 |
About Deed Restrictions |
| |
 |
Edith - We live on lakefront property where we all have deed restrictions and covenants. One of these restrictions is "no cottage or other buildings shall be erected on the immediate lake shore...all cottages or other buildings...shall extend no further...than the front line of the cottages now erected..." Our neighbor is doing just that--they are extending their house toward the lake. When we contacted our town they said they do not enforce deed restrictions. Town law says they can go as close as 30 feet from the lake. The town gave them a building permit and never let us know. A lawyer told us he would need a retainer fee of $2,500. He said this would be eaten up almost immediately by bringing down their deed/abstract, we needed to get pictures and a copy of their permit. He told us if the judge considered it a "frivolous" claim we would have to pay their lawyer's fee and be fined $10,000. He said the neighbors had invested alot of money if they were already digging and they would fight it for sure. When this construction is done, our property value will have gone down. We will lose considerable views and their construction opens the door for others to avoid the restrictions. I know we can't own the view, but when you live on the lake, it certainly ups the value of your property. What could one do in this case? Just who does enforce deed restrictions? |
| |
| |
 |
Deed restrictions are a private matter, and the town could not consider them if the proposed construction met the requirements for a building permit. It's up to neighbors to enforce restrictions by going to court. If they are successful, a court injunction will direct the violator to stop. If neighbors stand idly by, they can lose the right through failure to assert it in time. In your shoes I would consult a different lawyer, and ask whether there's really much likelihood a suit would be considered frivolous. Around the corner from my home, neighbors once forced a brand-new house to be torn down because the size of its lot violated the tract's deed restrictions. That was many years ago, and the lot is still vacant to this day |
| |
|
Edith
Originally published on January 8, 2005 |
| |
| |
|
Back to Summary
|
< Previous | Next > |
| |
|
|
