No HOA in St. George, Utah means no monthly dues, no architectural committee and no letters about your trash cans, but it does not mean no rules. The St. George City Code still decides how tall your front fence can be, how long a trailer can sit on the street, what happens to a broken-down truck in the driveway, whether you can run a home business and whether you can rent the house by the night. Recorded covenants from an old plat can also bind a lot that has no association at all. Here is what still applies, with the code section for each rule, and the three checks I run before I tell a buyer a house really has no HOA.
How do you confirm a St. George home really has no HOA?
Check three places: the Utah HOA Registry, the recorded documents at the Washington County Recorder, and the title commitment you get after going under contract. Under Utah Code 57-8a-105, as amended effective May 6, 2026, every homeowners association must register with the Utah Department of Commerce within 90 days after its declaration is recorded and renew that registration every year. An association that falls out of compliance cannot create a new assessment lien or enforce an existing one until it registers again, so active associations have a real reason to be on the list.
The registry has limits worth knowing. The Department of Commerce says in its registry FAQ that it "does not keep records of the CC&Rs," so it tells you an association exists and who manages it, not what the rules say. The covenants themselves live at the Washington County Recorder, 111 East Tabernacle in St. George, phone 435-301-7680, which offers an online property search by parcel. The title commitment then lists every recorded restriction against that lot. In my experience the "HOA: No" box on an MLS listing is wrong often enough that I never treat it as the answer by itself.
If you are still deciding where to look, my St. George no HOA homes page covers which neighborhoods tend to have no association and shows current listings. If the house you like does have one, my HOA buyer checklist covers what to read before you make an offer.
Can covenants apply when there is no association?
Yes. A declaration of covenants, conditions and restrictions is recorded against the land, and the Department of Commerce's homebuyer checklist lists CC&Rs and plats among the governing documents recorded with the county. An older subdivision can carry recorded limits on outbuildings or livestock with no association collecting dues, so nobody bills you but the restrictions are still on title. How enforceable an old covenant is today is a question for a title officer or a real estate attorney; my job is making sure you find it during due diligence, not after you pour a slab for the shop.
Which St. George city rules apply to every lot, HOA or not?
These come from the St. George City Code, which the city's code site lists as current through Ordinance 2026-071, passed September 3, 2026. Each row shows the date I last read that section.
| Topic | What the code says | Source, date checked |
|---|---|---|
| Fences | 4 feet maximum in the front yard setback; 6 feet 4 inches in side and rear yards; nothing over 3 feet in the corner sight distance triangle. Larger lots in RE-37.5, RE-5, A-1, A-5, A-10 and R-1-40 zones may put a fence up to 6 feet 4 inches in the front setback if it is at least 50 percent open and at least 10 feet from the sidewalk or front property line. | 10-18-1, read Oct 22, 2026 |
| Permits for fences and walls | A permit is required for any fence, rockery or retaining wall in a front setback unless it is shown on an approved plan, and for any retaining or rockery wall over 3 feet tall. | 10-18-6, read Oct 22, 2026 |
| Street parking | 96 hours maximum parked on a city street. | 6-2-6, read Aug 13, 2026 |
| RV or boat in the front yard | A surface standard, not a time limit: a paved surface is allowed in the front setback. The widely repeated "two weeks in the front yard" rule does not appear in the current text. | 10-19-4(A)(6), read Aug 13, 2026 |
| Inoperable vehicles | One may be kept outside an enclosed structure in the front yard setback if it sits under an intact car cover with no tears or holes; tarps do not count. Any others must be inside a fully enclosed structure or out of view of the street and the neighbors. | 4-10-3, read Oct 22, 2026 |
| Outside storage | Items not intended for outdoor use, including indoor furniture, cannot be kept where they are visible from the street, sidewalk or an adjoining property. | 4-10-2, read Oct 22, 2026 |
| Home business | A Class B home occupation needs a city home occupation business license; a Class A home occupation can operate without one. | 3-7-3, read Oct 22, 2026 |
| Nightly rentals | Listed as permitted with standards in R-1 and RE zones, but only on lots of 2 acres or more with frontage on a major collector or arterial road and 500 feet of separation, which rules out nearly every subdivision lot. The practical path is the Resort Overlay Zone. | 10-17A-13 and 10-13D, read Sep 3, 2026 |
| Internal accessory dwelling unit | Utah law makes an internal ADU a permitted use in residential zones; a city may still bar one on a lot of 6,000 square feet or less, ban rentals under 30 days, and require the owner to live in the house to rent it. | Utah Code 10-21-303, effective Nov 6, 2025, read Oct 22, 2026 |
Animals follow the zone, not the neighborhood name. In the RE residential estate zones, for example, 10-7A-1 allows livestock at 1 animal per 12,000 square feet and 2 per 20,000, and requires barns and corrals in RE-12.5 through RE-37.5 to sit at least 100 feet from any dwelling, which is usually the rule that decides whether a horse fits on a narrow lot. More detail is in my posts on RV and boat parking rules, short-term rental rules by city and ADU and casita rules.
What does no HOA actually get you?
The real wins are money and freedom of design. There are no dues, no special assessments and no architectural review on paint colors, landscaping or a shop building, as long as the city code and any recorded covenants allow it. There is also no association reinvestment fee at closing, a charge that Utah Code 57-1-46 caps at 0.5 percent of the sale price for most associations. The trade-off is that nobody maintains common areas because there are none, and the only enforcement against a neighbor's yard full of junk is a code enforcement complaint to the city, which works from the rules in the table above and nothing stricter. Buyers from tightly managed communities sometimes love that for a year and then hate it when the house next door goes downhill. Check current prices on my St. George market summary and the full range on my St. George homes for sale page before you narrow the search to one feature. If you are open to Hurricane, my Hurricane Valley guide covers that side of the county.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does no HOA mean I can park my RV anywhere in St. George?
No. St. George City Code 6-2-6 limits parking on a city street to 96 hours, and 10-19-4(A)(6) sets a surface standard for parking in the front setback. Without an HOA, the city code is the rule, so check the setback and the surface before you buy.
How can I tell if a St. George address is in an HOA?
Search the Utah HOA Registry, which every association must join and renew each year under Utah Code 57-8a-105, then check the recorded documents at the Washington County Recorder and read the title commitment. The registry does not hold the CC&Rs themselves, so the recorder and the title commitment are where the actual restrictions show up.
Can I rent my no-HOA St. George home as a nightly rental?
Usually not. St. George City Code 10-17A-13 allows short-term rentals in R-1 and RE zones only on lots of at least 2 acres with major road frontage and 500 feet of separation, so most subdivision homes do not qualify, HOA or not. The Resort Overlay Zone is the practical path.
Can a St. George home have covenants even with no HOA?
Yes. CC&Rs are recorded against the land at the Washington County Recorder and can remain on title even when no association exists to collect dues. The title commitment lists them, and a title officer or real estate attorney can tell you how they apply to a specific lot.
If you want a house with no association, I will run the registry, recorder and title checks before you fall in love with one. Call me at 435-200-5508 or send me a message. I have sold real estate in St. George for 13 years.