA, prove that the CCRs are still intact, and then present you with a violation and a possible solution. Best advice, stay on good terms with your neighbors, usually you can just plant a few new and smaller trees to replace the old ones and avoid issues with your newly established HOA.

CCRs are there for the protection of value. If you have no active HOA, it’s because everyone is behaving in the neighborhood, there is no reason to complain. But remember, you can change CCRs. Just read your document, there is always a way to amend your CCRs, you just need a few more neighbors that think like you do to get things changed. CCRs are the rules, but they can be changed!

Remember, if you are buying or selling give me a call and if you have a question, email me at corasproperties@gmail.com

Call Cora Today!

Keller Williams Realty Alaska Group Of Wasilla 621 S Knik-Goose Bay Rd Wasilla, AK 99654

www.clcandassoc.com 907.982.5700