covenant enforcement

Jeepers_Creepers

peppapig14 said:

AdrianC said:

It's up to the directors of the management company.

This would have been better added to your existing thread.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6233385/covenant-and-commercial-van

Do you mean just two of the 70 properties have vans? Or that more do, but only two are on the receiving end of action?

yep sorry should have added on previous
yes only 2 properties out of the 70 have vans and it's just these 2 properties there have received the 10 day notice to remove before enforcement. The other 68 properties have no official acknlodgement of what has been sent to us 

The other 68 properties know nothing of this? Are you sure?

You simply do not know how many - if any - of these other 68 property owners made a complaint to the management about the parking of large vehicles. It could even be the case that they'd also complained to the previous management and they were just too lazy to do anything about it - the new lot are more on the ball.

I suspect you are stuffed.

If you want to take the risk - if you have no other option - you (and the other com vehicle owner) could canvas the surrounding neighbs and ask if they'd support a petition to allow you to keep your vans on site; if they are really not bovvered, perhaps the management will be happy to drop it. But what are the chances the neighbs would be happy to do this?

It's a toughie, but my sympathies are with the other householders if they do find it an eyesore and there's a covenant against it.

greatcrested

peppapig14 said:

greatcrested said:

If enough other residents (asuming they are all shareholders) agree that the covenants should not be enforced, they could pass a motion instructing the Directors accordingly.

Until then, the Directors are wthin their right (indeed arguably have a duty to) enforce covenants.

We regularly see here quesries from buyers concerned about covenants of this sort, and frequently the advice is along the lines of "Oh that was there to protect the orginal developers during construction and original sales on the site. It is unlikely o ever be enforced."

Well, sometimes, covenants are enforced, so buying a property with covenants you intend to breach is always a risk.

  that's where I am confused as it seems the directors ( who advised me in a previous chat on the estate they don't like some of the convenant being broken - commercial vans bring one of them ) are deciding what convenant they want to enforce without advising the whole estate.

Well firstly, why should the directors inform the whole estate that they are enforcing a covenant? They are simply doing their job. As comeandgo says, if they incur costs, those costs will appear in the annual accounts (though may be generlised eg "legal costs for enforcing covenants").

And secondly how do you know they are deciding what covenants to enforce? They may well be enforcing other covenants against other residents, without informig you or the rest of the estate.

When you purchased, did your solicitor not obtain, and pass to you, a freeholder pack (or management company pack)? This should have had their latest accounts and would, I imagine, show when the last AGM was held.

moneysavinghero

You moved into a home that has a covenant banning the parking of commercial vehicles on driveways.
You decided to ignore this and park commercial vehicles anyway.
The director gave you a subtle hint that he doesn't like vans and may enforce the covenant.
You continued to park your commercial vehicles.
The covenant is now being enforced.

Of course you could always park your van on the road and then no covenant would be broken.

JessJ23425

are deciding what convenant they want to enforce without advising the whole estate.

They did advise everyone on the estate.. through the covenant you agreed to when you purchased the property.

FaceHead

How long has the other van been regularly parked on the estate?

It's a long shot, but if it's been a long time, you could argue that the management company impliedly agreed to waive the covenant, and you could apply to the lands tribunal to have it removed. This would take a long time and the van would have to be removed in the meantime. 

greatcrested

FaceHead said:

How long has the other van been regularly parked on the estate?

It's a long shot, but if it's been a long time, you could argue that the management company impliedly agreed to waive the covenant, and you could apply to the lands tribunal to have it removed. This would take a long time and the van would have to be removed in the meantime. 

It's such a long shot it's not worth considering.

* other van may have been there a long time, but may only recently have been noticed, or reported by another resident. Management Companies rarely employ wardens to regularly patrol and inspect, and if they did I suspect boh you, and other residents, would complain about having to pay their wages....!

* implicitly agreeing to waive the covenant in one case (perhaps for a specific reason eg it's hidden behind a hedge for example) would be very unlikely to result in the LT removing the covenant (I assume you mean this, rather than remove the van!?)

peppapig14

greatcrested said:

FaceHead said:

How long has the other van been regularly parked on the estate?

It's a long shot, but if it's been a long time, you could argue that the management company impliedly agreed to waive the covenant, and you could apply to the lands tribunal to have it removed. This would take a long time and the van would have to be removed in the meantime. 

It's such a long shot it's not worth considering.

* other van may have been there a long time, but may only recently have been noticed, or reported by another resident. Management Companies rarely employ wardens to regularly patrol and inspect, and if they did I suspect boh you, and other residents, would complain about having to pay their wages....!

* implicitly agreeing to waive the covenant in one case (perhaps for a specific reason eg it's hidden behind a hedge for example) would be very unlikely to result in the LT removing the covenant (I assume you mean this, rather than remove the van!?)

the van has been parked here for approx 4 years , it's not parked in the middle of the estate car park but alongside a wall 

peppapig14

greatcrested said:

If enough other residents (asuming they are all shareholders) agree that the covenants should not be enforced, they could pass a motion instructing the Directors accordingly.

Until then, the Directors are wthin their right (indeed arguably have a duty to) enforce covenants.

We regularly see here quesries from buyers concerned about covenants of this sort, and frequently the advice is along the lines of "Oh that was there to protect the orginal developers during construction and original sales on the site. It is unlikely o ever be enforced."

Well, sometimes, covenants are enforced, so buying a property with covenants you intend to breach is always a risk.

I agree the directors have a duty to enforce covenants , but I fully believe they are now doing this after our van being here approx 4 years because they have decided ( or another neighbour ) they don't personally like it. other covenants have been broken across the estate ( people have aerial on roofs, hang washing out front etc when prohibited from doing so ) and no action has been taken  against these 

peppapig14

moneysavinghero said:

You moved into a home that has a covenant banning the parking of commercial vehicles on driveways.
You decided to ignore this and park commercial vehicles anyway.
The director gave you a subtle hint that he doesn't like vans and may enforce the covenant.
You continued to park your commercial vehicles.
The covenant is now being enforced.

Of course you could always park your van on the road and then no covenant would be broken.

yes we know the convenant has been broken by ourselves, the estate has many properties rented out and  these tenants have commercial vans for the duration of their tenancy. 
the dire tots have been in place approx 6 years ( vand been parked here all tgat time ) and only deciding to do something now seems odd. 
other covenants are broken like having tv aerials on the roof and nothing has even been said .

parcival

Could a resident take legal action against the directors if they fail to enforce the covenants?