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Southeast Estates

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

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

Before you rely on this page

THIS IS SECTION SEVEN, and it names its own twenty-three home sites: 85-90, 93-98, 101-106 and 109-113. Other sections of Southeast Estates have their own recorded covenants, so check which set governs your lot. The shed ban here is absolute on its face - a tool shed and a storage shed are named among the structures that may not be used on a home site at all - which is stricter than most of the county, where a shed is allowed with approval. Minimum house sizes are 1,400 square feet for a ranch and 1,800 for anything taller.

What you can build and change

Conditional

Fences

A fence or wall needs the architectural control committee's written approval before it goes up, with a plot plan showing where. No boundary hedge, wall or fence may run along a lot boundary between the front of the lot and the front line of the house. On a corner lot nothing between two and six feet above the roadway may block the sight triangle.

Paragraph 5, with Paragraph 7
✗ Not allowed

Sheds & outbuildings

Sheds are out. The covenant names a tool shed and a storage shed alongside a trailer, tent, shack, garage and barn, and says no outbuilding of any type or nature may be USED on a home site at any time, temporarily or permanently - the only exception is a construction trailer while the house is being built.

Paragraph 7 - Prohibited Structures
Conditional

RVs, boats & trailers

Mobile homes, house trailers, boats, boat trailers, motor homes, camping trailers, recreational vehicles and their trailers may not be parked on a lot for more than 48 hours unless they are inside a garage.

Paragraph 7 - Prohibited Structures
Not stated

Swimming pools & hot tubs

We don’t have this one confirmed yet — we can ask the association and get you an answer before you commit to anything.

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Conditional

Exterior changes & additions

No building, fence or wall may be built, placed, maintained, structurally altered, modified or enlarged, and the natural topography or drainage may not be changed, until the plans, specifications and a plot plan are approved in writing by the committee - two people appointed by the developer - whose decision is entirely within its discretion. If nothing comes back within thirty days the covenant is deemed complied with. The committee's authority expires twenty years after the plat was recorded. A lot carries one single-family house with an attached garage for up to three cars, finished within a year of starting or removed.

Paragraph 5 - Architectural Control Committee, with Paragraphs 4(C) and 4(D)
Conditional

Satellite dishes & antennas

Owners may not put up, or let anyone put up, overhead facilities of any kind for electrical, telephone or television service - the exception being the poles where distribution lines enter and leave the subdivision. The covenant does not mention dishes directly, so ask the committee before assuming it reaches one.

Paragraph 11 - Underground Utility Facilities
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.

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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.

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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

Conditional

Pets

Dogs, cats and other household pets may be kept, as long as none is kept, bred or maintained for any commercial purpose. Livestock and poultry may not be raised or kept. A dog kennel or dog house may not be erected without the architectural control committee's consent.

Paragraph 9 - Livestock and Poultry
Not stated

Renting your home

We don’t have this one confirmed yet — we can ask the association and get you an answer before you commit to anything.

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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

No sign may be displayed to public view except one of no more than five square feet advertising the property for sale, plus a builder's sign of any size during the construction and sales period. Note the covenant says for sale, not for sale or rent.

Paragraph 8 - Signs
Conditional

Street parking

A boat, camper, motor home, trailer or recreational vehicle may not sit on a lot for more than 48 hours unless it is inside a garage. The covenant does not set a driveway surface.

Paragraph 7 - Prohibited Structures
Conditional

Running a business from home

A home occupation is allowed if it is carried on entirely inside the house by a member of the immediate family living there, stays clearly secondary to living there, and uses no mechanical or electrical equipment. No sign or display visible from outside, nothing sold on the home site, nobody employed from outside the immediate family. A barber shop, styling salon, beauty parlour, tea room, fortune-telling parlour, animal hospital or any animal care such as dog trimming is named and excluded.

Paragraph 4(F) - Home Occupations
Not stated

Short-term rentals (Airbnb)

We don’t have this one confirmed yet — we can ask the association and get you an answer before you commit to anything.

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Not stated

Vehicle repair in the driveway

We don’t have this one confirmed yet — we can ask the association and get you an answer before you commit to anything.

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Conditional

Trash & recycling containers

No home site may be used as a dumping ground for rubbish. Trash, garbage and other waste have to be kept in sanitary containers.

Paragraph 10 - Garbage and Refuse Disposal
Not stated

Grilling & outdoor cooking

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

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 →
Not stated

Window coverings & decorations

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 →

Where these answers come from

The documentDeclaration of Covenants and Restrictions for Southeast Estates Section Seven, St. Joseph County, Indiana
Recorded asDeclaration made 1999 by F & G Development Corp., recorded as instrument 9939348
Plat prepared by Abonmarche Group, recorded as document 9930740
Twenty-three home sites: 85-90, 93-98, 101-106 and 109-113
Runs to 2024-12-31, then extends automatically unless 75 percent of owners change it
How it was readThe recorded copy on file is a scan of paper with no digital text, so it was read by optical character recognition. That can misread individual words, which is why nothing on this page is presented as a direct quote.
Checked againstthe covenant's paragraph numbering runs unbroken from 1 through 15 and the home site numbers on its face match the plat
The associationThe covenants create an architectural control committee of two people appointed by the developer, F & G Development Corp., whose authority expires twenty years after the plat was recorded. They do not create a homeowners association or set dues, so if one exists here it was formed outside this document.

Ask us about Southeast Estates

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