HOA Appeals Process

bhill1934

New Member
Jurisdiction
Texas
Someone in our neighborhood is putting in a fence that basically surrounds the perimeter of their home. They submitted a variance for the fence and the old BOD/ACC approved it (the HOA was in the hands of the developer at that point so they acted as both). However, this is in direct violation of the CC&Rs that state no perimeter fencing is allowed. The CC&Rs do allow for an owner to submit a request for variances and the CC&Rs say that the decision is in the sole discretion of the ACC. No one in the neighborhood, including their next door neighbors, were consulted about the fence to see if they had any objections. Our CC&Rs do not require this but we think it would have been the neighborly thing to do. There also is no appeals process in our CC&Rs/ACC guidelines - either for an owner to appeal a disapproval or for an owner to appeal a variance that was granted to someone else.

We have a new BOD now and the neighbors have asked the new BOD to review the previous BOD/ACC's decision. They are telling us that they have no authority to review something previously approved and that the matter is closed. The HOA attorney has reviewed this and agrees with the BOD.

Our CC&Rs have nothing about the right to appeal decisions. I can't find anything in Texas State statute that mentions appeal rights except for a minor mention in Section 209.0051(h) that says appeals cannot be discussed or voted on except in open meetings.

Do we have any recourse? The fence is being installed as I write this and if we can stop it we'd like to know how.
 
How will this fence effect you? It's their right to continue to place this as it was approved. At this point there isn't anything you can do. It's their cost, home and property. Again..... How will this fence effect you and your life?
 
Do we have any recourse?

I don't think so.

1 - CC&Rs say no perimeter fence.
2 - CC&Rs apparently allow for a variance.
3 - A variance was approved by a previous duly elected board.
4 - CC&Rs don't require neighbor comment so there was no legal obligation to get any.
5 - Current board has no authority to overrule previous decisions.

The fence is being installed as I write this and if we can stop it we'd like to know how.

"How" depends on how much money you are willing to spend. $5000, $10,000, $20,000? You can hire a lawyer and file for an emergency order halting the project while you litigate against the neighbor and the HOA.

My guess: The fence will end up being built anyway.
 
Why should your neighbor have to ask you first before they place something on their property? They followed the proper procedure and requested an exception be made and it was granted by the ones in authority to grant it. The new administration isn't going to retroactively require they remove the fence after it was properly granted. This affects you not at all. Why would you even care if they have a fence or not?
 
In our previous development proximate neighbors were required to be contacted prior to any project or variance was granted - simply to see if they had any objections. Our current development doesn't have that requirement but it would have just been a neighborly thing to do since our property adjoins theirs. The fence makes their property look like a fort and we don't like it. We're afraid it's going to hurt our property value.

Why should your neighbor have to ask you first before they place something on their property? They followed the proper procedure and requested an exception be made and it was granted by the ones in authority to grant it. The new administration isn't going to retroactively require they remove the fence after it was properly granted. This affects you not at all. Why would you even care if they have a fence or not?
 
it would have just been a neighborly thing to do since our property adjoins theirs.

If you said no, it wouldn't have stopped them as your input wouldn't have mattered, so why bother asking.

We're afraid it's going to hurt our property value.

There it is. The NIMBY mantra.

The thing is, you have no idea what it's going to do to your property values somewhere in the future when you go to sell your house. The reality is it probably won't make a bit of difference to the next buyer of your house.
 
Back
Top