Pro Tip: Beware of Gun-Related Deed Restrictions When Buying Property

NHCraigT

NHCraigT

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USPSA bought a lot in Washington state for a new HQ about 15 +/- years ago. Since they had money and the leadership considered itself sophisticated, they went forth without legal counsel and the sale went smoothly. The catch? Since it was commercial rather than residential property, there was no obligation in that state to notify the buyer about deed restrictions. Plus a builder had told them "no problem". Turns out the deed restriction of "Wood frame construction only with Tudor style appearance" pushed the building price out of budget and they sold the property for a loss (I think is was $10k).
 
safetyfirst2125 said:
Who places restrictions on deeds?? Never heard of such a stupid thing. Did you buy the land or not? How do you get that encumbrance off?
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I've found several lots in TN that are being subdivided by the owner, the owner can put restrictions in the deed of the land he's selling. I'm not sure they can be reversed
 
safetyfirst2125 said:
Who places restrictions on deeds?? Never heard of such a stupid thing. Did you buy the land or not? How do you get that encumbrance off?
Click to expand...

Isn't it nuts? I discovered that the railroad built behind my house 175 years ago was given mineral rights to properties abutting the railroad.
.
 
When i bought my house in "87", new development with 39 homes. Capes, colonials, and garrisons. There was a list of "common resrictions" that were listed on the deeds of all 39 lots in the development. Things like no clothelines, chicken coops, couldnt change color of house for 7 yrs., no commercial vehicles parked in driveway, no boats parked in yard or driveway. It was basically the intention of the developers to keep the development " upscale" and no one really gave a shit about what other neighbors did. Well, except for one old bitch that always got into everyones buisness. She would go as far as going to city hall to report a "violator" and the city would have to send out a code enforcement person to deal with the issue. She wasnt here long, and things went back to normal. The restrictions are still on the deeds but nobody really pays any attention to them. And it has stayed a nice neighborhood......Everybody gets along, and everybody minds their own buisness.
 
FPrice said:
Thanks for the advice. That;s something most people would never think of looking for.
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It's only something if you were in a specific area - similar to a HOA type arrangement.

Property ownership, among other things, is vastly different in TX than New England. Could you imagine buying 14 acres around here and having a deed restriction??? I mean, beyond some sort of oddball one due to lot size and breakup. (Iv'e got one now - almost 8 acres - cannot subdivide - my road is an exception to the frontage requirements. They don't want me putting in some sort of "real" road and putting up 8 house lots. As if that would be bad for the town's property tax take. LOL)
 
tinhorn said:
Isn't it nuts? I discovered that the railroad built behind my house 175 years ago was given mineral rights to properties abutting the railroad.
.
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Mineral rights are a big deal in some states, TX being one of them.

Not only does buying property without mineral rights mean you don't get the money from the black gold, Texas T, molybdenum, natural gas, etc. under your land, but the entity that owns the mineral rights may have certain rights to intrude on your property to retrieve their property (like putting up a natural gas well). When a friend was looking to buy a 40 acre or so spread in TX, one of the biggest problems was finding one where the mineral rights had not been broken out, but the chances of finding oil were small enough that this did not significantly boost the property value.
 
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safetyfirst2125 said:
Who places restrictions on deeds?? Never heard of such a stupid thing. Did you buy the land or not? How do you get that encumbrance off?
Click to expand...
Lots of people place restrictions on deeds, especially when a large piece of land is broken down into smaller lots and sold separately.
My place here had a "no mobile homes" restriction on each lot. Over a period of a couple of years, I bought all of the lots from the other owners and had it removed.
 
safetyfirst2125 said:
Who places restrictions on deeds?? Never heard of such a stupid thing. Did you buy the land or not? How do you get that encumbrance off?
Click to expand...
Every home in my development has deed restrictions, except mine.
The guy who who developed the neighborhood lives two houses up and for years would say that "neighbors" contacted his lawyer to complain about people violating the restrictions in various ways. He wasn't happy when I called him out on people calling his lawyer since I researched the documents at the Registry of Deeds and couldn't find a single reference to his lawyer nor did I find half the claimed restrictions on anyone's deed.
 
BTSDOG said:
When i bought my house in "87", new development with 39 homes. Capes, colonials, and garrisons. There was a list of "common resrictions" that were listed on the deeds of all 39 lots in the development. Things like no clothelines, chicken coops, couldnt change color of house for 7 yrs., no commercial vehicles parked in driveway, no boats parked in yard or driveway. It was basically the intention of the developers to keep the development " upscale" and no one really gave a shit about what other neighbors did. Well, except for one old bitch that always got into everyones buisness. She would go as far as going to city hall to report a "violator" and the city would have to send out a code enforcement person to deal with the issue. She wasnt here long, and things went back to normal. The restrictions are still on the deeds but nobody really pays any attention to them. And it has stayed a nice neighborhood......Everybody gets along, and everybody minds their own buisness.
Click to expand...

Sounds like my development except the the busy-body is the developer who still lives in the neighborhood.

