From the advice of one of our preferred Attorneys, Mr. Chris Combs of Combs, Gottlieb & MacQueen, P.C.:
Question: Our Gilbert community of 60 homes was built by the developer in 1969. We are having problems with a short-term rental in our community. In this short-term rental the tenants are moving in and out almost every day, parking in the wrong areas, and trashing our swimming pool. A group of our neighbors wanted to amend our CC&Rs to prohibit short-term rentals of less than 30 days. We learned, however, that there have never been any CC&Rs for our community. Our understanding now is that 51% of the 60 homes in our community would be able to sign new CC&Rs that would ban short-term rentals of less than 30 days. Is that correct?
Answer: No. If there are no CC&Rs now for your Gilbert community, there could be new CC&Rs drafted and recorded to ban short-term rentals of less than 30 days. These new CC&Rs could also provide for no overnight parking in the streets, designated paint colors of the homes, and other common provisions in CC&Rs. Only those homeowners who sign these CC&Rs, however, would be bound by these new CC&Rs. For example, if 20 of the 60 homeowners in your Gilbert community sign these new CC&Rs, these 20 homeowners would be bound by the CC&Rs, but the remaining 40 homeowners would not. After more than 50 years with no CC&Rs in your community, getting even 20 homeowners to agree to new CC&Rs could be very difficult. Therefore, my suggestion is that, rather than trying to get even 20 homeowners to agree to new CC&Rs, try to get as many homeowners as possible to sign a simple deed restriction that prohibits short-term rentals of less than 30 days. Although the one homeowner now doing short-term rentals would undoubtedly not agree to this simple deed restriction, you may be able to get most of the other 59 homeowners to sign before a notary public this simple deed restriction that would then be recorded. After recording, any homeowner who signed this simple deed restriction would be prohibited from doing short-term rentals less than 30 days.
Chris was born in Windsor, England, and lived in Germany and the Philippines before coming to the United States. He attended Arizona State University and graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree. Chris then received a J.D. degree from the University of Arizona Law School where he was a member of the Law Review.
After law school Chris was a Captain, JAG, in the United States Marine Corps. Chris was an honors graduate of the Naval Justice School in Newport, Rhode Island. Chris was also stationed in Quantico, Virginia and Camp Pendleton, California.
Chris has 20+ years of experience as a real estate broker, and as a State Bar certified real estate specialist. Chris is a former President of the Maricopa County Bar Association and a former President of the Phoenix Symphony Council.
Chris formed and operated the Arizona Association of Realtors ("AAR") Legal Hotline program which received a 90% approval rating from Arizona real estate brokers every year for more than 20 years. The AAR Legal Hotline program was the model for Legal Hotline programs in Colorado and Minnesota. Chris drafted the original nine-page AAR Residential Resale Real Estate Purchase Contract.
Chris writes a Sunday column in The Arizona Republic newspaper on real estate questions and answers.
Chris has lectured in Asia, Mexico, and Canada on the Foreign Investment in Real Property Act and other aspects of foreign investment in Arizona real estate. Chris has represented foreign investors in Arizona real estate from Asia, Mexico, and Canada.
Chris is a former member of the Pittsburgh Pirates minor league baseball organization, and was selected to the All-Marine Corps basketball team.
Chris Combs On Simple Deed Restrictions Limiting Short-Term Rentals
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