Covenants in older Tulsa homes can lead to legal disputes between neighbors over issues such as construction that the city has no power to prevent.
Tom Neal, a Tulsa-based designer and architect, has many examples of housing projects that earned city approval, only to be derailed by outdated housing covenants. In many communities, the covenants are relics of the past, Neal said.
The Tulsa Flyer reported on covenants in Tulsa homes that include racially discriminatory language. Discriminatory language has been outlawed, but covenants on older homes sometimes prevent construction even if an individual gets city approval.
“These people did manage to use the court system, using these (covenants), to substantial impact and challenge,” Neal said in reference to residents who cited covenants when seeking to keep construction projects from going forward. “It’s a weird anomaly and in my opinion, I don’t know how easy it would be, but we would probably be better off if all of these across the board were dismissed.”
In 2020, Tulsa resident Stephen Wolff wanted to make some construction changes to his and his wife’s home in Brookside.
The Wolffs did not know about a covenant in their deed until a neighbor brought a lawsuit saying they were violating it. The deed dated back to 1946, a time when discrimination in housing was prevalent throughout Tulsa.
The neighbor sought a “mandatory injunction” to prevent modification of Wolff’s three-story home.
“We do not believe we were presented with the covenants at the time we closed the property,” Wolff told The Flyer. “And even if we had received them, we were young, didn’t know what covenants were, and they probably would have been glossed over.”
Wolff and his neighbor came to an agreement before trial. Wolff’s family was granted an exemption from the old covenant.
Wolff and his wife took action to remove the covenant from their property records for both reasons of discriminatory language, but also what they saw as outdated housing construction restrictions.
“I question the wisdom of rigidly adhering, in the 21st century, to a neighborhood building framework conceived in 1946,” Wolff said. “These neighborhood covenants had their time and served their purpose — I don’t believe they should be exempt from an appropriate shelf life.”
Another example of conflict over covenants involves a neighbor of Tulsa resident Debbie Deibert who filed a lawsuit two years ago. The complaint alleges that a backyard apartment garage Delbert was constructing exceeded a 23-foot height limit.
The ongoing lawsuit describes Deibert’s construction as a nuisance to their property and “will significantly injure or impede the Plaintiff’s quiet use and enjoyment of their property.” Deibert declined to comment due to ongoing litigation.
City regulations can’t stop legal challenges, rulings
Tulsa City Council has debated policy changes, with steps being taken to make it easier for people to build on their homes. Examples are officials targeting accessory dwelling units (ADUs), which include garage apartments and backyard cottages.
Austin Chapman, a senior planner in Tulsa’s planning office, told the Flyer the city cannot stop any legal matters taken by a neighbor or any rulings regarding old private housing covenants.
Neighborhood character overlays are intended to keep some neighborhoods historic while also allowing accessory dwelling units by right, Chapman said. That means a property owner can get building permits to add more construction to their home.
“It provides regulation on the scale of new housing builds. It does not look at materials or style, but it looks at size and scale,” Chapman explained. “Basically the intent is there is a lower heights maximum than a regular based zoning district. There are roofplace requirements, there are requirements for a front porch, there are requirements that a garage has to be set back further than a house.”
But the policy does not override or nullify covenants. Tulsa’s zoning code says regulations do not “interfere, abrogate or annul” private covenant agreements.
So, even if an individual gets a city building permit to build an apartment garage in the backyard of their home, they can still be sued to enforce deed language.
“We see lawsuits between neighbors every day … obviously the racial covenants that prohibited certain sales can’t be enforced,” Chapman said. “The things like heights, limits, different lot sizes, still are on the property. A judge can still enforce those if it goes to a civil matter.”
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