Restrictive Covenant - Residential Covenants

Residential Covenants

Residential covenants are relatively common in the United States. Some residential covenants may prevent owners or tenants from removing healthy trees, fundamentally altering historically important structures, or directly harming property values. Some restrictive covenants may govern what color a home's exterior is painted, what and how many exterior decorations are allowed, where cars are allowed to be parked, or even who lives in the house (outside of the owner's nuclear family).

Some have accused homeowners associations of selective enforcement of these rules, making a case only when it is something (or someone) another person dislikes. Breaking a rule, even unintentionally, can bring fines or even a lien on the home. In extreme cases, a homeowners' association may file a lawsuit against an owner who violates the covenants or even foreclose the property.

A restrictive covenant differs in the United States from a zoning regulation in that its creation and enforcement is a matter of contract between the landowners whose properties are affected by it, rather than an exercise of the governmental police power. In Canada, governmental authorities may apply both restrictive covenants and zoning regulations to properties. For instance, the city of Calgary's requirement that buildings in the general vicinity of Calgary International Airport be under a certain height is registered against virtually every title in the northeast quadrant of the city as a restrictive covenant, not as a zoning by-law.