What the recorded documents actually say about The Forest at Edison Lakes Section 1 in Mishawaka — fences, sheds, pools, pets, parking and the rest — with the part of the document each answer comes from.
19 homes have sold here in the last four years, which is why this neighborhood was compiled early.
Before you rely on this page
Read this first, because the name on the listing and the name on the documents are not the same thing.
These answers describe a condominium. The governing documents are the Declaration of Horizontal Property Regime of The Forest Town Home Condominium, recorded in St. Joseph County on June 29, 1999 as instrument 9930162 by Heatherton Homes, Inc., and the Bylaws of The Forest Condominium Association, Inc., amended by a vote of the owners on November 1, 2025 and recorded in December 2025. The 2025 bylaws supersede, replace and incorporate all previous bylaws, amendments, rules and regulations, including the 2016 code of bylaws revised in 2017. Most of the day-to-day rules answered above come from the bylaws rather than the declaration, because the declaration itself says the covenants and restrictions on use are set out in the bylaws.
The condominium sits on part of Lot 1 of the recorded plat of The Forest at Edison Lakes Section One, which is why listings here carry that name. It is not the whole of The Forest at Edison Lakes. Other parts of that development are single-family and are governed by separate recorded covenants that are not on this page and say different things. If you are buying a detached house rather than a unit in this condominium, none of the answers above are your rules.
One discrepancy is worth raising with the association or the title company: the current bylaws describe the property by reference to a Declaration of Horizontal Property Ownership dated November 18, 1992, while the declaration in this file is dated June 29, 1999. Ask which recorded declaration runs with the unit you are buying.
The declaration was recorded as an expandable and contractable condominium, meaning the developer reserved rights to add land to or withdraw land from the regime, and each unit's fractional share can change when it does. Besides the declaration, these papers hold eight recorded amendments, every one of them stamped by the St. Joseph County Recorder. Two of the eight amend the declaration itself. One, carried at the 2004 annual meeting and recorded in November 2004, then recorded a second time under a second instrument number with a notary acknowledgment added, deletes the declaration's leasing paragraph in its entirety and replaces it with a single sentence prohibiting the leasing or renting of an owner's unit. The other, carried at the 2005 annual meeting and recorded in December 2005, replaces the declaration's insurance paragraph. Neither recites the owner vote behind it, so the count that carried them is not visible on the face of the documents and a title company is the place to confirm what is of record against your unit today. The other six amend the by-laws - the size of the board, the date of the annual meeting, when quarterly assessments fall due and what share of the assessment goes to the reserve fund - and the 2025 by-laws say they supersede, replace and incorporate all previous by-laws, amendments, rules and regulations, so those six no longer change anything. Renting is where all this reaches a buyer, and the renting answer above carries it. The board also has standing power to adopt further rules and regulations, which would not appear in these documents.
The bylaws were read from the document's own digital text, so the wording quoted above is exact. The 1999 declaration is a scan of paper read by character recognition, so individual words in it can be misread. Confirm the recorded documents for your specific unit through the title company before you rely on any of this.
Neither document uses the word fence. What governs is the general rule on structures: no additional buildings, decks, patios or other structures may be erected or located on the property without the board's consent. In a condominium the ground around a unit is common area rather than your own yard, so anything of this kind is the board's call. Ask before you plan one.
No additional buildings or other structures may go up anywhere on the property without the board's consent. The documents set no size, material or placement standard for one that is approved, so the terms are whatever the board sets. The declaration separately bars an owner from erecting, installing or placing any statue, structure, monument or other item in the limited areas.
Boats, campers, trailers of any kind, buses, commercial or work trucks, mobile homes, aircraft, mini homes and any other unconventional vehicle may not be permitted, parked or stored anywhere in the common areas or limited areas, which is effectively all of the outdoor space here. The bylaws define an unconventional vehicle as anything other than a personal-use vehicle that fits inside the garages here and is meant to be driven on the road, naming a car, SUV, pickup, Jeep or motorcycle as the conventional kind. The restriction is written to the common and limited areas and does not say anything either way about something kept inside a unit's own garage. One stated exception: a visiting guest may park a work vehicle in guest parking, provided it is like a personal road vehicle apart from carrying business markings.
