CC&Rs vs Permits
Why You Should Check Your CC&Rs First
If you live in Sun City, you live in an HOA and every single-family property owner agrees to a set of CC&Rs/Deed Restrictions prior to buying their home. When property owners plan to build or add structures, those CC&Rs may impact your decisions based upon a variety of restrictions, from setbacks to height. Whether you have questions about gazebos, pergolas, golf cart garages, sheds, pools, or anything else, it is important to know where to go for the answers.
You will often hear SCHOA (Sun City Home Owners Association) offer this important piece of advice: Always contact SCHOA before you build or add a new structure on or to your property. It could save you a lot of time, money, and frustration.
Please know that your CC&Rs/deed restrictions take precedence over Maricopa County ordinances, even when a property owner needs to go through the county permitting process.
The easiest way to look at the building process is in two steps: 1) Confirm with SCHOA that your plans comply with your CC&Rs. 2) Once SCHOA confirms this, then you will need to follow any relevant permitting process directly with Maricopa County.
Not only has SCHOA been working to educate the community, but we have also been in communication with Maricopa County. We have shared with them the importance that property owners get approval by their HOA PRIOR to applying for a county building permit since some deed restrictions and county ordinances are in opposition to each other. The County has been clear that they do not enforce an HOA’s CC&Rs or take them into consideration when someone applies for a building permit. They only review their ordinances. So, you can see how this can become an issue with a property owner if they do not check with their HOA prior to submitting their building permit request.
During our conversations with the County, we have asked for some type of form or disclaimer to help property owners be aware that they need to check with their HOA first. Ideally, we would like to have a form that the property owner completes which has SCHOA (or any HOA) sign off on and then that form is included with the rest of the permitting documents submitted by the property owner. That form hasn’t happened yet, but because of our conversations, they have included this on their website:
“Make sure to review the CC&R’s of your HOA before performing any modifications or new construction. It is the responsibility of the property owner, not the County, to be aware of any CC&R’s as part of any proposed building modification or new construction. Issuance of a building permit does not preclude enforcement of CC&R’s by your HOA.”
Along with continually reminding residents to check with SCHOA first, we also review weekly all Maricopa County permits that have been applied for in Sun City, with a goal of hopefully catching anything out of compliance before the building begins. If we do see a questionable permit, we contact the property owners and discuss their plans with them.
Ultimately, it is the property owner’s responsibility to be in compliance with the CC&Rs. SCHOA is here to help, and I encourage you to contact us with any question, even if you think you know the answer. I’ve seen people throw out CC&R questions on Facebook and Next Door. Please do not take advice about your CC&Rs from a social media post. I’ll wrap this up with what I started with: Always contact SCHOA before you build or add a new structure on or to your property. It could save you a lot of time, money, and frustration.
— Lisa Gray, SCHOA General Manager
Contact our Compliance team with any questions!
