LANCER PARK


Declaration of Covenants,
Conditions & Restrictions
"Simplified"









Please read the Disclaimer at the end of this webpage.



Article I
Definitions

Boring, boring, boring, and not very important.


Article II
Park Property Rights

1. Lancer Park homeowners all own a little piece of our park, and it costs a little for upkeep each year, but it's worth it. If you want to tinker with the common ownership of the park, you have to convince two-thirds of us (good luck!) with your reasoning, and to pay the 136+ legal bills involved in removing that ownership from each deed.

2. If you lease your house to someone else, you can allow your leasee use the park, but if they cause any damage in the park, you are liable to pay for it).


Article III
Membership & Voting Rights

1. If you are a homeowner, you are a Member of the Lancer Park Homeowners Association, with all of the rights, honors, obligations and appurtenances associated heretoforethereunto.

2. Two classes of voters. On my copy this is all crossed out.


Article IV
Maintenance Assessments

1. It's very simple: You gotta pay your annual dues, or you get stuck with an expensive lien on your house. Bummer! If you get creative and want to build a swimming pool in the park, or set up a photovoltaic-solar-cell farm, or some such expensive park project, and you can get 51% of us to go along with you (good luck!), then ALL of the homeowners have to pay for it. Liens are enforceable here, too.

2. The sole purpose of our annual dues payment is to provide for upkeep of the park.

3. Fortunately, our annual dues don't cost much.* And dues can't go up more than 3 % per year.

4. This part talks about how to go about collecting special assessments for major construction or repair at the park. To the best of my knowledge, we homeowners have never been faced with a special assessment.

5. Quorum for major assessment stuff. Homeowners must have 30-60 days of notice before a special meeting. There must be a group of 51% of us present (good luck!) to vote for or against. If that doesn't go so well, then try again, same rules, but now only 25.5% of homeowners must be present to vote for or against. Kinda scary.

6. Annual dues and special assessments are equal for all of us.

7. The term for annual dues is the calendar-year (January to December).

8. Here you'll find more stuff about bad things that happen if we don't pay park dues on time.

9. Pay your dues, or face a lien. Sell a house with a lien on it (good luck on doing that), and the new owner is stuck with the lien, subject only to the first deed of trust or first mortgage. Best to avoid the whole entanglement, and pay the dues.

10. If the park suffers expensive damages, the Board is instructed to first use proceeds from the required insurance. If the cost is higher than that, then we are required to hold a bunch of meetings, and maybe issue a special assessment. This is a real good argument for keeping an eye on the park, and not tolerating any damage to it!


Article V
Architectural Control

Before you or I start to erect a building, fence, wall, or paint your house a different color, etc. in Lancer Park, we have to deliver full plans and specs to the Architectural Control Committee (3 members of the Board). The external design and placement must be architecturally consistent and in architectural harmony with the homes of your Lancer Park neighbors.

However, if the 3 Board members fool around and fail to approve or disapprove your plans within 30 days, you've got approval for your change. But be aware, sloppy committee work cannot stop your neighbors from filing a lawsuit against you for CC&R violations. The legal remedy: The offending homeowner must do whatever it takes and spend whatever it costs to restore everything to original consistency and harmony.



[There is no mention in these CC&Rs about the required City design review and issuance of a building permit, but it would be wise to check into that each time you make changes:
760-744-1050, ext. 3203.]


Article VI
Use Restrictions

1. You cannot use your Lancer Park home or garage for a business, commercial site, manufacturing, selling, storing or vending. Like the rest of us, you've got to find an office or place to work off site. Unless you peck away on a computer and don't have trucks delivering paper to your house on a daily basis. That might be okay.



2. No fixed or portable signs or billboards are allowed in or around your property--except for a maximum 18"x 24" For Rent, For Sale or For Lease sign.

3. This is my personal favorite. No noxious or offensive activities are allowed, folks! A few examples: No band or instrument playing (musical or otherwise), no persistent dog barking, no loud engines, no humongous sound amplification equipment, and no keeping of exotic trumpeting jungle animals (I made that last one up). As for noise in the park, no motorized mini-bikes, go-carts or motorcycles are allowed.



4. No temporary structure, such as a trailer, basement, tent, shack, barn or other out-building can be used as a temporary or permanent residence. We can't convert our garages, even temporarily, so that we can't park 2 cars in there. We cannot leave our garage doors open for more than 30 minutes.

