← HOA answers

Oakhill Condominiums

What the recorded documents actually say about Oakhill Condominiums in South Bend — fences, sheds, pools, pets, parking and the rest — with the part of the document each answer comes from.

20 homes have sold here in the last four years, which is why this neighborhood was compiled early.

Before you rely on this page

WHAT IS READ HERE IS THE ASSOCIATION'S 2021 RULES AND REGULATIONS, NOT THE RECORDED DECLARATION - that declaration and the by-laws were not attached to any of these listings, and the Rules themselves say the Declaration outranks them wherever the two differ. So this page is an accurate picture of how the community is run day to day, and it is the right document for most practical questions, but for anything turning on a recorded restriction get the Declaration from the association. The Rules also refer to amendments to the by-laws - the fourth, on dogs, and the sixth, on the leasing limit - which are not on file either. A condominium association can also change its Rules at a board meeting, so confirm the current version before relying on a detail.

What you can build and change

Not stated

Fences

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 →
Not stated

Sheds & outbuildings

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 →
Not stated

RVs, boats & trailers

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 →
Conditional

Swimming pools & hot tubs

There is a shared pool area with its own usage rules, and a clubhouse owners may reserve. Nothing may be built that affects the exterior or the common and limited areas without the Board's prior approval.

Article VI - Pool Area Usage; Article XV - Exterior Alterations
Conditional

Exterior changes & additions

Any construction, addition or alteration that would affect the exterior of a unit or the common or limited areas must be submitted to and approved in advance by the Board - the Rules add the words NO EXCEPTIONS. The association keeps separate construction guidelines attached to the Rules for exactly this.

Article XV - Exterior Alterations
Not stated

Satellite dishes & antennas

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 →
Not stated

Solar panels

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 →
Not stated

Landscaping, trees & gardens

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 →
Not stated

Mailboxes

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 →

How you can live here

✗ Not allowed

Pets

OAKHILL HAS A NO-DOG POLICY. That is the rule, adopted by the Fourth Amendment to the by-laws, and it is the single thing most likely to decide whether this community works for a buyer. A VISITING dog may stay in a unit for less than 48 hours; beyond that you must get approval from the association office and register the animal. A visiting dog must be leashed at all times outside, all waste picked up immediately, and breaking either rule costs $25 an incident.

Article IV - Pets; Fourth Amendment to the By-Laws
Conditional

Renting your home

Leasing here is genuinely restricted and an investor needs to read this twice. EVERY lease, whatever its term, must be filed with the Oakhill office and APPROVED BY THE BOARD, at least 30 days before it starts. The minimum term is six months. An owner may lease the unit for a maximum of FIVE TERMS during the whole period of ownership - unless the unit was bought before April 1996. A full leasing package is required: an application, a copy of the lease, proof of liability and structure insurance, a non-refundable $25 filing fee, a signed affidavit that the appliances and plumbing have been inspected and work, vehicle registration for up to two cars, and third-party notification forms for NIPSCO and AEP so the utilities will warn the association of a pending shut-off. Occupancy is capped at two people per bedroom, and a loft does not count as a bedroom - nor does a basement room without an egress window or a walk-out patio door in the room itself. The Board may refuse a lease if the unit's account is past due, if the tenant moved in before approval, or for other legitimate reasons, and it will weigh the owner's leasing history.

Article III - Leasing
Not stated

Basketball hoops

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 →
Conditional

Yard signs

Worth knowing before you list here. Only ONE standard-size FOR SALE sign may be displayed, and only in a window or in the limited area assigned to that unit - no other for-sale signs anywhere. One OPEN HOUSE sign may be set on the property next to the unit, no earlier than 48 hours before the open house starts, and it must be removed the same day once the open house ends. Garage sales, moving sales, auctions and other public sales are not permitted at all without the Board's prior written approval.

Article XI - For Sale and Open House Signs; Article X
Conditional

Street parking

Parking is permit-controlled and enforced by towing. Any vehicle not properly parked in a marked spot is subject to immediate towing, and every vehicle on the property must display a permit. Each unit gets a maximum of TWO permits, issued annually to the owner of record, and it is the owner's job to pass them to family, roommates, tenants or guests. A visitor may park without a permit for at most 3 nights in any 30-day period, in the spots by the clubhouse, and will be flagged; management may issue a temporary permit for longer stays. Special parking rules run on Notre Dame home football weekends and other days the Board designates - a football parking sticker is required, replacements cost a fee, and owners are responsible for getting the passes and instructions to their tenants and guests. Vehicles must be well maintained and in working order.

