Are such pre-1993 automatic renewal provisions in the covenants themselves valid? These issues and others have been addressed by the Georgia appellate courts in the following cases. These pre-1993 renewal provisions either provided for automatic renewal or required the approval of at least a majority of the lot owners to renew the covenants after the initial twenty (20) years. For instance, what about covenants that were recorded before July 1, 1993? Would those covenants receive the benefit of the statutory automatic renewal that became effective on Jand would thus not expire after twenty (20) years? Also, prior to July 1, 1993, many developers had recognized the benefit of restrictive covenants continuing beyond their initial twenty (20) year period and had included various provisions within the covenants themselves that provided for renewal of the covenants. The changes to Section 44-5-60 have caused many issues for community associations. This statutory automatic renewal became effective on Jand is the current law in Georgia. Finally, in 1993, the Georgia legislature amended Section 44-5-60 to state that restrictive covenants in subdivisions of fifteen or more lots shall run for an initial period of twenty (20) years and shall thereafter automatically renew for successive periods of twenty (20) years, unless fifty-one percent (51%) of the lot owners vote to terminate the restrictive covenants. The Georgia legislature again amended Section 44-5-60 in 1991 to increase the ten (10) year extension period to twenty (20) years. With the growth of residential subdivisions, however, covenants have steadily become recognized as protecting home values and have become more and more favored by the Georgia courts and legislature.Īs a result, the Georgia legislature amended Section 44-5-60 in 1990 to permit owners affected by restrictive covenants to vote to continue those covenants ten (10) years beyond the initial twenty (20) year period. This Code Section was adopted before the explosive growth of residential subdivisions at a time when restrictive covenants upon land were generally not favored. Georgia Code Section 44-5-60 used to provide that covenants restricting land to certain uses would bind the land for twenty (20) years, and at the end of the twenty (20) years, those restrictive covenants would automatically expire. The second part of his article addresses how Code Section 44-5-60 relates to the Georgia Property Owners’ Association Act (commonly referred to as the “POA”). The first part of this article addresses Georgia Code Section 44-5-60, which is the Georgia statute that generally pertains to the duration of restrictive covenants, and the Georgia appellate court cases that have addressed that Code Section.
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