The Pleasant Valley West
HOA Membership and Your Private Property Rights

In response to the Club's 2023 attempt to disallow short-term rentals with a loosely adopted and questionable rule change by the current board, recent court actions have been initiated by members of the community, and several other communities and owners, to challenge rule changes such as these. As a result, a lot of information has come to light, which is big win for private property owners and their rights, especially here in Pleasant Valley West.

The board hasn't addressed it publicly because they created a mess by initiating the rule change to begin with. In short, most properties in Pleasant Valley West have NO REQUIREMENT to join or be part of the "HOA Club."  This means, for them, there is no HOA membership requirement. All property owners are required to pay a pro-rated share of road maintenance and recreation area maintenance costs, but they are not subject to HOA rules or restrictions otherwise. Roughly, only about 170 of the 500+ lot owners have any level of HOA membership requirement.  The language varies somewhat from deed to deed, property to property, so it's important to find out what your deed says.

As it related to short-term rentals, in 2024 the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania addressed two cases regarding the regulation of short-term rentals by HOAs.

One case that the Commonwealth Court decided was” Ruffed Grouse Ridge Owners Association vs. Hura.” Here, the court ruled that if the HOA is not a MANDATORY association, as determined by the developer’s original declarations in the deed covenants, the property owner is not required to join the HOA and are therefore not required to follow HOA rules or bylaws. It should be noted that individual deed covenants can vary within a single development, so the requirement can be different for each property. All deeds may not read the same. This is the case in Pleasant Valley West. Some have a mandatory HOA membership requirement, but most do not. Before renewing your dues, you should insist that the HOA prove that you are required to become a member before making an HOA Club payment. As mentioned, non-members are still required to pay a pro-rated share of road and recreation area maintenance, and that dollar amount has not been announced, but you are not subject to the whims of this board and their rules and regulations or any future board or individuals serving on the board. For the most part, Pleasant Valley West is a "road association."

In this same case, the court also held that renting a home for residential use, regardless of the length of stay is NOT a commercial endeavor. Therefore, renting for any term cannot be prohibited. Meaning, that any “residential use” covenant restriction or bylaw does not prevent you from renting for any length of time, so long as it is for residential use. The court held that there is no distinction between short-term rentals and long-term rental use, as the duration of the use doesn't change its purpose. It is all "residential use."

In the second case, “Chan versus The Association of property owners of The Hideout Incorporated,” the Commonwealth Court upheld in favor of the property owners in deciding that even if you have a “mandatory association” with rental restrictions, if their bylaws or restrictions are at odds with the declarations in your deed covenants, they CANNOT restrict rights with a bylaw amendment or a simple rule change. In other words, if your deed doesn’t mention rentals at all, they cannot restrict your right to rent your property or restrict any other right not specified in the deed.

This is a win for the rights of private property owners throughout the Commonwealth, but most especially in areas with a tourist-driven economy.

If you have any questions, please   e-mail us.

And if you're wonder why vacation homes and vacation rentals are so important to everyone who invests in the Poconos, read this.

 Pleasant Valley West Property Owners Group