Restrictions the deeds have a 30 year sunset but I think it auto renews unless someone complains (I traced my deed back to development docs and the developer failed to add the restriction verbiage when he transferred the property to the original owner even though properties transferred immediately before and after do have the language.)
 
drgrant said:
The same people who create homeowners associations when there's no need for it. 🤣
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No, that's not true.

Deed restrictions are quite different in scope. They usually are put in place to protect the owner/seller of multiple adjacent properties so that one property doesn't affect the sale of the others adversely.

My 110 acres was owned by one entity and was subdivided into several smaller lots and a "no mobile homes" restriction was placed on all of the lots so that one person owning a lot couldn't turn their 10 or 20 acre place into a trailer/mobile home park and diminish the future value of the other lots, thereby affecting the seller's ability to sell those other lots in the future.

Once I owned all of the lots in the entire place, I had the restriction removed because there was no competition to future sales.
 
The other thing to verify and research on deeds is easements. Who, if anyone, has an easement to access your property. If you are crossing other private property to access your land make sure there is an easement on the other property that allows you access.
 
Dennis in MA said:
It's only something if you were in a specific area - similar to a HOA type arrangement.

Property ownership, among other things, is vastly different in TX than New England. Could you imagine buying 14 acres around here and having a deed restriction??? I mean, beyond some sort of oddball one due to lot size and breakup. (Iv'e got one now - almost 8 acres - cannot subdivide - my road is an exception to the frontage requirements. They don't want me putting in some sort of "real" road and putting up 8 house lots. As if that would be bad for the town's property tax take. LOL)
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There are many deed restrictions recorded in MA County Registry of Deeds. Consult a well versed land attorney and hire a Professional Land Surveyor.

I forgot, scratch both - everyone on this site knows more than them. 😉
 
Amputee Marksman said:
The other thing to verify and research on deeds is easements. Who, if anyone, has an easement to access your property. If you are crossing other private property to access your land make sure there is an easement on the other property that allows you access.
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Yeah, this. If I remember correctly, a few years ago there was a property in Hingam or Quincy that had a house between two roads and the owner sold off the property on the side without (?) the driveway (or the longer one?). Then the MBTA re-opened the Greenbush line. Which of course crossed her, now only, driveway, and she found she had no right to cross it without putting up a crossing gate or some such nonsense.
 
Dennis in MA said:
It's only something if you were in a specific area - similar to a HOA type arrangement.

Property ownership, among other things, is vastly different in TX than New England. Could you imagine buying 14 acres around here and having a deed restriction??? I mean, beyond some sort of oddball one due to lot size and breakup. (Iv'e got one now - almost 8 acres - cannot subdivide - my road is an exception to the frontage requirements. They don't want me putting in some sort of "real" road and putting up 8 house lots. As if that would be bad for the town's property tax take. LOL)
Click to expand...
My mom's place (in MA) has a fence restriction- old farm subdivided in the 40's. Built into the deed it clearly states no fences shall separate properties.

Nobody follows the restriction.
 
pastera said:
Sounds like my development except the the busy-body is the developer who still lives in the neighborhood.

Restrictions the deeds have a 30 year sunset but I think it auto renews unless someone complains (I traced my deed back to development docs and the developer failed to add the restriction verbiage when he transferred the property to the original owner even though properties transferred immediately before and after do have the language.)
Click to expand...

In MA partially correct unless a time limit is provided in the deed, there are other exceptions as well.

MGL Ch 184 S 23

General Law - Part II, Title I, Chapter 184, Section 23

malegislature.gov malegislature.gov
 
When I was house shopping in New Hampshire (basically Lyndeborough and surrounding area), many of the properties had some sort of CC&R entry on the deed from when they were first split off from larger farms,.

As I refused to consider any HOA properties, most of deed restrictins were either not an issue for me (no roosters) or basically "extinguished", like "subject to the rights of others in woods road", (Term being applied to any forestry access road, in this instance it had ceased to exist decades ago).
 
L
safetyfirst2125 said:
Who places restrictions on deeds?? Never heard of such a stupid thing. Did you buy the land or not? How do you get that encumbrance off?
Click to expand...
Lots of folks. One of the most common ones is that someone places a conservation restriction on a major portion of their land, in exchange for reduced real estate taxes. The downside, of course, is that it extremely limits what the property owner can do with the property.

Buyer beware.
 
Broc said:
Asked in post 10.

If it can be done, I am 100% doing it.
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A customer called so I couldn't finish this post ...

The plan:

Add gun ownership to the deed.
Sell to a liberal.
Move across the street.
Sue the liberal because he/she doesn't own guns.
Buy the place back at a discount because "lawsuit + guns + a**hole neighbor".
Profit.
 
drgrant said:
The same people who create homeowners associations when there's no need for it. 🤣
Click to expand...
Of course there is a need for it! I need to make sure that all of my neighbors live the way that I do and so that I can exercise my authoritay! over their lives and generally be a major pain in their backside. Just because. [rofl]
 

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