Recorded easements.
Subdivision plat for Willow Crest.
Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions.
Articles of incorporation for the association.
Amendments.
Recorded exhibits.
Road easements.
Annexation documents.
Anything touching Parcel 14-07-46.
Nancy raised an eyebrow at the growing stack.
“You planning to sell?”
“No.”
“Boundary fight?”
“Maybe.”
She looked at the plat.
“HOA?”
Elias looked up.
“That obvious?”
“You’re the third person this month asking for old maps around Willow Crest.”
That got his attention.
“Who were the others?”
Nancy shook her head.
“Can’t discuss requests.”
“Fair.”
She found another document.
“This is interesting.”
She slid out a later-filed exhibit.
Recorded two years after Willow Crest’s original approval.
The map looked official.
County recording stamp.
Parcel outlines.
Association logo.
A pale gray zone extended beyond Willow Crest’s recorded perimeter.
It covered Elias’s ranch.
Part of the Whitaker property.
Part of Gideon Pike’s land.
Legend:
WILLOW CREST COMMUNITY INFLUENCE ZONE.
Elias stared.
“Is this a subdivision amendment?”
Nancy looked at the recording information.
“No.”
“Replat?”
“No.”
“Annexation?”
“No.”
“What is it?”
“Exhibit map.”
“Anybody can record certain documents if they meet formatting requirements.”
“Recording doesn’t necessarily mean the county approved the substance.”
Elias looked at her.
“So the stamp means it was filed.”
“Correct.”
“Not that this gray area changed ownership or covenants.”
“Correct.”
“Who filed it?”
Nancy pointed.
VIVIEN CROSS
PRESIDENT, WILLOW CREST HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION.
Elias took a certified copy.
At home, he spread everything across the kitchen table.
The original Willow Crest plat was enormous.
He weighted its corners with coffee mugs.
A bold red perimeter surrounded every HOA lot.
It curved along the road.
Wrapped around cul-de-sacs.
Followed drainage tracts.
Then, at the southern edge of Elias’s pasture, the line turned.
Away from him.
His entire forty-six acres remained outside.
The label was unmistakable.
MERCER PARCEL – NOT INCLUDED.
Elias read the covenants next.
Sixty-one pages.
Dense.
Architectural review.
Assessments.
Meetings.
Voting.
Common areas.
Enforcement.
Article Seven concerned neighboring parcels.
The relevant clause was short.
Owners of property adjoining Willow Crest shall be encouraged to maintain landscaping and exterior conditions compatible with the visual character of the community.
Encouraged.
No inspection power.
No assessment.
No lien.
No forced architectural review.
No authority to enter land.
Elias sat back.
For the first time since Vivien’s SUV arrived, he smiled.
“Well,” he said to the empty kitchen.
“That’s inconvenient for you.”
Vivien did not know what he had found.
So she kept going.