The Covenant Support Committee (“committee”) is a standing committee of Sandia Heights Homeowners Association (SHHA) authorized in the Bylaws by the Board of Directors (“Board”) to take necessary and appropriate actions to enforce the Unit covenants (Use Restrictions) and to perform other functions as set forth in this Charter. To that end the committee is authorized to investigate and facilitate the fair and amicable resolution of reported valid covenant violation complaints between property/homeowners within the Sandia Heights development of the County of Bernalillo, New Mexico. The committee aims to advocate on behalf of members to pursue enforcement of covenants and achieve resolution in the least contentious and least expensive methods possible.
Background:
There are 38 sets of legally binding covenants, one for each Unit, and property/homeowners agreed to abide by them upon purchase of their properties. Property/homeowners are also responsible to ensure any lessees and renters abide by the covenants as well. The all-volunteer CSC investigates complaints and facilitates fair and amicable resolutions of valid covenant violations by following, in good faith, a formal and systematic process. The committee meets monthly to discuss general business, and then goes into executive session to review the status of ongoing complaint investigations as a team. Executive session is required to maintain confidentiality regarding complaint information details, including names, addresses and specifics. The committee aims to achieve resolution in the least contentious and least expensive methods available.
The CSC acts on covenant violation complaints filed by property/homeowners who are dues-paying members of SHHA (Procedures for Filing a Complaint; CSC Resident Guide: Covenant Complaint and Violation Resolution Process). The CSC does not change the covenants; rather only property/homeowners can do that (Procedures for Property Owners to Amend Their Unit Covenants). The CSC does not patrol the neighborhood looking for violations, and does not process security complaints. The CSC pursues an ongoing agenda of education for Sandia Heights residents concerning the functioning of the committee and the covenant complaint and violation resolution process, mainly by publishing articles in the monthly GRIT newsletter. The CSC provides a top-level summary of activity at the monthly board meetings, submits a top-level year-end summary at the Annual Meeting in February, and publishes an annual report in the March GRIT newsletter.
SHHA and CSC are very much dependent on the cooperation from individual property/homeowners in Sandia Heights to maintain the lifestyle and beauty of the subdivision by following the covenants.