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Land That Failed · Episode 6 · Piedmont North Carolina

Your Deed Can Say No Even When the County Says Yes (Land That Failed #6)

Zoning allowed it, the soil perced, access was fine — and covenants recorded decades ago prohibited manufactured homes outright.

The video

Episode 6: Covenants — deed restriction.
The video for this episode is not published yet. The story below is the whole of it in text.

What happened

Zoning allowed it. The soil perced. Access was fine. There was plenty of room. Four for four.

Then the closing attorney read the restrictive covenants recorded on the subdivision back in the eighties. No manufactured homes. A minimum square footage. A masonry foundation required.

Restrictive covenants are private. They are recorded against the land, they run with the property, and they bind whoever owns it. The county has no say in them and neither does a seller telling you it will be fine. A county can allow something that your deed forbids, and the deed wins.

This is the one that catches people who did their homework, because everything they checked was a government question and this is not a government question. You can call planning, call Environmental Health, call the utility, get four good answers, and still own land you cannot use the way you intended.

They are public record and they are free to read. County Register of Deeds — most are online now. Pull the deed and any declaration of covenants or restrictions recorded on the subdivision. Read for whether it prohibits manufactured homes, sets a minimum square footage, requires a particular foundation or roof, or bans singlewides specifically.

If you cannot make sense of what is recorded, a real estate attorney can read it in an hour. That is cheap compared to owning land you cannot use.

Do it before you close.

The four checks

This property passed all four. It failed on something that is not on the list.

  1. 1. AccessPassed

    Can the home physically get to the site? The road, the driveway, every bend, the width, what is overhead.

  2. 2. ZoningPassed

    Will the county allow a manufactured home in this district?

  3. 3. WastePassed

    Will the soil take a septic system, or is there sewer at the road?

  4. 4. RoomPassed

    What is left after setbacks, easements, the septic area and its repair area?

  5. 5. What is not on the list: private covenantsFailed

    The county's yes does not overrule your deed's no.

Before you put money down

Send the property and we check it against the records before you are committed.

Check this land before you buy it

This story is a composite drawn from patterns seen repeatedly across North Carolina, not a single identifiable property. Region: Piedmont North Carolina. Last reviewed 14 September 2026.