WHEN CAN A SUBDIVISION CHANGE THE COVENANTS

Taken straight from the Covenants:

Burning Tree South… after Feb 1, 1993, the then owners of a majority of all the lots in said Addition may change or vacate these covenants, either in whole or in part, which change or vacation shall be evidenced by a instrument in writing signed by the then owners of a majority of all lots in said Addition and duly filed of record in the office of the County Clerk of Tulsa County, Oklahoma.

Burning Tree One:.… after February 1, 1993, the then owners of a majority of all the lots in said Addition may change or vacate these covenants, either in whole or in part, which change or vacation shall be evidenced by an instrument in writing signed by the owners of a majority of all lots in said Addition and duly filed of record in the office of the County Clerk of Tulsa County, Oklahoma.

Burning Tree East:…. after November 1, 1993, the then owners of a majority of all the lots in said Addition may change or vacate these covenants, either whole or in part, which change or vacation shall be evidenced by an instrument in writing signed by the then owners of a majority of all lots in said Addition and duly filed or recorded in the office of the County Clerk of Tulsa, County, Oklahoma.

Burning Tree Plaza …after November 1, 1993, the then owners of a majority of all the lots in said Addition may change or vacate these covenants, either whole or in part, which change or vacation shall be evidenced by an instrument in writing signed by the then owners of a majority of all lots in said Addition and duly filed or recorded in the office of the County Clerk of Tulsa, County, Oklahoma.

Burning Tree West:…. after November 1, 1993, the then owners of a majority of all the lots in said Addition may change or vacate these covenants, either whole or in part, which change or vacation shall be evidenced by an instrument in writing signed by the then owners of a majority of all lots in said Addition and duly filed or recorded in the office of the County Clerk of Tulsa, County, Oklahoma.

ARE YOU ARE TRYING TO AMEND YOUR COVENANTS TO BE RID OF THE MASTER ASSOCIATION? THERE IS GOOD NEWS!!

None of these subdivisions owners associations are tied to the Burning Tree Master Association as subassociations! This can be confirmed by a call to:

• The office of the Secretary of State. (Those who formed the HOAs for the different subdivisions did not make them part of the Master Association, thus they are NOT part of it.)
• Tulsa County Assessors office (ask for Land Records) They have advised that the required document to set up an HOA was never filed for any of the HOAs. According to Oklahoma statutes it 100% of the homeowners in each area acknowledging it and signing it the document.  (Because the associations were formed as corporations that was when they were set up.  See the depositions given under oath, by Ray Hall, Frank Speigelberg and Roger Spencer in 1983. They all testified UNDER OATH that the Burning  Tree Area #4 Association, Inc was FORMED in 1978. It was stated that Len Stark from Burning Tree subdivision–the subdivision that some mistakenly refer to as Burning Tree One– came over and told them now that they had 50% occupancy of lot owners in Burning  Tree South they needed to go ahead and form the Burning Tree Area #4 Association, Inc referred to in the Burning Tree South covenants.)

Further, according to both the Burning Tree Master Association Articles of Incorporation and the Burning Tree Master Association By-Laws it is NOT the lot owner (home owners) who was ever supposed to be the member!!!
However, as Claudia Nelson, vice president of the Burning Tree Master Association has pointed out, her area (Burning Tree West) along with, Burning Tree East and Burning Tree Plaza covenants (found within the Certificates of Dedication) do state that the lot owners are to pay assessments to the Burning Tree Master Association.

Julie Lindquist, Joe Hirsch, Marcia Lysinger, Carol Anderson all live in  one of the subdivisions that require them to pay assessments so of course, when they read their covenants they see that THEIR covenants do require them to pay the BTMA assessments. However, if they will take a few minutes to look at the covenant for Burning Tree South it is easy for most people to see that it NOT required of those who are under the Burning Tree South covenants.

However, the certificate of dedication for Burning Tree South does state that lot owners in Burning Tree South do have an easement to use the facilities of the Burning Tree Master Association if they follow the rules and regulations of the BTMA.  (The BTMA by-laws allow the board of directors to set the amount of entrance fee when one uses the facilities.)