Also, if you have a trailer, camper, boat or "motor vehicle in poor condition," etc., you've got to be able to hide it in an enclosed garage, fenced rear or side yard, or in San Ysidro. One more thing: No vehicle overhaul or maintenance work is allowed in the street, or in your garage or driveway, except just enough emergency work to limp the vehicle off to a repair shop. Got major oil stains on your driveway? There are lots of ways to clean it up--just do it.



5. Dogs, cats and normal household pets are okay, but no other animals, livestock or poultry can be raised or grazed, bred or fed, ridden or hidden on any lot or property in Lancer Park.



6. Dogs at the park must be on a leash (unless there just ain't nobody else there at the time).

7. No exterior radio or television antenna is allowed on your house, (unless you can hide it so none of your neighbors can see it and complain about it). I think this is mainly about 6-foot satellite dishes and 15-foot ham radio towers.)



8. Here's a wake-up call: No drilling or mining is allowed in Lancer Park. And that includes drilling for oil, water, natural gas, or cavities. They thought of everything!

9. Get rid of your garbage and rubbish regularly (that means weekly, not annually). If you dare to have clotheslines, woodpiles, construction debris, and garbage containers, they've got to be hidden. (How do you hide those monster refuse containers we use now?)


Article VII
General Provisions

1. If we ignore your obnoxious ways for a while, that doesn't mean we waive our right to get upset and use legal remedies to get you to do better.

2. If one of these rules is invalidated, it doesn't mean the rest don't count.

3. This binding agreement ran for 20 years (to midnight Nov. 12, 1995) at which time it was automatically extended for 10 years (to midnight, Nov. 12, 2005). That will happen over and over again, until somebody writes a new one and gets 75% of the homeowners (good luck!) to approve and vote for the amendments or new CC&Rs.

4. Annexation. In case you want to bring other neighborhoods into our HOA to share our park and our dues. My guess is that they have plenty in their own CC&Rs to worry about.

5. FHA/VA Approval of changes. Obsolete.

6. Construction. Of the agreement, that is. I'll tell you one thing, my interpretations here are not worth the pixels they're written on.

7. Board rules. The HOA Board is authorized to make reasonable rules about how we use the park. Like closing it at dark.

8. Park liability. If you or your guest damage the park, you have to pay for it. Surprise, surprise, surprise. As a homeowner, you have the authority to tell anyone in the park to stop breaking the rules. And you can tell the Board who is breaking the rules and ask them to enforce the rules.

9. Mortgage protection. If you break these covenants, your first deed of trust or first mortgage still is valid, and you can try to sell it (if you can find anyone willing to buy under those conditions), because the buyer is bound by these CC&Rs to clean up and pay for any mess you got yourself into.

10. Developer's Bond. Apparently there once was a bond to insure completion of the park by the developer. Obsolete.

Followed by signatures, etc.

*Dues are $90 a year in 2002


Disclaimer

I am no lawyer, so please don’t depend on this, my non-legal non-binding interpretation of the Lancer Park Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Regulations. I’m providing it to you free of charge “as is” and it’s worth just what you paid for it. I used my best efforts to stay alert and awake while reading the aforesaid CC&Rs, but it was late at night, and I had a bad cold at the time. I was also taking several types of medications, and so could not have driven or operated heavy machinery at the time. I went to law school for one and a half years, but I didn't like it, and besides, that was 30+ years ago. This disclaimer is an attempt to keep you from relying on any part, portion or piece of the above written stuff. The possible exception might be if you have been legally adjudged to have diminished mental capacity, and you can show me your notarized certificate attesting to this. Then you have one weak excuse for stupidly relying on my flawed and biased translation. I can think of no other possible excuse. Neither I nor the Lancer Park Homeowners Association is responsible for the results of any defects that may be found to exist in this “Simplified” version of the CC&Rs, nor are we responsible for any lost profits or other consequential damages that may result from such defects. You should not assume that this “Simplification” is error-free or that it will be suitable for the particular purpose that you have in mind when using it. Let's just say that it is provided for entertainment purposes only. At the time this was written, none of the other HOA officers had seen it nor had they given their approval of it. They are purely innocent and unknowing non-parties to the production of this website. Some of them have read it later on, but they say they don’t understand it, and I believe them. I can’t say I really understand it myself. So in every case and every situation, read the copy that came with your house, consult a qualified attorney who is licensed to practice in California, and stay out of trouble!

--Larry Christensen, April 2001







Copyright © 2009 by Larry Christensen

Latest Update: January 1, 2009
Questions? You can always ask.



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