What the recorded documents actually say about Lafayette Falls in South Bend — fences, sheds, pools, pets, parking and the rest — with the part of the document each answer comes from.
24 homes have sold here in the last four years, which is why this neighborhood was compiled early.
Before you rely on this page
READ FROM DISK, NOT FROM THE EXTRACTION INPUT. Eleven OCR sets sit under this slug and four of them, hoa__lafayette-falls__6, __7, __10 and __11, twenty pages in all, are not Lafayette Falls at all. They declare AUGUSTINE LAKE ESTATES, instrument 0734665 and its 2010 First Amendment, and they reached this slug because MLS listing 202431556 had another subdivision covenants attached to it. Nothing from those four documents is used here. The input reader warning listed all six of its missing documents as belonging to this neighborhood; four of the six do not. Of the seven sets that are genuinely Lafayette Falls, __3 is byte-identical to __2 and __5 to __4, and __9 is a seller disclosure form rather than a covenant. The 40-page set hoa__lafayette-falls is not one document but four recordings scanned together: the 2004 declaration for home sites 1-34, 185-186, 202-207, 215-221 and 262-265 on pages 000-013; the 2009 fencing amendment 0923949 on pages 014-016; the 2011 Lafayette Falls Villa Association declaration 1109119 on pages 017-034; and its 2011 amendment 1110828 on pages 035-039. Pages 020-023 of that bundle are a homeowner roster with names and street addresses, and nothing from those pages appears here. Which instrument governs was settled by looking at the page image: page 000 of hoa__lafayette-falls__4 carries the handwritten instrument number 1617343 and a handwritten note reading Replaces covenant on file 0448798, which the OCR renders as unreadable noise. Two documents were folded in from sibling slug folders and are labelled by lot range wherever they are used: the 2021 Phase IV, Section Two declaration 2021-21812, which sits on disk under lafayette-falls-f and lafayette-falls-lafayette-falls-lots-405-406, and the Lafayette Falls Villa Association documents. The villa, boulevard and Phase IV slugs are not separate neighborhoods; the 2016 covenant defines all three as classes of home site inside the one Lafayette Falls subdivision. Before answering not stated on solar, flags, mailboxes and window decoration, page image 008 of hoa__lafayette-falls__4 was read by eye across the whole Miscellaneous Provisions article. The OCR had dropped only the paragraph letters, and the document really is silent on those subjects.
Fencing must be white PVC or a similar product. Any other color or pattern needs Architectural Control Committee approval, and a wood or metal fence needs the committee unanimously. Perimeter fencing may be no more than four feet high, is allowed only along the side yards and the back yard, and needs prior written approval of style and location before construction. A privacy fence no more than six feet high may be built around a patio next to the home, again with prior written approval. Water feature homes, the ones with a W in front of the lot number, may not have any fencing of any type in the back yard. Two sections are stricter: on villa lots 1-17 and 222-261 the villa association allows no perimeter fencing at all, only a patio privacy fence up to six feet, and in the Boulevard section the 2016 covenants require white fencing with a door at the east and west sides of the courtyard, matching the fences already there.
A detached storage building or pet shelter is allowed but may not exceed 10 feet by 12 feet, must be located in the rear yard, must be quality construction that blends with the established home, and must go to the Architectural Control Committee for written approval before construction begins. The committee may require protective screening around it. The 2020 rules add that lawn mowers, tractors, ladders and other lawn or garden equipment must be kept in the garage or an association-approved shed rather than anywhere out in the open, including on the owner own property. On villa lots 1-17 and 222-261 the villa association allows no detached buildings at all.
An RV, boat, pontoon, personal watercraft, camper, trailer or commercial truck may be kept anywhere in Lafayette Falls for no more than three days, and the rules define that window as beginning Friday and ending Sunday. Anything still there Monday through Thursday is a violation with its own fine schedule. A seven-day stay may be requested from the Board by mail or email at least seven days in advance, and after one is used, at least thirty days must pass before another can be approved. For the 61 home sites in Phase IV, Section Two the 2021 declaration is flatter: recreational and commercial vehicles such as campers, trailers, trucks or boats may not be kept in open areas at all.
