Master HOA Rules for Your Residential Assisted Living Business
Aug 23, 2024
Starting an assisted living business is challenging, and dealing with a Homeowners Association (HOA) is a common issue for many investors. Navigating HOA laws and regulations can be difficult, but it is essential for ensuring your business runs successfully within a residential community. In this post, we'll delve into the complexities of working with a HOA, giving you useful insights and practical advice to help you get started right. Whether you're just starting out or looking to increase your knowledge, let's review the key steps to properly managing HOA relations for your home assisted living business.
Check out the video too:
Understanding HOAs
Let's start with the basics. A Homeowners Association (HOA) is a collection of homeowners who establish and enforce ordinances in their community. Builders frequently form these organizations in new developments, but they can also exist in older neighborhoods. HOAs maintain common areas, administer community resources, and ensure that properties meet specific criteria.
The Role of HOAs in Residential Communities
HOAs are important in preserving a neighborhood's beauty and functional characteristics. They oversee projects such as re-roofing structures, maintaining main water lines, and other municipal obligations. However, this raises the question of whether starting a residential assisted living business in a HOA-governed area is possible.
The Fair Housing Act
The good news is that you certainly can. The Fair Housing Act safeguards your ability to provide housing for the elderly and disabled. This federal legislation prohibits discrimination based on specific protected characteristics, such as disability or age. As a result, an HOA cannot legally prevent you from running a an assisted living business in your home.
Potential Challenges and Solutions
While HOAs cannot prevent you from establishing a business, they can impose restrictions you must follow. For example, many HOAs have laws about posting signage in your yard, which may prevent you from advertising your business in this manner. Additionally, HOAs frequently have tight parking requirements. Ensure that enough parking for staff and visitors complies with HOA guidelines. Despite these possible challenges, the Fair Housing Act guarantees that you can operate your business if the property is properly designated. Zoning restrictions are often more difficult to manage than HOA standards, so verify your local zoning requirements and secure any appropriate permissions.
Zoning Considerations
Zoning might be a major impediment to operating a home assisted living business. If your site is not designated for this type of business, you must request a rezoning. This process can be complicated and involves much understanding and planning. Click here for a detailed guide on zoning.
Legal Support
Consult a lawyer if a HOA tries to prevent your business from violating the Fair Housing Act. There are case laws that support your right to run an assisted living home, and a qualified lawyer can help you overcome these challenges.
Practical Steps
Check your local zoning requirements to ensure your property is suitable for a residential assisted care facility. Next, read the HOA bylaws to see if any specific restrictions relate to your business. It is also important to check with a fire marshal to ensure your property satisfies all safety and licensing standards. If the HOA objects, seek legal assistance from an attorney who is knowledgeable about Fair Housing legislation.
To recap, dealing with an HOA might seem daunting, but with the right knowledge and preparation, you can successfully establish your residential assisted living business. Remember, the Fair Housing Act is on your side, and zoning will be your primary concern.
If you are ready, visit Assisted Living Investing and download our free underwriting calculator and our Business Plan Checklist to ensure you have all the necessary steps covered when starting your assisted living business. This comprehensive guide will help you build a solid foundation for success.
Need help figuring out where to start? Join the next Roadmap Challenge and build your launch plan with me.
