What the recorded documents actually say about Brookwood in Elkhart — fences, sheds, pools, pets, parking and the rest — with the part of the document each answer comes from.
15 homes have sold here in the last four years, which is why this neighborhood was compiled early.
Before you rely on this page
WHAT THIS PAGE RESTS ON. Brookwood is a condominium, not a platted subdivision. Two instruments were recorded together in Elkhart County on August 18, 2003: the Declaration of Horizontal Property Regime for Brookwood Condominiums, and the Code of Bylaws of Brookwood Condominiums Unit Owners Association. Both were read in full. Both of them say the same thing about where the day-to-day rules live: the covenants and restrictions on the use and enjoyment of the units are set out in the bylaws. Article VI of the bylaws lists them, in nineteen lettered paragraphs, and that is where nearly every answer below comes from.
TWO ANSWERS COME FROM THE ASSOCIATION'S OWN RULES, NOT THE RECORDED DOCUMENTS. The bylaws let the board adopt its own rules and regulations, and a Guidelines for ALL Residents sheet is on file. It is undated and was never recorded, but it binds residents the same way. Two answers below - outdoor barbecues, and repairing a vehicle - rely on it and say so in their text. Rules like that can change without anything being recorded, which makes them the least stable thing on this page.
WHAT IT DOES NOT SETTLE. No assessment figure is in the recorded documents. The current board rules may differ from the copy on file. The regime is expandable, so which buildings are in it today is a title question. Anything amended after 2003 would not appear here. The recorded copies are scans of paper rather than digital text, so individual words can be misread in conversion, which is why each answer carries the document's own wording.
WHAT TO DO BEFORE YOU RELY ON IT. Ask the association or its manager for the current rules and regulations, the current monthly assessment and what it covers, and the insurance schedule showing what your own policy has to cover - in this community the owner's side of that list is long. Have your title company confirm the declaration and bylaws recorded against the unit and any later amendment.
The documents never use the word fence, but they reach what a fence would be. For a first-floor unit the answer is flat: no enclosure of any kind may be placed on, over or around the patios or decks adjacent to first floor units. Beyond that, no additional buildings, temporary structures, utility buildings or tents may be put up anywhere on the property other than the buildings shown in the declaration or a recorded supplement, without the consent of a majority of all the board directors. And in a condominium the ground outside your unit is common or limited area, where nothing may be placed without the board's consent. So a fence is a board question everywhere, and around a ground-floor patio it is barred outright.
A shed needs a majority of the board. The bylaws say no additional buildings, temporary structures, utility buildings or tents may be erected or located on the property other than the buildings designated in the declaration, or in a supplement or amendment to it and shown on the filed plans, without the consent of the majority of all the board directors. No size, siting or material standard exists in the recorded documents. Storage is otherwise expected to be inside the unit or its garage, and nothing may be placed in the common or limited areas without the board's consent.
A boat, camper or trailer needs the board's written approval before it can be anywhere on the property. The bylaws name boats, campers, trailers of any kind, buses, mobile homes and any other vehicle of similar description or type, and say none may be permitted, parked or stored anywhere within the property unless prior written approval is obtained from the board. It is not a flat ban, but it is not something to assume either, and the clause does not treat a garage differently. The association's own rules sheet separately asks that a vehicle not be left standing for any length of time and be driven at least once a week.
We don’t have this one confirmed yet — we can ask the association and get you an answer before you commit to anything.
We can find out →The outside of the building belongs to everyone here, and changing it takes the board. Nothing may be hung or displayed on the outside of the windows or placed on the outside walls of any building, and no sign, awning, canopy, shutter, radio or television antenna or other attachment may be affixed to or placed upon the exterior walls, roofs or any other part of a building without the board's prior consent. Nothing may be done in a unit that would impair the structural integrity of a building, structurally change it, or affect the exterior appearance of any unit. No enclosure of any kind may go on, over or around a first-floor patio or deck, and no additional building or temporary structure may be put up without a majority of the board. The association's rules sheet adds that nothing may be attached to the outside or the roof without the association's approval, and that siding or roof damage is the owner's to repair.
An antenna is grouped with everything else that gets attached to the building and needs the board's consent first. The bylaws bar any sign, awning, canopy, shutter, radio or television antenna or other attachment from being affixed to or placed on the exterior walls, roofs or any other part of a building without the prior consent of the board. The documents date from 2003 and never use the words satellite or dish, so no size limit or placement standard exists in the recorded text; the board's own rules would be where any exists. Federal rules on antenna installation can also bear on how a clause like this is enforced, which is a question for a lawyer rather than for this page.
We don’t have this one confirmed yet — we can ask the association and get you an answer before you commit to anything.
We can find out →Owners do not plant here on their own initiative. The bylaws say no owner may plant trees, landscape or do any gardening in any of the common areas or limited areas except with express permission from the board - and around a condominium building that is essentially all the ground outside the unit. The common areas also have to be kept free and clear of rubbish, debris and other unsightly materials, and the association's manager handles landscaping. The association's own rules sheet goes further and says nothing is to be set or planted in the yard, and asks residents to use the patio for lawn furniture.
We don’t have this one confirmed yet — we can ask the association and get you an answer before you commit to anything.
