What the recorded documents actually say about Southfield Condominiums in South Bend — fences, sheds, pools, pets, parking and the rest — with the part of the document each answer comes from.
6 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 HOMEOWNER'S MANUAL AND BY-LAWS, NOT THE RECORDED DECLARATION, which was not among the documents on these listings. The Manual is the practical governing document here and it cites the by-laws throughout, so it is the right source for almost any day-to-day question - but anything turning on a recorded restriction should be checked against the Declaration, which the association can supply. Note too that a Manual is a board document: a 2025 edition is on file alongside the 2021 one read here, so ask for the current version. The association itself makes that easy - a seller is REQUIRED to give the buyer the latest Manual before closing. One correction worth recording, because the paragraph invites the mistake: the declaration's list of a swimming pool, club house, courts, ponds and playgrounds is illustrative of what MIGHT be added as common area on an expansion, and expressly does not oblige anyone to build them. It is not a list of amenities this community has.
Fences are not allowed, except with the Board's express written approval. The five-foot strip around each unit, including decks and patios, is limited common area for that owner's exclusive use to landscape, and the association supplies mulch for it - everything beyond that strip is common area.
No additional building or addition may be erected on the property without the Board's written consent, and a request has to be made in writing to the Board.
No boats, campers, trailers of any kind, buses, mobile homes, trucks, motorcycles, mini bikes, mopeds or any vehicle other than a normal passenger automobile may be permitted, parked or stored anywhere on the property - unless it is completely enclosed inside a garage. There is one narrow allowance: temporary parking of no longer than a WEEK to prepare for a trip or clean up afterwards.
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 →Nothing may be done to a unit that would impair the structural integrity of the building or affect its exterior appearance, and nothing may be hung or displayed on an outside wall or roof - signs, awnings, canopies are named - without the Board's prior written consent. Two flat bans worth knowing before you plan an outdoor space: A ROOF OVER A DECK OR PATIO IS NOT ALLOWED, and awnings are not allowed over windows, decks or patios at all. Replacement siding must conform to the colour scheme of the rest of the units, and that extends to shutters, fascia, trim and other exterior surfaces.
Nothing may be hung or attached to an outside wall or the roof of any building without the Board's prior written consent, which is the clause a dish or antenna would be judged against - ask before an installer is booked.
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 five-foot strip around your unit, including the deck and patio, is yours alone to landscape and the association mulches it. Everywhere else is common area and NO owner may plant or remove trees, landscape, or do any gardening there without the Board's express written permission. The association handles the mowing, the pruning and replacement of trees and shrubs, the flowers, the mulch, the irrigation, the fertilizer and the weed control across the common and limited common areas.
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 →Pet dogs, cats and customary household pets may be kept in a unit, provided none is kept, bred or maintained for a commercial purpose and none becomes a nuisance. Pets MAY NOT BE STAKED OR CHAINED, and may not be in the common or limited common areas unless carried or leashed and accompanied by an adult. An invisible electric fence is possible but the bar is high: you need the approval of the ADJACENT NEIGHBOURS and a drawing submitted to the Board for written approval before installation. Every owner cleans up after their pet and is fully liable for any injury or damage it causes.
Leasing here needs permission and it is not a formality. No owner may lease a unit, or enter any other rental or letting arrangement, without the PRIOR WRITTEN CONSENT of the Board of Directors - though the declaration says that consent may not be unreasonably withheld. NO LEASE LONGER THAN ONE YEAR may be approved. The application goes in writing and must state why the owner wants to lease, the name of the proposed tenant, THE TENANT'S AGE, and financial references for them. The Board has THREE BUSINESS DAYS to issue a written approval or refusal, and a refusal must give specific reasons; if it says nothing in that time the application is deemed approved for one year, and the owner may demand a recordable certificate signed by the President or Secretary confirming it. The developer itself was exempt from all of this.
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 →A FOR SALE sign for the unit is permitted without needing the Board's approval - which is more generous than most of this directory. Anything else is not: no window or advertising sign of any kind without the Board's written consent, and nothing displayed on an outside wall or roof.
Only normal passenger automobiles may be parked or stored anywhere on the property; anything else belongs completely inside a garage, with a one-week allowance around a trip. The streets here are private and narrow and the association maintains them itself, which is the reasoning it gives for several of its other rules.
No industry, trade or other commercial activity - educational or otherwise, designed for profit, altruism or anything else - may be conducted, practiced or permitted on the property. It is an outright ban with no home-occupation carve-out. AND READ THIS BEFORE YOU PLAN AN ESTATE SALE. The Board has interpreted that same ban, together with the nuisance by-law, to prohibit ALL garage, tag, estate, auction or other sales anywhere in Southfield - in a unit, at a unit, or in the common areas - because the streets are narrow and the driveways close together. The membership approved that interpretation at annual meetings. The penalty is a FINE OF $10,000, FILED AS A LIEN ON THE PROPERTY IMMEDIATELY upon any action to carry out such a sale, and the Manual says there will be no exception - including for an owner or an agent who did not know. If the contents of a unit have to go, they are moved off site to be sold or donated, and the Board keeps a list of providers who do that.
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 →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 →All garbage, trash and refuse is stored in appropriate containers INSIDE THE GARAGE and stays there until the scheduled pickup. The common areas are to be kept free and clear of rubbish, debris and other unsightly material.
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 →No clothes, sheets, blankets, rugs, laundry or other things may be hung out or exposed anywhere they can be SEEN from the common areas.
Nothing may be hung or displayed on the outside walls or the roof of any building without the Board's prior written consent, which is the rule a flag bracket falls under.
No window sign or advertising sign is permitted without the Board's written consent. A for-sale sign for the unit itself is the exception and needs no approval.
Tell us the question and we will get you the answer from the recorded documents.