Neither document addresses an owner putting in a pool, and in a condominium there is no private yard to put one in. A pool would be a structure on the property, which needs the board's consent under the general structures rule. The 1999 declaration mentions a swimming pool only as one kind of recreational facility the developer might have added as a common amenity if the condominium expanded, and it says expressly that nothing obliged the developer to build one.
This is tightly controlled, and there are two layers. Under the recorded declaration, no owner may make alterations or additions affecting the common areas or limited common areas, including screening a patio or deck, without the board's prior written approval, nor change the colour of any common or limited common area, nor make any change inside the unit that would affect the building's safety or structural integrity. No unit may be structurally altered, repaired, remodeled or changed in any way without prior written board approval, and an owner wanting to do so submits plans, specifications or written information so the board can assure conformity and harmony of exterior design with the other units. Under the current bylaws, nothing may be done that would affect the exterior appearance of a unit, and no sign, awning, canopy, shutter, antenna or other attachment may be affixed to an exterior wall, roof or any other part of a building without the board's prior consent. Combining two units, or separating units that were previously combined, is also subject to board approval.
A radio or television antenna may not be affixed to an exterior wall, roof or any other part of a building or unit without the board's prior consent, and the bylaws add the words except as permitted by federal or state law, which is a nod to the federal rules that limit how far an association can restrict a small dish. The practical route is to ask the board first and to know the federal protection exists.
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 association does the landscaping. The board is responsible for landscaping, painting, decorating and furnishing the common areas and where applicable the limited areas, and for snow removal from them. What an owner may do is narrow and specific: the board provides a list of plants, shrubs, flowers and trees an owner or resident may buy at their own expense and plant in the mulch or stone area surrounding their unit, after calling 811 to check for buried wires or hazards. Once a plant is in the ground it becomes the association's property and part of the common area landscaping. An owner may also place furniture or objects such as flower pots, statues or fountains in that mulch or stone area, but has to tell the board within twenty-four hours so it can certify the object meets the association's standards; once approved it does not need re-inspecting in later years. The board may inspect any decoration, planting or modification in the common or limited areas and require changes to fit the association's overall vision.
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 →Household pets are allowed in the unit, with real numeric limits. An owner may have a maximum of four pets, but no more than two dogs, two cats or two birds. No exotic pets of any kind are permitted anywhere on the property. Pets may not be kept, bred or maintained for a commercial purpose and may not create a nuisance. Any dog outside has to be on a leash at all times, and the person with it has to be carrying and using the tools to clean up after it. The owner is fully liable for damage their pet causes to the property or to another person. If the board judges a pet to be causing a nuisance, unreasonable disturbance or noise, or if it has injured someone, the owner has ten days from written notice to remove it from the property permanently. Livestock and poultry may not be raised, bred or kept.
Two recorded documents speak to renting and they do not sit easily together. A 2004 amendment to the declaration, stamped by the recorder and recorded a second time with a notary acknowledgment added, deleted the declaration's leasing paragraph in its entirety and put a flat prohibition in its place - leasing, renting or entering into any similar arrangement for an owner's unit is expressly prohibited. The recorded wording sits beside this answer. The current by-laws, adopted by the owners in November 2025, then describe a narrow route. The board may grant permission for the owner of an owner-occupied unit to rent it only in rare but extenuating circumstances. Each time, before permission is given, the owner has to give the board a written explanation detailing the hardship, and the prospective tenant has to sit with the board for an interview. The tenant must pay for a credit and criminal background search showing a clean criminal background and a credit score of no less than 700. The owner must pay the association a nonrefundable security deposit of two thousand five hundred dollars. The tenant agrees to have no pets, and vehicles are limited to garage capacity, meaning two for a two-car garage and one for a one-car garage. The board has to approve the lease before it is signed and keeps a copy. Renting the unit without that authorisation carries a fine of one thousand dollars a month. Separately, an owner may rent out no more than one room to a non-family member without board approval, provided the owner keeps resident status and stays present in the property to see that the tenant follows the by-laws. Which of the two texts governs is not something these documents settle. The 2025 by-laws say they supersede all previous by-laws, amendments and rules, but the 2004 prohibition amends the declaration rather than the by-laws, and in a condominium the declaration is usually the senior document. Anyone buying here counting on rental income should get the association's position and a title company's read of the recorded chain in writing before they write an offer.
