Check out some similar questions!

boyscoutbob · Jun 30, 2012, 02:11 PM

I live in a town home that iown in Virginia and the Hoa came behind our house which is backed up to the trees and the backyard is completely fenced in and I received a letter that my four wheeler needs to be out of site of the public. My four wheeler is 1 covered and inside the fence and could only be seen if you climbed over the fence or were trying to completely peek into the yard. I feel that this is an invasion of my privacy due to them having to look through or over my fence into my private property. Please let me know if I am wrong about this...

Fr_Chuck · Jun 30, 2012, 02:13 PM

So they tresspassed on your property ? Is your gate locked ( needs to be I guess)

boyscoutbob · Jun 30, 2012, 02:17 PM

Yes my gate was locked

ScottGem · Jun 30, 2012, 02:19 PM

First, what do the by-laws say about it? Second, Yes it may be an invasion of your privacy, but it depends on the rules of the HOA which you agreed to abide by when you purchased the town home.

So the question is what do you want to do about it? If it is only a warning letter you can ignore it or respond that your vehicle is not in public view.

boyscoutbob · Jun 30, 2012, 02:28 PM

Originally Posted by ScottGem

First, what do the by-laws say about it? Second, Yes it may be an invasion of your privacy, but it depends on the rules of the HOA which you agreed to abide by when you purchased the town home.

So the question is what do you want to do about it? If it is only a warning letter you can ignore it or respond that your vehicle is not in public view.

I did reply with it is out of view of the public but they constantly want to look through or over fences the four wheeler has been there for 5 yeas and nothing has ever been said

ScottGem · Jun 30, 2012, 03:08 PM

I'm still not getting the problem here. So they sent a letter and you responded. So what probably has happened is a new board or board member recently got elected who is a busybody.

So if you don't like it, go to the next meeting and complain. Lobby against the re-election of this member or the current board.

AK lawyer · Jun 30, 2012, 03:36 PM

How high are your fences? If they can see it by looking "over" them, there may be a problem.

smearcase · Jun 30, 2012, 04:54 PM

You still haven't stated what the covenants/bylaws say.
Did you cover it to protect it or did you cover it to make it less visble as an unlicensed and/or uninsured vehicle on the property in violation of the covenants?
There is a likelihood possibly that a neighbor brought this to a board member's attention.
HOA covenants and bylaws vary greatly from one area to another or even between two adjacent developments in my experience. The one I lived in specified no unlicensed, uninsured vehicles on the property -period. You need to tell us what the covenants/bylaws say.

smearcase · Jun 30, 2012, 05:09 PM

Also, HOA's don't make laws to the best of my knowledge. They comply with the laws of the county and the constitution of the state and US.
I am not a lawyer and these situations vary but I was on an HOA board in a state contiguous with VA and that's what our board lawyer explained to our members. Our covenants and bylaws had to be approved by a judge and the HOA had to be registered with the state secretary of state,

Fr_Chuck · Jun 30, 2012, 05:14 PM

The HOA at least here can make all sorts of rules, No pick up trucks allowed, no basket ball goals in the drive way, What colors can be used on the outside. And more.

AK lawyer · Jun 30, 2012, 06:31 PM

Originally Posted by smearcase

Also, HOA's don't make laws to the best of my knowledge. ...
I am not a lawyer and these situations vary but I was on an HOA board in a state contiguous with VA and that's what our board lawyer explained to our members. Our covenants and bylaws had to be approved by a judge and the HOA had to be registered with the state secretary of state,

Restrictive covenants are contracts. Contracts are "laws", in a manner of speaking, but contractual rights and obligations only apply between the parties to those contracts.

Ok, let's see if I can recall the geography: North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, or Maryland?

The board member is probably incorrect. The covenants and by-laws aren't approved by a judge until the HOA attempts to enforce them.

smearcase · Jun 30, 2012, 06:53 PM

Ak,

Not in my example.

Judge had to approve the bylaws before they could be established and issued to members.
There were however extenuating circumstances involving the developer who had started an assn. on his own initiative about 20 yrs before my time on the board (to collect some dues to be able to maintain the roads) and I don't know what the rules were for him but in the process of changing from his assn to the new one, there were disputes (between he and the current board) and court action, and the judge signed the new covenants and bylaws.

It was WV and many of the HOA's there come about because there are no County roads in WV, Roads are either state roads or private roads and most of the developments are private roads and the need to maintain the roads has to be funded and administered by the HOA's. VA I was told is very similar.
We got lucky when a Governor running for re-election had a program to have the state take over certain roads (which they called "orphan roads") and we had ours takens over by the state, which quelled most of the problems we had.