We have lived in two previous deed restricted communities. One (in Venice, FL) was attached to an HOA. The other (in Danville, KY) had no HOA.
In Venice the HOA policed the covenants and restrictions. They were worse than any two biddies in carts could ever be. They were always on patrol and would cite for the most minor of infractions. A violation could be something as minor as a guest who parked their car incorrectly (the only violation we ever had) to an ARC violation, but regardless of how minor there were always multiple notifications and threats for everything from increasingly stiff fines to losing your privileges to the amenities (but you still had to pay your dues). The funny thing is, it didn’t result in perfection in the community as you might think, and it led to a gestapo like presence. HOA’s are run by people and, as with all things that involve people, it boils down to giving a little person a little power and they can use it to make your life miserable.
The deed restricted community in Kentucky had no HOA so the burden of enforcing compliance was completely upon the homeowners and the only way to do so was for the complaining homeowner(s) to take the violators to court to have the restrictions enforced. We were aware of only one time this happened. There were people out of compliance for sure but if everyone liked them and the violation didn’t warrant thousands of $$$ to go to court then everyone turned a blind eye.
Neither of the above situations were ideal. It seems what we have is somewhere in between that. It isn’t a perfect system either but it seems to work better than the other two options. There is a neighbor in our patio villa community that is very out of compliance. They have put up fences for their dog, lawn ornaments galore, and some pretty hideous landscaping. It has been that way for nearly a year. I figure if the people who actually live next to them are bothered by it they will report it and if they are not, it is none of my business. I only have to see it if I choose to drive down that street.
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