§ 9-3-29.Breach of restrictive covenant

Restrictive covenants — the rules in a subdivision's or development's governing documents that limit how land can be used — depend on someone being willing and able to enforce them in time. O.C.G.A. § 9-3-29 sets that timetable at two years for most violations, including a violation of a building setback line, while giving a longer four-year period specifically to disputes over unpaid assessments or fees the covenant requires.

Subsection (c) answers the harder question of when the clock starts running. For a violation involving a permanent structure — a building encroaching on a setback line, for instance — the right of action accrues immediately when the offending fixture goes up. For violations that recur through an ongoing act or omission, the clock resets each time the violation happens again, rather than freezing at the moment of the first violation.

The section closes with a limit on its own reach: nothing here extends any separate limitations period that applies to actions in equity. A covenant dispute that also seeks equitable relief, such as an injunction, still has to satisfy whatever equitable timing rules apply on top of this statute.