There have been many issues regarding the covenants since the Homeowners Association was started. Please read below to find out some of the concerns and what is being done about them.
ISSUES:
- Each phase of the neighborhood has a different set of covenants. When the developer started building homes in Diamond Head, he did it in phases. There are now 4 phases and 5 sets of covenants in the neighborhood.
- When these sets of covenants were written, expiration dates were written into them. This means that after a period of 10 years, the restrictive portion of the covenants expire and they can no longer be enforced. After a period of 20 years, all portions of the covenants expire.
- At this time, the restrictive portion that was in effect for 10 years has expired in all parts of the neighborhood. In a few short years, the entire set will expire in each phase and there will be no covenants in the neighborhood.
- Before the Homeowners Association was started in 2001, no one was enforcing the covenants and violations began to surface.
- Since the Association was started, the board has been making attempts to enforce the covenants. This has been met with some resistance from homeowners who feel they don’t need to abide by the covenants.
- Other homeowners have complained that they see violations in the neighborhood, yet the board has not done anything about them.
- Now that the restrictive portion of the covenants has expired, the board is no longer able to enforce certain covenants.
- Homeowners are now free to put up sheds and soon they will be allowed to do whatever they please.
- There are not enough homeowners taking the time to send in their signed and notarized form to approve the proposed covenants. Until the board receives enough forms, the proposed covenants can not go into effect.
SOLUTIONS:
- The association board hired an attorney to merge the 5 sets of covenants into one set that encompasses the entire neighborhood. These are the Proposed Covenants. They do not have an expiration date on them.
- After receiving homeowner feedback on the Proposed Covenants, the board revised them 3 times. They are now 98% identical to the original covenants.
- The association board held “signings in the park” where notaries were available to notarize the forms.
- Multiple letters have gone out to homeowners explaining the situation and asking them to send in their forms.
- Volunteers have gone door to door asking homeowners if they are willing to sign the forms and the majority have said yes, but they have not gotten around to it yet.
- A Q&A has been created to answer questions about the Proposed Covenants.
FACTS:
- In order to put these covenants into effect, 75% of the homeowners in each phase must sign the approval form and have it notarized. All persons listed on the title to the home must sign the form.
- The board has roughly 2/3 of the signatures required to file the proposed covenants for phases 1B and phases 2-4.
- Some phases are getting close to the 75% they need. Once a phase has enough signed forms, the proposed covenants will be filed for that phase and they will go into effect for that phase, including those who did not sign them. If other phases do not get enough signatures, they will not be covered under any covenants.
- The board is still enforcing the portion of the original covenants that have not expired yet. However, no one is out patrolling the neighborhood. It is the responsibility of a homeowner to make a complaint to the board about a possible violation.
- Campers, boats, RV’s, etc are not permitted to be visibly stored on a property between the months of October-April. This covenant is still enforceable.
INFORMATION LINKS
