Jointly Owned Land Question

[alligatorob]

What is the name of your state? Florida

I recently purchased a rental property at a bank auction. It was one of six properties developed at the same time but the market went south on the developer and he went under. The problem is that in addition to our lots each of us owns a 1/6 undivided interest in a piece of property that is 180’ x 60’. I think the developer imagined putting in a swimming pool and setting up a HOA to take care of it, but that never happened. Four of the homes adjoin the property, three have an access easement across part of it, and one does not but still drives across it to get to the side of his house. So far we all get along and there have been no disagreements.

The question is what can we do legally to prevent future uses by an owner we don’t want? For instance we would rather no one decide to start a used appliance collection or pig farming on the land (hey this is a rural Florida and not far away others keep old refrigerators and pigs in their yards). I am not sure right now there is much we could do to stop one of the other owners from doing it. I don’t think any of us wants to set up any kind of joint maintenance agreement, heck I’d be happy if it just grew up in weeds, we just want protection from future nuisances. It seems to me the time to do something is now while we are all in agreement but what we should do is not clear. Any advice would be welcomed.

 

[HomeGuru]

What is the name of your state? Florida

I recently purchased a rental property at a bank auction. It was one of six properties developed at the same time but the market went south on the developer and he went under. The problem is that in addition to our lots each of us owns a 1/6 undivided interest in a piece of property that is 180’ x 60’. I think the developer imagined putting in a swimming pool and setting up a HOA to take care of it, but that never happened. Four of the homes adjoin the property, three have an access easement across part of it, and one does not but still drives across it to get to the side of his house. So far we all get along and there have been no disagreements.

The question is what can we do legally to prevent future uses by an owner we don’t want? For instance we would rather no one decide to start a used appliance collection or pig farming on the land (hey this is a rural Florida and not far away others keep old refrigerators and pigs in their yards). I am not sure right now there is much we could do to stop one of the other owners from doing it. I don’t think any of us wants to set up any kind of joint maintenance agreement, heck I’d be happy if it just grew up in weeds, we just want protection from future nuisances. It seems to me the time to do something is now while we are all in agreement but what we should do is not clear. Any advice would be welcomed.

**A: first step is to read the recorded CC&R's.

 

[BoredAtty]

You need a restrictive covenant on the land in question. Below is the Wikipedia definition, which is as good as any:

A restrictive covenant is a legal obligation imposed in a deed by the seller upon the buyer of real estate to do or not to do something. Such restrictions frequently "run with the land" and are enforceable on subsequent buyers of the property. Examples might be to maintain a property in a reasonable state of repair, to preserve a sight-line for a neighboring property, not to run a business from a residence, or not to build on certain parts of the property.​

You'll need to hire a real estate attorney to handle the details.