To find the deed restrictions on a property, pull the recorded deed and any documents it references from the county recorder’s office, ask the homeowners association for its CC&Rs if one exists, and order a preliminary title report if you want every recorded restriction consolidated into a single summary. Deed restrictions run with the land, so rules recorded decades ago under a prior owner still bind you today. Most counties now let you do the initial search online with nothing more than an address or parcel number.
What to Gather Before You Search
The property’s full street address is enough to start in most county systems. Two other pieces of information make the search faster: the names of current or past owners, since many recording offices index documents by name rather than address, and the parcel number, sometimes called an Assessor’s Parcel Number or APN. You can find the parcel number on a property tax bill or on the county assessor’s website.
If you only have the address, check whether your county publishes a GIS map. These tools let you click a parcel and pull up its tax and recording data, including the parcel number you’ll need for a deeper search.
Search the County Recorder’s Office
Every deed transferring property between private owners is on file at the county recorder’s office. Depending on where you live, this office may be called the county clerk or register of deeds. These are public records, and you don’t need to own the property to look at them.
Start on the recorder’s website and look for a “document search” or “official records” section. You’ll typically be able to search by owner name, parcel number, or address. If the system only supports name-based searching, you’ll be using the grantor-grantee index, the traditional method counties use to track transfers. Documents are organized by the name of the seller (grantor) and buyer (grantee), and you may need to work backward through several owners to reach the original deed or declaration that created the restrictions.
When online records come up short, go to the recorder’s office in person. Staff can help you use the public terminals, and certified copies are available for a small per-page fee, usually a few dollars per page.
Once you have the deed, read it closely for restrictive language. Sometimes the restrictions sit right in the deed itself. More often, the deed points to a separately recorded document, usually titled “Declaration of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions,” and provides a recording number that lets you pull up that document. Do not stop at the deed. The cross-referenced declaration is where the real restrictions live.
Ask the Homeowners Association
If the property is inside a planned community, condominium complex, or subdivision, there is almost certainly an HOA with its own rulebook layered on top of anything in the deed. The governing document is called the CC&Rs, and it typically covers a lot more territory than the individual deed: exterior paint colors, fencing, landscaping, parking, pets, home-based businesses, and renovation approvals.
To confirm whether an HOA applies, check the deed for any reference to an association, ask the seller or listing agent, or search online for the neighborhood name plus “HOA.” Once you have confirmation, contact the association or its management company and request the governing documents. HOAs generally charge for this package. The price varies but commonly runs from about $100 to $400. Some states cap the fee by statute, so the cost depends partly on where the property sits.
Order a Preliminary Title Report
A preliminary title report is the most efficient way to see every recorded restriction, easement, and lien in one document. Title companies produce these by searching the full chain of recorded documents and summarizing the property’s legal status.
Focus on Schedule B, and specifically the part labeled “Exceptions.” This section lists everything that will remain attached to the property after a sale: CC&Rs, easements, mineral rights, HOA obligations, and any other recorded restrictions. If a restriction is in the public record, it should appear here.
When you’re buying a home, a title search is a standard part of the transaction and you’ll receive the title commitment for review. Outside a purchase, you can still order a preliminary report directly from a title company. For a straightforward residential property, expect to pay between $75 and $250 depending on the provider and the complexity of the chain of title. This is the surest way to catch older restrictions that were recorded under names you’d never think to search.
What Deed Restrictions Usually Cover
Knowing what to look for helps when you’re reading dense recorded documents. Residential deed restrictions typically fall into a handful of categories:
- Building and structure rules: minimum or maximum square footage, height limits, setback distances from property lines, and prohibitions or limits on detached structures such as sheds, workshops, or accessory dwelling units.
- Exterior appearance: approved color palettes, required materials like brick, stone, or stucco, roof types, and fencing styles or heights.
- Land use: bans on operating a business from the property, occupancy limits, or restrictions on short-term rentals.
- Vehicles and parking: prohibitions on storing boats, RVs, or commercial vehicles on the property or street, and limits on the number of cars per household.
- Landscaping and trees: required tree coverage, restrictions on removing mature trees, or mandated lawn maintenance standards.
- Animals: limits on the number or type of pets, or bans on livestock or poultry.
Read the full document before you close on a purchase, not just the highlights in a seller’s disclosure. Some of these are easy to live with; others will kill a renovation or block the use you had in mind.
Zoning Is Separate and Stacks on Top
Deed restrictions are private rules created by a developer, HOA, or prior owner, and they apply only to the properties described in the recorded document. Zoning is a government regulation enforced by your city or county planning department, and it applies to every property in a designated zone.
Your property has to comply with both. When they conflict, the stricter rule wins. Zoning may allow a detached garage while the deed forbids accessory structures; the deed controls. The deed may say nothing about short-term rentals while zoning bans them; zoning controls. Checking one and ignoring the other is a common and expensive mistake, so if you’re pulling deed restrictions, check the zoning at the same time.
Restrictions You May Find That Are Not Enforceable
Some restrictions still sit in the public record even though the law no longer allows them to be enforced. Recognizing them when they turn up saves you from thinking a project is dead when it isn’t.
Older deeds sometimes contain covenants that prohibited ownership or occupancy based on race, religion, or national origin. The Supreme Court held in 1948 that judicial enforcement of racially restrictive covenants violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.1Justia. Shelley v. Kraemer, 334 U.S. 1 (1948) The Fair Housing Act of 1968 made it unlawful to discriminate in the sale, rental, or terms of housing on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, national origin, or disability.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 3604 – Discrimination in the Sale or Rental of Housing and Other Prohibited Practices Language like this is void. Many states have procedures for formally striking it from recorded documents.
Federal law also overrides deed restrictions and HOA rules that block certain antennas and satellite dishes. The FCC’s Over-the-Air Reception Devices (OTARD) rule prohibits any private covenant or HOA rule that impairs the installation or use of a satellite dish one meter or less in diameter, an antenna for receiving broadcast television, or certain antennas for fixed wireless signals.3eCFR. 47 CFR 1.4000 – Restrictions Impairing Reception of Television Broadcasting Signals, Direct Broadcast Satellite Services, or Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Services A restriction is considered impairing if it unreasonably delays installation, unreasonably increases the cost, or prevents acceptable signal reception.4Federal Communications Commission. Over-the-Air Reception Devices Rule The rule has narrow exceptions for legitimate safety concerns and historic preservation, and it doesn’t cover common areas you don’t have exclusive use of.
Everything else you find in the recorded documents should be treated as live and enforceable until a lawyer tells you otherwise. Pull the records early, read what’s cross-referenced, and ask the HOA for its full package before you commit to a project or a purchase.