Show full transcript 👇
Transcript
00:00:01
hey friend I'm Brandon Gustafson and I help new and aspiring Real Estate Investors launch their Assisted Living business in today's video we're going to get into the topic of how to deal with an HOA for your residential Assisted Living business welcome to Assisted Living [Music] investing hey friend welcome again back to the channel excited to have you here before we get started I want to remind you to get over to the website assisted Liv investing. net you can get access to free underwriting calculator which is
00:00:32
going to help you through the process of underwriting to help you start your Assisted Living business now let's get into the topic for today's video how to deal with an HOA when you're starting your Assisted Living business it's a question a lot of people have and it's valid because often times we live in a world where there are so many HOAs so many people that are are creating this and houses that are in these types of neighborhoods and things like that so you want to deal with it but let's start
00:00:58
off with the basics what first off is an HOA an HOA is a homeowners association so often times this is put in place by new Builders actually and they'll they'll put it together but um it could be not in a in a new build area it is a group of homeowners and they come together and they create bylaws and they say well we want this thing here and this there and that and and then they pay money into it and somebody comes in and manages stuff for them and enforces some of those laws and rules and bylaws
00:01:27
and um helps plan things you'll see this a lot in um town home complexes or apartment complexes where they need to redo the roofs or um take care of a main water line or or those types of of things so there's is definitely a purpose to an HOA but then the question becomes can you actually put a care home or residential Assisted Living business inside of a neighborhood that has an HOA I see this question all the time uh because people don't want to do it there they get a little bit scared they don't
00:02:01
want to move forward if they can't do it if they're going to have issues with starting that business in this area because of an HOA the answer to that question is a resounding yes you absolutely can it is actually protected by the fair housing act uh which is um some law that that came into Place several years ago I don't know all the specifics with it but in the fair housing act it basically says you cannot discriminate against anybody for protected characteristics and some of those things that are protect Ed are
00:02:30
people with disabilities whether mental or physical um and the elderly so there is nothing in there that says you might get an HOA that says no you can't do this and if you take it up high enough with a good attorney you would be able to overturn that because you are able to do this in HOAs because it is protected under the fair housing act you are providing a service and a home to these people and they need housing and so they're able to do that now that doesn't mean that an HOA can't still make your
00:02:59
life a little bit difficult they could stop you from doing something like putting a sign up in your yard um that advertises that it's a business um they might have some rules around parking that you have to adhere to that you need to you can't have a bunch of cars there so you need to be careful with that parking on the street those types of things so there's still rules and and things you have to follow when you are in an HOA but the actual starting of a business the HOA will not be able to do
00:03:24
it if the house is zoned properly and it allows you to do it then you are able to do that because uh it is protected under the fair housing act and Zoning really is going to be your bigger um thing to worry about here and we I've done a video on this we'll try to link it up above um on zoning but zoning is the thing that could really put a stop in your ability to move forward with with starting that Assisted Living business because if zoning says it is not zoned for that you cannot run that type of a
00:03:53
business out of the home then you can't unless you get a reone and I went really deep into that process there in that video so make sure you go and catch that cuz it's going to teach you a lot about it so really in reality HOAs there's some good things and some bad things they they create these bylaws they help people understand um what they can and can't do inside of a home they will not be able to tell you no you cannot start you can't put that assisted living that that care home in this area um they're
00:04:20
not able to do that you're protected under the fair housing act so don't worry about an HOA that's going to be fine your bigger worry needs to come in with City zoning and planning making sure that you are zoned correctly um make sure you're talking with a fire marshal make sure that everything is inspected correctly and you're able to uh work with the the correct amount of residents and and things like that in the home for what you want to be licensed for that's where you're going
00:04:43
to run into issues HOAs you can deal with them all day long uh and if you have somebody if you have an HOA that tells you otherwise then there is case law against that and find yourself a good attorney and overturn it and start operating the business and you'll be good to go so uh that's a good way to do it I personally not a legal things so if you need legal advice go talk to an attorney I am not an attorney I don't know law um other than like things that I find on the internet like
00:05:13
this one with their housing act so if you need a specific legal advice please go and talk to a professional to get some guidance on that but you should not be having issues with an HOA when you're starting that Assisted Living business does residential Assisted Living sound interesting to you but you don't know how to get started at Assisted Living invest in.net we are here to help new and aspiring Real Estate Investors launch their Assisted Living business I want to remind you to subscribe like the video and ring the
00:05:39
bell as well so you get notified we go out and put two pieces of content here on the internet uh on a weekly basis uh get join the Facebook group it's going to help you out and and give you even more content there and I do special promotions and and things on the Facebook group so make sure you're joining that um YouTube Facebook those are the two spots where we're at with Assisted Living investing in addition to a few other places but those are the main spots uh make sure you are joining
00:06:02
those and subscribing doing all those things so you get notified when we put this valuable content out here to help you out if you have questions make sure you drop them down below because I'd love to hear from you about what uh your questions about HOAs and and how that might impact your ability to start a business and remind you as well get over to the website Assisted Living investing. net I've got a bunch of resources get the free underwriting calculator uh it's a great option for
00:06:27
you and I also have our business planning guide and the accelerator course there to help you along your journey um really the accelerator is a 12we path to ownership it's going to help you get to that point where you are starting that business so make sure you jump over there and get access to that if it fits where you're at in your journey I want to thank you again for watching and remind you that it doesn't take a lot just a little bit just keep going step by step by step if you keep
00:06:48
making progress and you're consistent and persistent I promise you you're going to be successful thanks for watching and have a great [Music] day [Music]
Download Your FREE Calculator
Stay connected with news and updates!
Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from our team.
Don't worry, your information will not be shared.
We hate SPAM. We will never sell your information, for any reason.