Covenants

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Approximately  75% of the homes in Rock Creek Hills have covenants governed by Rock Creek Hills Covenants Inc. In general, there are four distinct areas of the Rock Creek Hills subdivision with regard to covenants.

  • Most, but not all, of the homes in Rock Creek Hills west of the Mormon Church property have covenants which are governed by Rock Creek Hills Covenants Inc.
  • The homes on Hill Street, LaDuke Drive, Stoneybrook Drive, and the Mormon Church property (including on Kent Street) do not have covenants.
  • Any covenants for homes in Larchmont Knolls are not governed by Rock Creek Hills Covenants, Inc.  These homes are within the area covered by Rock Creek Hills Citizens’ Association.
  • Most, but not all, of the homes on Campbell Court, Campbell Drive, and Campbell Place have covenants which are governed by Rock Creek Hills Homeowners Association and not Rock Creek Hills Covenants, Inc.  As a homeowners association, homes covered by the Rock Creek Hills Homeowners Association have mandatory fees for their association.

ROCK CREEK HILLS COVENANTS OVERVIEW

A key factor in the continued maintenance of any residential area as a desirable neighborhood is use of “Covenants,” which are merely a system of establishing and maintaining conditions on the user of property. The sole object of “covenants” is to maintain the beautiful character of the development.

When Continental Life Insurance Company started Rock Creek Hills many years ago, it recorded various sets of covenants in the land records of the county. This practice was followed by Continental Life Insurance Company as it developed new areas, as well as by the more recent developers.

About 1958, Rock Creek Hills Covenants, Inc. was organized by Rock Creek Hills Citizens Association to take over the responsibilities and power over covenants in Rock Creek Hills from Southland Life Insurance Company, the successor of Continental Life Insurance Company, as Southland was moving out of the Washington area. Other developers, as they sold out their developments, also assigned their responsibilities and powers to Rock Creek Hills Covenants, Inc. The officers of Rock Creek Hills Covenants, Inc. are elected by the membership of the Rock Creek Hills Citizens Association.

Although the exact language of the various sets of covenants differs, all of the covenants governed by Rock Creek Hills Covenants, Inc. have principal provisions which set forth that:

  • Each lot shall be limited to a detached, single family residence with single family dwelling use;
  • The property shall not be used for trade or business use;
  • No line fences or walls of any kind shall be erected except growing hedges or such as may be approved by Rock Creek Hills Covenants, Inc.;
  • No building or structure of any kind shall be erected, or any alteration to an existing building or structure shall be made, until it shall have been approved by Rock Creek Hills Covenants, Inc.;
  • There shall be no nuisances or anything noxious, dangerous or offensive, with specific reference to keeping cattle, livestock or fowls.

Considerable work has been expended in the identification of the exact covenants which are applicable to each lot in Rock Creek Hills.

A copy of the covenants affecting your property can be obtained by visiting the County’s Land Records Office. The Land Records Office of the Circuit Court is on the second floor in Room 218 of the Judicial Center, 50 Courthouse Square, Rockville, MD.

If you have any questions about the nature of these covenants which are applicable to your property, or if you contemplate any such construction, alteration or usage, please contact the any officer of the Citizens Association.

Covenants & Apartments

HOME IMPROVEMENT CHECKLIST

Here is a pdf file of the home improvement “check list” and sample “neighbor notification”

How to Obtain Covenants Information

In May 2021, Montgomery County’s County Attorney fully approved all nine (9) of Rock Creek Hills Covenants, Inc.’s submission packets to strike out and officially eliminate all the unlawfully discriminatory covenants that used to haunt our neighborhood!  The amended versions of those covenants have been recorded by the Montgomery County Circuit Court Clerk for Land Records, and no one will ever have to pass along those covenants to potential new home owners in our community. The amended covenants are available below.

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[In a June 5, 2014 post, Jim Pekar outlines how to obtain the covenants on your home in 3 easy steps!]

We  have a covenants map that shows which block and lot # has which type of covenants, and a detailed mapping of the liber and folio number for each block and lot so that anyone interested can look up their covenants with the county records office.