Property Covenants, Deed Restrictions, and CCRs - Deed Restriction Form

Property Covenants - How Deed Restrictions are Enforced How To Find Deed Restrictions

When you are purchasing a house from a homeowner association, some of the initial documents that you will have to sign are the covenants and the bylaws. One may define covenant as an agreement to perform or refrain from any specified action. Typically, the term covenant refers to restrictions on some contracts like a contract to sell property. The conditions, covenants, and restrictions or CCR on a property are also known as deed restrictions. The CCRs are generally found in homes governed by a homeowners association or condo association. A covenant determines how you can and cannot utilize the property. Therefore, it is important to have a clear understanding of the covenants in place before purchasing a piece of property.

There are various types of covenants and the definition of covenant depends on its purpose. A property covenant that restricts is a restrictive covenant. Such property covenants impose a condition preventing the purchaser from using it for a specific purpose. Sometimes there will be a group of restrictive covenants that apply to a specific area or a set of homes. These will be laid down by the HOA or the developer in the master deed or a declaration called the declaration of covenants. If you are purchasing property in a particular area or from a particular developer, you must go through the applicable declaration of covenants and understand what you will and will not be permitted to do once you purchase the property.

A land covenant can also be imposed to preserve certain specific properties of real estate. For example, if a house has some archeological significance, a protective covenant that restricts any future purchaser from altering the look of the house can be put in place. Such a covenant is a protective covenant.

Negative covenants prohibit property owners from performing specific activities. Affirmative covenants require property owners to positively perform a specific activity. Examples of affirmative covenants are requiring purchasers to pay HOA or condominium association dues, or keep the neighborhood clean at all times.

A covenant of seisin implies that a grantor owns the property and has the rightful title to convey. It is also called the covenant of right to convey. Covenants of title provide a warranty that the grantor has complete and secure title over the property and that the title is free from encumbrances.

During the initial conveyance of a property, there will be horizontal privity between the seller and purchaser. Future buyers will not be governed by the covenant and hence there will be no privity. However, some covenants are said to run with the property and all future buyers will be bound by such covenants.

A covenant that imposes racial restrictions is a racial covenant. An example of a racially restrictive covenant is a covenant that prevents selling of a property to any person who belongs to a particular race like the Mongolian race or the African-American race.

There are various organizations that help property purchasers by providing loans. The national covenant properties (NCP) is one such organization that helps churches by providing loans for construction of new churches or addition to churches.