April 13, 2022
Attention everyone:
The aforementioned parties involved in Eden Isles STR's (in my opinion) are absolutely running an illegal operation and at the very least subject to civil lawsuit and per occurrence monetary damages.
I personally went to the St. Tammany Parish Courthouse in Covington and pulled copies of the covenants for Eden Isles many years ago because I did not receive a copy at the act of sale when we purchased our home in 2008. All residents should strive to adhere as much as possible to the covenants to preserve the quality of our neighborhood. You can review the covenants here:
http://www.datakik.com/eihoa/Documents/Covenants/covenant%20research.htm
While much has been said about the enforceability of our covenants let me clear up some of those misconceptions. As originally provided, the covenants designated the "Architectural Committee" (first appointed by the developer) as a stand alone governing authority to be independently elected by the property owners. This entity is separate and apart from any subsequent formation of an HOA or in our case Civic Association. Note, a true and legally binding HOA must be defined in the property's deed, or subsequently voted on by all of the property owners and entered into the legal courthouse records. No one can alter your deed without you agreeing to it.
Following Hurricane Katrina formalities were replaced by necessities and the Architectural Committee was allowed to disband. However, that did not cancel the enforceability of the covenants. To the credit and vision of the developers the covenants included the provision that any property owner had the right to enforce the covenants. Any property owner can sue an offending party relative to a breach of the covenants. Such a breach would especially include misuse of a home by running a commercial operation that disturbs the neighbors or the community.
At the final hearing on the STR issue before the council I entered a copy of the original covenants recorded in the courthouse as part of my statement. I wanted the council to know that not only did their ordinance clarify that STR's were commercial operations akin to an unsupervised micro hotel but that in Eden Isles that sort of property use was prohibited via deed of ownership since the inception of our neighborhood as of record filed on May 24, 1973.
In summary STR's are not only illegal but have always been so. You have the ability to stop this but the offended party must take action. Unfortunately, in the lack of parish enforcement, you must bring a civil suit against the offending party. I doubt that someone who's life has been damaged by a STR would have any problem attracting donations to support the expense of court action. I also think in the case of Eden Isles that a letter of condemnation from the HOA to the Louisiana State Bar Association is in order.
... Lee Longstreet
Notes:
- Reference material at www.eiohforum.com , "community", "STR"
- Links may not work from nextdoor. Copy them and enter them into your browser.
Attention everyone:
The aforementioned parties involved in Eden Isles STR's (in my opinion) are absolutely running an illegal operation and at the very least subject to civil lawsuit and per occurrence monetary damages.
I personally went to the St. Tammany Parish Courthouse in Covington and pulled copies of the covenants for Eden Isles many years ago because I did not receive a copy at the act of sale when we purchased our home in 2008. All residents should strive to adhere as much as possible to the covenants to preserve the quality of our neighborhood. You can review the covenants here:
http://www.datakik.com/eihoa/Documents/Covenants/covenant%20research.htm
While much has been said about the enforceability of our covenants let me clear up some of those misconceptions. As originally provided, the covenants designated the "Architectural Committee" (first appointed by the developer) as a stand alone governing authority to be independently elected by the property owners. This entity is separate and apart from any subsequent formation of an HOA or in our case Civic Association. Note, a true and legally binding HOA must be defined in the property's deed, or subsequently voted on by all of the property owners and entered into the legal courthouse records. No one can alter your deed without you agreeing to it.
Following Hurricane Katrina formalities were replaced by necessities and the Architectural Committee was allowed to disband. However, that did not cancel the enforceability of the covenants. To the credit and vision of the developers the covenants included the provision that any property owner had the right to enforce the covenants. Any property owner can sue an offending party relative to a breach of the covenants. Such a breach would especially include misuse of a home by running a commercial operation that disturbs the neighbors or the community.
At the final hearing on the STR issue before the council I entered a copy of the original covenants recorded in the courthouse as part of my statement. I wanted the council to know that not only did their ordinance clarify that STR's were commercial operations akin to an unsupervised micro hotel but that in Eden Isles that sort of property use was prohibited via deed of ownership since the inception of our neighborhood as of record filed on May 24, 1973.
In summary STR's are not only illegal but have always been so. You have the ability to stop this but the offended party must take action. Unfortunately, in the lack of parish enforcement, you must bring a civil suit against the offending party. I doubt that someone who's life has been damaged by a STR would have any problem attracting donations to support the expense of court action. I also think in the case of Eden Isles that a letter of condemnation from the HOA to the Louisiana State Bar Association is in order.
... Lee Longstreet
Notes:
- Reference material at www.eiohforum.com , "community", "STR"
- Links may not work from nextdoor. Copy them and enter them into your browser.