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STATE OF MICHIGAN COURT OF APPEALS

NEWBERRY ESTATES HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION, Plaintiff-Appellee, v JEFFREY A. COOK and THERESA M. COOK, Defendants-Appellants.

UNPUBLISHED March 15, 2011

No. 295468 Wayne Circuit Court LC No. 09-007262-CH

Before: K. F. KELLY, P.J., and BORRELLO and RONAYNE KRAUSE, JJ. PER CURIAM. In this restrictive covenant action, defendants, Jeffrey A. Cook and Theresa M. Cook, appeal as of right the trial court's order granting summary disposition in favor of plaintiff, Newberry Estates Homeowners Association. Because the trial court did not err in finding defendants' structure in violation of a restrictive covenant and in awarding plaintiff attorney fees; and because defendants waived any challenge to the service of process they received regarding plaintiff's motion for summary disposition, we affirm. I. BASIC FACTS & PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND This case concerns whether a structure defendants built on their lot of land in the Newberry Estates Subdivision (Subdivision) in Westland was in compliance with a restrictive covenant related to their lot. The Subdivision was developed in 2005, and plaintiff was established in conjunction with the new development. In February 2005, plaintiff developed its Building and Use Restrictions, a restrictive covenant, for the Subdivision. In paragraph two, the Building and Use Restrictions limit use of the land to residential purposes and prohibit the erection of any building other than a single-family dwelling with an attached garage on the lot. However, in paragraph 14, the Building and Use Restrictions allow the construction of "[a]ccessory structures" as long as they are less than 200 square feet in size. On March 8, 2005, plaintiff declared multiple easements, covenants, conditions and restrictions (Declaration) for the Subdivision, allowing, among other things, plaintiff to take legal action if an owner violates the Building and Use Restrictions or any other covenants related to the Subdivision. Defendants purchased lot 21 of the Subdivision on December 19, 2005. On June 23, 2006, defendants made a request to plaintiff to alter lot 21 by building a 12 foot by 16 foot "shed"

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Michigan Law