In-ground pools are permitted but must have a pool cover capable of meeting governmental safety codes. Above-ground pools and tennis courts are not permitted. A children pool is allowed if it is no more than 15 inches high and 6 feet in diameter, and it must be stored in the house or garage or out of sight from the street when it is not in use. A pool is also an exterior change, so the Architectural Control Committee and the Board approve it in writing before work starts. The villa rules match on pools, and add that no pool may be enclosed with a fence.
Every change to the exterior of a home or its grounds must be submitted to the Architectural Control Committee and approved by both that committee and the Board before any construction begins. A verbal approval is null and void. Applications go in writing with architectural or engineering drawings and specifications, and the Board may require further written or pictorial documentation. Work must be professionally constructed by a bonded contractor with City of South Bend permits. An approval expires automatically three months after it is granted unless the work has commenced and is progressing, and once work is complete the Board has ninety days to inspect it. Unapproved or non-conforming work may be ordered removed, with fines or a hired contractor at the owner cost if it stays.
Outside above-ground TV, AM, FM, Citizen Band and short wave radio antennas are not permitted anywhere in the subdivision. A direct broadcast satellite dish no more than one meter in diameter is permitted, and a local TV antenna is permitted if it is no larger than that. The system must be placed, so far as feasible, where it is not visible from the street or other common property, and no antenna or pole may be installed in the ground in the front yard, which the covenants define as everything from the street curb up to the front wall of the house or garage. The Architectural Control Committee may require the owner to pay for shrubbery or other screening and for color matching, so long as that does not unreasonably impair the installation, maintenance or use.
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 side, front and rear yards of every home site must be planted with grass seed or sod unless the Architectural Control Committee has given prior written approval for another ground cover. Grading and seeding must be completed by the time of occupancy, or if the season does not permit, as soon as practical and no later than June 15 following occupancy. Drainage swales, easements and road ditches must be left open. Owners must keep the lawn mowed, remove debris and dead trees and stumps, and keep the place from becoming unsightly; if an owner does not, the association may enter, mow or clean, and add the cost to the annual assessment. For the 61 home sites in Phase IV, Section Two the 2021 declaration adds a landscaping plan approved by the committee within six months of closing, shrubs on the front and both sides of the house, and a ban on lawn ornamentation without prior written approval.
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 →Each home may keep no more than three domesticated pets. Kennels are not permitted. A dog exercise area must be approved, must be of limited size and close to the side or rear of the house, and may have fencing up to six feet high if the Architectural Control Committee approves it. Owners are responsible for immediate clean-up of animal waste in their own yard and everywhere else in the community, including the common areas. Off the owner property a dog must be on a leash held by an adult capable of controlling it. Patios and yards may never be used as living areas for pets or as a place a pet is left alone all day or overnight. No animals or poultry may be bred or kept for commercial purposes. A resident with a service animal is asked to notify the Board within seven days and to provide verification of the animal training and a doctor prescription. On villa lots 1-17 and 222-261 the villa rules cap it at two pets rather than three.
Renting is permitted, with a reporting duty attached. An owner who leases or rents out a home must give the Board the tenant name, address and telephone contact, plus the owner own emergency contact details, within ten days of the tenancy starting. The owner remains responsible for all fees, dues and fines, and for the tenant compliance with the rules. Owners must also give their tenants copies of the rules and regulations before the rental period begins. The villa association carries the same reporting rule for villa lots, and adds that an owner who has leased out the villa or no longer lives there may not serve as a board director.
The subdivision-wide covenants and the 2020 rules do not mention basketball hoops. For the 61 home sites in Phase IV, Section Two, which are 304-313, 340-381, 393, 394, 417-420 and 436-438, the 2021 declaration does: a basketball hoop, soccer goal, swing set or sandbox is prohibited without prior written permission from the Architectural Control Committee as to type and location, and an owner is limited to no more than two items of sporting or recreational equipment per home site. Elsewhere in Lafayette Falls a hoop would still be an exterior change, which the 2020 rules require the committee and the Board to approve in advance.
