AboutErrica Cook Expertise I can answer any questions regarding buying or selling real estate in California. I can also answer questions about becoming a real estate agent in the state.
Experience I have been selling and training new agents here since 2002.
Question QUESTION: we bout a house to rent out. we got our hoa paper work a week later. we find a clause that say they have a 25% cap on rentals. the board will not let us rent out our home. can they really stop us from renting it. thank troy in california
ANSWER: Troy,
Yes, the HOA can restrict you from renting out the home. During the escrow you should have gotten the HOA docs and read them. You had 5 days to back out or cancel the escrow after reading the HOA docs. If you closed escrow without getting them, or without reading them, then you were negligent.
If the seller or any of the agents involved knew that you had plans to rent the home out, they should have researched the HOA rules a little better, or at least warned you that it was a possibility.
The HOA is actually doing a very good thing by limiting the number of rentals. Most lenders require the HOA to certify that they limit the number of rentals to a certain amount. Just about all the lenders I have ever dealt with WILL NOT loan money on a home in a complex if more than 33% of the homes are rented out. Rentals really destroy property values and in general renters are undesirable neighbors.
That said, the HOA has to determine how they will decide if a home is a rental or not. On the HOA board that I sat on they used mailing addresses. So if you owned 123 Main St. and your mail went there OR TO A PO BOX, then it was considered "owner occupied". If the mail went to another street address then it was considered a rental. Talk to the HOA, maybe if you use a PO BOX then they will still call the home owner-occupied.
Good luck.
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QUESTION: if we moved a renter in without the hoa approval and the by laws do not state what actions they take for use doing that. can they force us to kick out the renters. yhank you for all your help troy
Answer What the HOA can do should be in the CC&Rs somewhere. If the make a rule they have to also state how they will enforce that rule. In reality, they can do whatever it takes to force you to remove the renter.
Have you tried talking to them? Maybe you can pay a one time fine and be done with it?
Also, have you looked back through your file from the purchase and escrow? You should find something that you signed saying that you received and read the HOA documents. If you never signed something to that effect you might have a case against your realtor. As a professional, your agent should have advised you about closing escrow without actually getting all the documents.