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 are limited but a for-sale sign is protected. No window signs or advertising display may be kept anywhere on the property, except one for-sale sign, either in a window or in the ground next to the unit being sold, and its size is limited to one window pane. Up to four open-house directional signs may be placed at strategic spots through the development, for a maximum of four hours, two days a week. Any other sign affixed to an exterior wall, roof or other part of a building needs the board's prior consent.
Parking is the most detailed subject in the bylaws, and it will matter to most buyers here. The starting rule is that vehicles belonging to residents go inside the unit's garage. Most units have a two-car garage, and if only two licensed drivers live there, all their vehicles have to be parked inside it and so have to fit side by side. If more than two licensed drivers live in the unit, the garage has to hold two vehicles before one more per additional driver may go in a guest spot, and then only with the board's advance permission. A small number of units have a one-car garage and are named in the bylaws; those park one vehicle inside and may park a second in guest parking, with notice to the board, if it belongs to a second licensed driver living there. Guest spots are first come, first served, and no vehicle may use the same guest spot more than three consecutive nights. A resident who parks in a guest spot in snow has to clear that whole spot within four hours of the community being cleared. One unit has a private driveway and its visitors use it first, including overnight. Temporary parking in front of a garage door is capped at four hours for units without a private driveway. Garage doors stay closed when not in use, motorcycles are parked in the garage at all times, and no owner may habitually park outside their garage without board permission. Tradesmen may use designated guest spots on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. and weekends from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., with room for mechanical emergencies and moving vans. The board may have an illegally parked vehicle towed at the owner's expense.
Working from home is expressly allowed here, which is unusual in this area. Each unit is to be used principally for residential purposes, and home-based businesses are allowed as long as they do not increase traffic or noise within the community. The bylaws draw the line at activity that brings people in: garage sales and similar activities are excluded unless the board has approved them as a community event.
A 2004 amendment to the declaration, recorded with the St. Joseph County Recorder and recorded again with a notary acknowledgment added, deleted the declaration's leasing paragraph and replaced it with a prohibition on leasing, renting or entering into any similar arrangement for an owner's unit. It draws no line by length of stay, so a short stay is caught by the same words as a year-long tenancy. The by-laws never use the words short-term rental either, and they create no exception for one. Under them, renting the unit at all needs the board's advance permission, given only in rare but extenuating circumstances, and it comes with a written hardship explanation from the owner, an interview of the tenant by the board, a credit and criminal background check, a credit score floor of 700, a two thousand five hundred dollar nonrefundable deposit to the association and a lease the board approves before signing. Renting without that authorisation carries a one thousand dollar monthly fine. The by-laws also say that people who are not owners, residents or guests may not occupy a unit overnight. Anyone counting on short-stay rental income should get the board's position in writing before buying.
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 →Garbage, trash and refuse are stored in the appropriate containers inside the unit, and the garage counts, and stay there until no earlier than sundown on the evening before the scheduled collection. Bags have to be sealed, non-clear and disposable, or in other approved containers, and put out at the collection points the board designates. Common and limited areas are to be kept free and clear of rubbish, debris and other unsightly materials.
This is one of the few documents in the area that names a grill directly. No open fires are permitted anywhere on the property. Grills, heat lamps and other heat-producing devices are permitted, but when in operation they have to be at least ten feet from the exterior walls of all buildings and have to sit on a patio, pavers or asphalt. Worth measuring before you buy a grill, because ten feet from every building wall is a real constraint on a condominium site.
The rule is short and absolute in its own terms: nobody may hang laundry, sheets, rugs or other items outside the unit. It names no exception and no approval route, and it is not limited to a permanent structure.
The American flag may always be displayed. The one stated limit is that it may not be placed in the stucco. Separately, a flag may not be used as a window covering; the window-treatment rule names flags among the materials that are prohibited there. The bylaws do not address other flags.
Window treatments are regulated for a uniform external appearance. All of them have to be in good condition, and sheets, plastic, cardboard, plywood, flags and similar materials are prohibited, except temporarily after a casualty to the unit. Nothing may be hung or displayed on the outside of the windows, with one charming exception written into the bylaws: a birdfeeder may be affixed to the outside of a window pane with suction cups. Window signs and advertising displays are out apart from a single for-sale sign no larger than one window pane, and the board circulates rules on holiday decorations from time to time.
Tell us the question and we will get you the answer from the recorded documents.