We can find out →Pets are allowed with a strict number limit and detailed handling rules. No animals, livestock or poultry may be raised, bred or kept in a unit, in the common or limited areas or on the property, except that pet dogs, cats or customary household pets may be kept in a unit, provided the pet is not kept, bred or maintained for any commercial purpose and does not cause a nuisance. The cap is one dog or one cat per unit unless the board approves more. Pets go outdoors only on a leash or other restraint and attended by the owner, and the bylaws say specifically that tethering a pet outside the owner's limited area does not count as attended. Pets are to be walked only in the designated dog walk, and waste has to be picked up and disposed of properly. The board may require a security deposit against damage to the common areas, refundable when the pet is permanently removed less any repair cost. A pet the board judges to be causing a nuisance or unreasonable disturbance or noise has to be permanently removed within ten days of written notice.
Renting is allowed without approval, but the minimum term is a full year. A unit may be rented or leased by its owner without approval; the owner simply has to notify the manager of the tenant's name. The length of occupancy of any tenant may not be less than three hundred sixty-five consecutive days. That one-year floor is longer than most condominium documents set, so a nine-month or seasonal tenancy does not fit it. Any tenant is bound by the declaration, the bylaws and the board's rules just as an owner is, and a for rent or for lease sign needs the board's prior consent.
We don’t have this one confirmed yet — we can ask the association and get you an answer before you commit to anything.
We can find out →Signs need the board's consent, including the one a seller wants. No for sale, for rent or for lease sign, no other sign, and no other window or advertising display may be maintained or permitted on any part of the property or any unit without the board's prior consent. The declarant and the board kept the right to place for sale or for lease signs themselves in connection with unsold or unoccupied units. If you are preparing to list a unit here, sort the sign out with the board first - and see the note in the association section about the clause on which broker may list it.
The recorded rule is about what may be kept here rather than where you put the car. Boats, campers, trailers of any kind, buses, mobile homes and similar vehicles may not be parked or stored anywhere on the property without the board's prior written approval, and nothing may be placed in the common or limited areas without the board's consent. The association's own rules sheet fills in the day-to-day picture: it says adequate parking is provided by the garages and driveways, asks residents to keep cars in the garage in winter so snow removal is not hindered, asks that a car parked outside be moved when snow is being cleared, and says no vehicle is to be left for any length of time and should be driven at least once a week. That sheet is the board's own rules rather than the recorded documents, and the board can change it.
Running a business from a unit is barred, and the wording is wide. The bylaws say no industry, trade or other commercial or religious activity, education or otherwise, designed for profit, altruism or otherwise, may be conducted, practised or permitted on the property. A companion paragraph says all units are used exclusively for residential purposes and no unit may be partitioned or subdivided. No approval route is offered. What the documents do not do is define what counts as such an activity, so whether quiet remote work with no clients and no signage is what the paragraph is aimed at is not something the text settles, and the board is the body that interprets the bylaws.
A short stay is ruled out by the minimum term rather than by naming any platform. The bylaws say the length of occupancy of any tenant may not be less than three hundred sixty-five consecutive days. That leaves no room for nightly, weekly or seasonal letting. Longer renting is allowed without board approval, on notifying the manager of the tenant's name.
This is one of the few sets of documents in the directory that addresses repair directly. The bylaws say no repair work may be done on the property on any vehicle, and they name passenger automobiles, motorcycles, trucks and boats, unless express written permission is obtained from the board. The rule covers the whole property rather than just the driveway. The association's own rules sheet is blunter still and says that under no circumstances will any auto repairs be allowed on the driveways or in the garages - so on that sheet even your own garage is out. The sheet is board rules rather than a recorded document and can change, but between the two the practical answer is that repair work here needs the board's written permission.
Trash stays inside until the night before collection. All garbage, trash and refuse has to be stored in appropriate containers as the board's rules determine, placed in containers the board has approved for scheduled collection, and kept there until not earlier than sundown of the evening before collection, then put out at the locations the board designates. The association's own rules sheet adds that residents arrange their own collection service and that trash must be in a container set at the end of the driveway rather than in the yard. The common areas also have to be kept free of rubbish and debris.
The recorded declaration and bylaws never mention a grill, a barbecue or cooking in either direction. The association's own Rules and Regulations sheet does, and it is the only document here that does: under a heading for outside barbecues it names gas or electric, and asks that if another type is used the ashes be disposed of in a container rather than in the yard or the rocks. Read plainly, that sheet contemplates grilling and regulates the ash rather than banning it. The same sheet also says firewood must be stored in a rack on the patio and not in the garage, and that no fireworks are allowed. It is board rules rather than a recorded covenant and the board may change it, so confirm the current version with the association.
Drying in the open is ruled out by what can be seen. The bylaws say no clothes, sheets, blankets, towels, rugs, laundry or other things may be hung out or exposed on, or so as to be visible from, any part of the common areas. Around a condominium building that reaches essentially anywhere outdoors. The documents do not use the word clothesline and say nothing about drying inside a unit or a garage.
Flags are not named, but what a flag is mounted to is. Nothing may be hung or displayed on the outside of the windows or placed on the outside walls of any building, and no sign, awning, canopy, shutter, radio or television antenna or other attachment or thing may be affixed to or placed on the exterior walls, roofs or any other part of a building without the prior consent of the board. A wall-mounted bracket is an attachment on that wording, so it is a question for the board. Federal and Indiana law on displaying the United States flag can also bear on how a clause like this is enforced, which is a question for a lawyer rather than for this page.
Two paragraphs bear on this and both point at the board. Nothing may be hung or displayed on the outside of the windows or placed on the outside walls of any building. And the signs paragraph sweeps in any other window or advertising display, which may not be maintained or permitted on any part of the property or any unit without the board's prior consent. What the bylaws do not do is set a colour or material standard for ordinary curtains or blinds inside the glass, so the wording is aimed at what shows on or outside the window rather than at how you dress it from within.
Tell us the question and we will get you the answer from the recorded documents.