No sign of any kind may be displayed to public view on a home site except one sign of not more than five square feet advertising the property for sale or rent. Political signs may be displayed within the two weeks before the election they pertain to and must be removed within twenty-four hours after it. Approved builders and their agents keep the right to put up sales and promotional signs within the same size limit. A home occupation may not have any sign or display indicating the building is used for anything other than a dwelling.
A non-operable vehicle may not be parked or stored outside the garage anywhere in Lafayette Falls. The rules treat a vehicle as non-operable if it is missing one or more tires or wheels, has sat on jack stands more than seven days without Board approval, or does not carry current registration tags. Those may be stored only wholly inside a garage and may be towed without notice at the owner expense. No vehicle of any type, including moving vans and service trucks, may be left unattended where it blocks access to another home, a driveway, a utility meter, a fire hydrant or any way in or out of the neighborhood. Minibikes, motorcycles, go-carts, golf carts, snowmobiles and tractors may not be operated in the neighborhood, the exception being duly licensed vehicles driven by licensed drivers on public roads. Recreational and commercial vehicles are covered by the separate three-day rule.
A home occupation is allowed, but the covenants define it narrowly. Only a member of the immediate family living in the dwelling may be involved, the work must remain entirely within the dwelling and be clearly incidental and secondary to its use as a home, there may be no sign or display, no commodity may be sold on the premises, and nobody may be employed other than a family member living there. A barber shop, styling salon, beauty parlor, tea room, fortune-telling parlor, animal hospital or any form of animal care such as dog trimming is never a home occupation. The 2020 rules add that no commercial, business or professional office use may be conducted on a residential home site, the exception being the developer and builders using home sites for sales, promotion and construction.
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 →There is no outright ban on working on a vehicle, but there is a clock on it. A vehicle left on jack stands for more than seven days becomes a non-operable vehicle under the rules unless the Board has approved additional days, and a non-operable vehicle may not be parked or stored outside the garage anywhere in Lafayette Falls. The same applies to a vehicle missing one or more tires or wheels. Storage of those vehicles is allowed only totally within the garage, and one found elsewhere in the neighborhood may be towed without notice at the owner expense.
Trash, refuse and recyclables go directly into the bins the City of South Bend provides, with the cover firmly closed and overflow secured as the City directs. Bins must be stored in the garage or a shed, or in some way they cannot be seen from the street, other than when they are out for collection. Boulevard homes keep their bins away from the alleyway, inside the garage, in the courtyard or next to the house. Bins in every section must be brought back in within twenty-four hours of collection. No home site or empty lot may be used as a dumping ground, and anything not properly disposed of is removed by the association at the owner cost on top of any fine.
The documents set no rule about where or when you may grill. The one place a grill is named is the fuel storage clause, which bans oil and fuel storage tanks on a home site but expressly excepts portable, government-approved containers for LP gas grills and gasoline used for household purposes. The 2016 covenants separately say no fire may burn on any street or roadway in the neighborhood, and for the 61 home sites in Phase IV, Section Two the 2021 declaration adds that no open fires are allowed on any home site.
Outdoor clotheslines are not permitted, and laundering or drying clothing, towels, sheets and the like on outdoor patios or in yards is prohibited. The villa association rules carry the identical prohibition for villa lots 1-17 and 222-261.
The subdivision-wide covenants and the 2020 rules do not mention flags or flagpoles. For the 61 home sites in Phase IV, Section Two, which are 304-313, 340-381, 393, 394, 417-420 and 436-438, the 2021 declaration treats a flagpole as lawn ornamentation: prohibited without prior written approval from the Architectural Control Committee, and if approved, the home site is limited to one item of lawn ornamentation. Elsewhere in Lafayette Falls a flagpole would fall under the general requirement that any exterior change be approved by the committee and the Board first.
Outside coverings over windows, awnings included, are prohibited whatever their type or style; the only thing permitted is a standard-size window screen. Nothing in the covenants or the rules addresses curtains, blinds or other interior window treatments. In the Boulevard section the 2016 covenants add that windows facing into the adjacent house courtyard must be frosted, and that a white storm door is acceptable when 70 percent of the door is clear glass.
Tell us the question and we will get you the answer from the recorded documents.