What the recorded documents actually say about Townhomes at Keenan Court in South Bend — fences, sheds, pools, pets, parking and the rest — with the part of the document each answer comes from.
7 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 a TOWNHOME development and the rules read like it - the homes share a uniform exterior colour, fences are not permitted at all, and the Architectural Review Board approves changes down to the mailbox and the shrubs. The MLS lists these homes as Keenan Court; the recorded name is The Townhomes at Keenan Court. Every address in the sales record is on Keenan Court itself in the 46615 zip.
No fence or similar enclosure may be erected or built on any lot. The only fencing permitted is what the developer installed. Fences are also named in the list of structures that may never be put up here, so there is no approval route for one.
No building may stand on a lot other than the home itself and appurtenant structures approved by the Association and the local authorities. A shed is not on the outright-banned list, but it is a Structure, so plans and a site plan would have to be filed with the Architectural Review Board and approved in writing before anything went up - and tents and greenhouses are banned outright.
No recreational vehicle or equipment - boats, boating equipment, jet-skis, wave runners, mobile homes, travel trailers, camping vehicles or camping equipment are all named - may be parked on the property without the Architectural Review Board's prior written approval, which covers location, size and screening. The association is under no obligation to provide anywhere to store them, and the Board may tow a vehicle parked in violation at the owner's expense.
Pools and hot tubs are both named in the list of structures that may never be erected, placed or installed on a lot here. There is no approval route written for either.
Nothing you can see may change without written approval first. No structure or addition may be erected, placed, painted, altered or externally modified until the plans and specifications - design, elevation, material, shape, height, colour and texture - and a site plan showing location and grading are filed with and approved in writing by the Architectural Review Board, plus any permit the county requires. Repainting is tighter still: no exterior may be painted a colour different from the original without written approval from both the Review Board and the Association, and every home is to be painted in a uniform colour without variation. A replaced roof or exterior must match the original colour and texture unless the Review Board says otherwise. Exteriors must be kept in good repair - a home may not stand unfinished more than six months after construction starts, and after fire, windstorm or other damage it may not sit damaged longer than three months without the Board's written agreement. Even holiday and seasonal decorations need the Review Board's approval first, and the Board decides how long they may stay up.
Exterior television and other antennae, including satellite dishes, are prohibited unless the Architectural Review Board approves them in writing - and the declaration says openly that it intends the Board to regulate them as strictly as federal law allows. Where it does approve, a dish may be no more than EIGHTEEN inches across and must be mounted on the rear side of the roof or another rear surface of the home. The Board sets its own installation rules requiring dishes and antennae to be as inconspicuous as possible.
Solar panels are named in this declaration's own definition of a Structure, so they are not a grey area here: plans and specifications covering design, material, shape, height, colour and texture, plus a site plan, must be filed with the Architectural Review Board and approved in writing before anything is installed. Ask the Board what it expects before you sign a contract with an installer.
Far less of this is yours to decide than in an ordinary subdivision. Before landscaping a lot at all - anything beyond perennial flowers inside an already-approved flower bed - the owner must submit a written landscape plan to the Architectural Review Board for approval. No tree or shrub may be removed without the Board's approval, except where the county or the Board itself orders it to keep sight lines clear, and the Board will not approve a removal unless proper provision is made to replace what comes out. Trees, hedges and shrubbery are themselves Structures under this declaration. Separately, no fence, wall, tree, hedge or shrub may be kept in a way that blocks sight lines for traffic, and no exterior light on a lot may be aimed outside that lot's boundaries.
Mailboxes and name plates are named in the declaration's definition of a Structure, so replacing or altering one needs plans filed with, and written approval from, the Architectural Review Board - the same route as any other exterior change.
There is a weight limit, and it is low: only small pet DOGS NOT EXCEEDING FIFTEEN POUNDS, pet cats, or customary household pets may be kept. No more than TWO pets in a home without the Board's prior approval. None may be kept, bred or maintained for a commercial purpose or become a nuisance. Outdoors a pet must be on a leash or other restraint AND attended by its owner - the declaration says specifically that tethering does not count as attended. Solid waste is cleaned up immediately and disposed of properly. The Board may require a security deposit before a pet comes onto the property, refunded when the pet leaves permanently less any damage. A pet the Board judges to be a nuisance or unreasonably noisy must be permanently removed within TEN days of written notice, and the owner is fully liable for any injury or damage it causes.
Renting is expressly permitted, subject to zoning and other law - but with real paperwork attached. Every rental or lease agreement must be in writing and must be made subject to the declaration and the association's other documents, and the owner must give the Board a copy of EVERY one. Each agreement has to contain a clause making any failure by the tenant, their household or their guests to follow the declaration or by-laws a default under the lease, and the owner is responsible for enforcing it. An owner who fails or refuses to enforce it can be fined an amount the Board sets at its sole discretion - and an unpaid fine becomes a lien on the lot.
Basketball goals are named outright in the list of structures that may never be erected, placed or installed on any lot here, alongside play equipment. There is no approval route for one.
The only signs permitted are customary home and address signs and for-sale or for-rent signs. None of them may be illuminated, and no more than ONE sign advertising a lot for sale, rent or lease may be up at a time. Any such sign has to come down within THREE days of the sale closing or the lease being signed. Banners are banned outright.
The parking rules here are specific and they are counted. No vehicle of any type may be parked in the street overnight. No more than TWO conventional passenger vehicles, vans or trucks may sit in a driveway at a time, and no more than FOUR in total on a lot counting the garage and the driveway. A garage may not be converted in any way that stops vehicles parking in it, and has to be kept in a condition that allows at least two vehicles inside. Commercial and industrial vehicles - moving vans, trucks, tractors, trailers, vans, wreckers, tow trucks, hearses and buses are all named - may not be regularly or habitually parked, or parked overnight, without the Architectural Review Board's prior written approval. The Board may tow anything parked in violation at the vehicle owner's expense.
The property and every lot on it are to be used exclusively for residential purposes, and no building may stand on a lot other than the home and approved appurtenant structures used solely by its occupant. The one carve-out is the developer's own construction and sales operation during the build-out. No exterior sign advertising anything beyond a sale or a rental is permitted either.
Subletting a home, or any part of one, is prohibited outright - which rules out letting a room while you live there. A full rental is allowed, but only under a written agreement filed with the Board, so nightly and weekly letting through a platform does not fit the machinery this declaration sets up.
No part of the property may be used for repairing a vehicle, and no inoperable, junk, unregistered or unlicensed vehicle may be kept anywhere on the property.
Trash is collected and stored in proper receptacles, not in plastic bags alone. Those receptacles may not be left in public view and stay inside the owner's garage except on collection days. No litter, no new or used building materials and no trash of any kind may be accumulated or stored outside the 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 →No clothing, laundry or wash may be aired or dried on any part of the property within public view.
Flag poles are named in the declaration's definition of a Structure, so one may not be erected or placed until plans are filed with the Architectural Review Board and approved in writing. Banners are prohibited outright.
Nothing may be hung or displayed on or about any window where it is visible from outside, with a single exception: WHITE BLINDS. Window boxes holding flowers or any other planting may not be put up or attached to a home at all - they are also on the outright-banned list.
Tell us the question and we will get you the answer from the recorded documents.