In order understand how an HOA in West Virginia like WHOA works, you have to understand the governing documents. The trick to understanding governing documents is to remember this—everything is tied to the land.
EVERYTHING.
Buildings are built on the land and all the rules track back to to the land. The rules connect to all of us people through the land when we become owners of the land.
In order to create a develop land into a subdivision, a developer must follow the county rules about the infrastructure. In the 1970’s, the rules regarding the necessary infrastructure in order to create the plat on the land that became the subdivision or development called “The Woods,” were nowhere near the standards that we have today.
Every piece of land in the platted subdivision called the Woods has a deed containing rights and restrictions. In the Woods, there are deed restrictions on how you can use the land. For example, you can’t have a motor home parked in your driveway. You can’t subdivide your parcel or build a guest house on your lot.
The Declaration of Covenants and Restrictions was filed by the developer of the Woods, Potomac Valley Properties (PVP) in 1976 and formed the subdivision called the The Woods. PVP wrote down all the rules the lot owners had to follow, and all the things lot owners would have to pay for. The Articles of Incorporation forming the HOA, The Woods Homeowners Association, Inc. were filed the same year.
OVERVIEW OF THE GOVERNING DOCS
- Declarations (1976, 1987, 2001 + supplementary declarations)
- Articles of Incorporation (1976, 1985, 1994, 2019)
- By-Laws (2024)
BIG IDEA TO REMEMBER: The governing docs cannot violate the law.
The laws that are crucial to WHOA are the West Virginia Non Profit act (Chapter 31E) and The Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act (UCIOA) (Chapter 36B) These are the laws that PROTECT the members of the HOA in West Virginia and govern how they behave.
THE DECLARATION
The declaration explains that “the covenants and restrictions of the Declaration shall run with the land” and that they have been written to protect our health, safety and welfare. It says who can vote, how we vote and how the community is governed. It says how lot owners can be assessed and the power to borrow money to improve our common property. It explained who owned the water plant and who was to manage it and gave us the right to transfer that common property to a public agency—which of course happened a few years back, but I will cover that in another post. It explains that the HOA owns the roads. It also contains the first set of the rules containing the basics like: no livestock, no mobile homes, one residence per lot, can’t discharge a weapon, no subdividing and more.
ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION
The main thing to understand about the 1976 Articles of Incorporation of the WHOA is that it was formed “to promote the health safety and welfare of the residents.” The WHOA is a non-profit corporation, governed under The West Virginia NonProfit Act. The Articles formed the Board of Directors, who have a duty to act in good faith, to act in compliance with the law and the governing documents, to deal fairly with the association and its members, and to use ordinary care and prudence in performing their functions. (More on all that in another post as well)
THE BYLAWS
The bylaws speak to how the nonprofit WHOA must behave and act, and gives more detail and rules governing how lot owners (who are members of the corporation) must behave and act. The bylaws were just amended in November of 2024 in order to restrict who can run for the Board stating that a lot owner must SLEEP in their homes 60 days a year in order to be eligible to run. (This will definitely be covered in another post.)
HIERARCHY OF HOA GOVERNING DOCS
FIRST: City, county, state or federal laws. None of the governing docs can contradict the law.
SECOND: The recorded plat, map, or plan that is documented with the county. The plat creates the boundaries of the lots that we buy and sell and live on. It also explains the geographical limits of the association’s jurisdiction.
THIRD: The Declaration of Covenants and Restrictions; Supplementary Declarations (CC&Rs)
FOURTH: Articles of incorporation or corporate charter (if any exist)
FIFTH: The Bylaws
Below are links to read the main governing docs of WHOA.
Have fun reading and feel free to comment here with questions and I will make best efforts to answer them! I will continue to share research and report on all things in the Woods. If there is something in particular you would like to know about, let me know.