Article II - Vehicles and Parking
Not stated

Running a business from home

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 →
✗ Not allowed

Short-term rentals (Airbnb)

Short-term leases and rentals are NOT permitted - and the Rules name the obvious temptation directly: not for football weekends, and not at any other time. Doing it anyway is subject to fines and penalties. The minimum lease term is six months and every lease needs Board approval first.

Article III - Leasing, paragraph 2
Conditional

Vehicle repair in the driveway

Only emergency or minor repairs may be carried out on the property - the Rules give topping off fluid levels and changing bulbs as the examples. Emptying or changing fluids is prohibited outright, and a vehicle the Board considers unsightly has to be removed.

Article II, paragraphs 7 and 8
Conditional

Trash & recycling containers

No garbage or trash container may be kept anywhere in the common or limited areas. All trash goes securely closed in plastic bags - unless a single object such as a box is too big for one - and inside a dumpster, never beside it, with the lid able to close. Anything too large for the dumpster, a couch for instance, is the owner's to have removed privately. Fines start at $25 for a first violation and climb by $25 for each further one within a year.

Article VII - Garbage and Garbage Containers
Conditional

Grilling & outdoor cooking

Gas grills are allowed on patios and decks. CHARCOAL GRILLS ARE STRICTLY FORBIDDEN ANYWHERE ON THE PROPERTY under the South Bend Fire Code, and the fine starts at $100 for a first violation, rising $25 for each further one within a year. Patios and decks may hold well-maintained patio furniture, gas grills, potted plants, bicycles, one burning's worth of firewood and customary patio objects - carpet remnants and indoor furniture are not allowed out there.

Article VIII - Patios and Decks
Not stated

Clotheslines

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 →
Not stated

Flags & flagpoles

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 →
Conditional

Window coverings & decorations

The only thing the Rules allow in a window is a single standard-size for-sale sign when the unit is on the market. Anything else affecting the exterior needs the Board's prior approval.

Articles XI and XV

Where these answers come from

The documentRules and Regulations of Oakhill Condominiums Association, Inc., revised and effective 21 April 2021, with the association's construction guidelines
Recorded asRules and Regulations of Oakhill Condominiums Association, Inc., revised and effective 21 April 2021
The Declaration and Code of By-Laws of the Oakhill Association, which these Rules supplement and which were NOT among the documents on these listings
Fourth Amendment to the By-Laws - the no-dog policy
Sixth Amendment to the Code of By-Laws - the exception to the five-lease-term limit for units purchased before April 1996
How it was readRead directly from the document’s own text.
Checked againstThese Rules set out their own order of precedence and this page follows it: applicable law first, then the Declaration, then the By-Laws, then these Rules. They supplement rather than replace the recorded documents, and an exception to any of them is only valid in writing, signed by the Board, after a written request from an owner.
The associationOakhill Condominiums Association, Inc., run by a Board of Directors with an association office and on-site management - this is a managed condominium, not a subdivision with a volunteer board, and it shows in how much of daily life is administered. It has a clubhouse owners may reserve at $175 a day with a $125 security deposit returned if it is cleaned by 10 AM the next morning, closing at 11 PM Sunday to Thursday and midnight on Friday and Saturday, and a pool area. It issues parking permits, runs a separate permit system for Notre Dame home football weekends, and keeps a register of who lives in every unit. When a unit or a garage changes hands the association must be given a copy of the deed, any mortgage and proof of insurance - the purchase price and mortgage terms may be blacked out, but the owner's name, the mortgagee and the insurance proof may not. A garage unit may only ever be sold or transferred to someone who already owns, or is buying, an Oakhill condominium. Enforcement runs on a published fine schedule, and any charge unpaid after thirty days becomes a special assessment against the unit, collectible like any other.

Ask us about Oakhill Condominiums

Tell us the question and we will get you the answer from the recorded documents.

We’ll get you an answer — usually the same day.