Homeowner associations are governed by Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (CCRS) that are put into place when a development is platted and parcels are recorded. One of the reasons behind this governing document is to establish some guidelines for managing common property, which can include streets, street lights, fences, playgrounds, mailboxes, signage, and landscape trees. The CCRS also spell out some conditions for living in the development, designed to protect property values and to encourage responsible behavior on the part of owners.
Sometime called Compliance Policies, Enforcement Policies are the rules that the board of directors uses to ensure that owners abide by the conditions as outlined in the CCRS. These policies include the consequences to owners of not following the rules. Boards have a responsibility to make sure that there is a lot of communication to owners about the rules and expectations for living in the association—nothing is more annoying than to be scolded for some behavior that you weren’t aware of.
Boards also craft policies to focus on the big picture—that behavior which has a serious effect on the overall appearance or safety of the neighborhood and affects property values. Owners also have a responsibility – to maintain their property so that it doesn’t affect their owner’s property values.
Some examples of issues addressed by Enforcement Policies:
- Parking vehicles on sidewalks, curbs and lawns
- Parking disabled vehicles anywhere in the neighborhood
- Parking campers, trucks, semi cabs, boats or trailers in view of any neighbors for more than 24 hours, and especially long enough to let moss grow on them
- Leaving construction materials in your yard or driveway for more than a weekend
- Mossy roofs, especially more than one season’s accumulation
- Mossy siding
- Mossy yards, including moss covered landscape blocks, sidewalks, curbs or other structures
- Deteriorated fencing
- Deteriorated out buildings
- Trash and trash containers in view of neighbors or anyone driving through
- Unapproved structures – any changes or additions to your property not approved by the Architectural Committee.
You may be contacted by your board of directors if you have any of these issues. If you are unable to comply with policy timeframes, or you need more time to comply, contact the board to negotiate a solution. If you have questions about your association’s policy, you can find it on the association website. If you still have questions, contact Vantage at comply@vantagecommunities.net.