“Are you the new owner?”
“I am.”
“I’m Karen Whitmore.”
She waited.
The name was apparently supposed to mean something.
When I said nothing, she continued.
“President of Hawthorne Ridge Homeowners Association.”
“All right.”
She looked across the lake.
“You’ve done quite a bit of work.”
“I have.”
“It looks much better.”
“Thank you.”
Then her tone changed.
“We’ve received several complaints.”
“About what?”
“Restricted access.”
I set down the board I was holding.
“What access?”
“To the lake.”
“This is private property.”
Karen smiled in the patient way people sometimes do when they believe they are explaining something obvious to someone difficult.
“The lake has always been part of this community.”
“No.”
Her smile weakened.
“It has.”
“The subdivision is beside it.”
“That is not the same thing.”
“Residents have used this lake for years.”
“I know.”
“Then you understand the problem.”
“I understand residents were previously allowed to use it.”
Karen opened her folder.
“It is a long-established community amenity.”
“According to what?”
“Our development documents.”
“Do your development documents say the HOA owns this parcel?”
She paused.
“The lake has historically served Hawthorne Ridge.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
Karen looked toward the new dock.
“That dock is also for community use.”
“No.”
Now her expression changed completely.
“You cannot simply purchase property next to an established subdivision and revoke long-standing community rights.”
“The prior owner gave residents a revocable license.”
Karen stared.
“That’s your interpretation.”
“It’s written in the agreement.”
“Our attorneys may interpret it differently.”
“They’re welcome to read it.”
She closed the folder.
“You need to understand something.”
I waited.
“People bought homes here partly because of that lake.”
“Then whoever sold them those homes should have made sure they owned lake rights.”
“That’s a very hostile attitude.”
“No.”
I looked across the water.
“It’s a property description.”
Karen left unhappy.
I assumed that would lead to a letter.
It did.
The following afternoon, I received an email from Hawthorne Ridge HOA.
The subject line read:
UNAUTHORIZED RESTRICTION OF COMMUNITY LAKE ACCESS.
Unauthorized.
That word told me almost everything I needed to know.
The email stated that my recent installation of gates and restrictions had interfered with residents’ “historic and customary recreational enjoyment” of the lake.
It demanded restoration of access within ten days.
It also referred to the dock as a “community shoreline improvement.”
I read that phrase twice.
Then I forwarded everything to the title attorney who had handled the purchase.
His response arrived forty minutes later.
“They are confusing historical permission with ownership.”
I called him.
“Can they do anything?”
“They can make claims.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
He laughed.
“No recorded document I reviewed gives them ownership.”
“Access?”
“The old license terminated at sale.”
“Could years of use create something else?”
“That depends on facts and state law, which is why we don’t make broad assumptions. But the written license is strong evidence that the prior use was permissive, not ownership.”