I have seen to many HOA’s devolve into petty tin horn tyrannies.
Which is why I will never live in one again. One, who was friends with a guy who sold doors, passed a rule that all members had to buy a certain door of a certain color in a few months or be fined the cost of the door plus fees.
My cousin refused, and they drove him out.
HOAs need to be eliminated not controlled.
One of the first questions I ask the realtor is if there is a mandatory HOA. If yes, scratch that possibility. Most HOAS I’ve seen like that are Agenda 21 connected.
In my experience, HOAs are just like politics,, the people who want to be involved are the last people on earth that should be.
You signed a contract when you bought in.
Abide by the contract or sell and move out.
Or negotiate a new contract.
If the HOA is breaking the contract, sue.
So sick of these sob stories.
Silly me, I had thought that Coloradans were fiercely independent. But one guy decides to put his car up on concrete blocks in his driveway, and rather than shaming him into getting rid of the eyesore they run like little children behind a covenant or gate and make every slight deviation from their idea of the norm an infraction with a fine.
Now that I'm living in an HOA I see both the good and the bad. There are certain things you can only get accomplished through an organized board and with the help of a management company. We've had lazy boards and bad management. We currently have an active (but not fascistic or nepotistic) board with decent management.
What I've also noticed is that very few members of the HOA ever attend board meetings. Even after being bombarded by all sorts of notices, with meetings being held at convenient times and locations, they mostly manage never to attend. They don't even show up when they have been fined and get a chance to make their case. They are too busy working, etc. to make their case. They have plenty of time, however, to craft lengthy emails on the injustices visited upon them by the HOA board.
The only time there are more than one or two people at the board meeting is after a new policy has been implemented, such as cracking down on dogs off leash. Then they start coming out of the woodwork to demand their rights, etc.
I fear for America not because our leaders are so clueless, but because the people are so damned apathetic.
HOA boards, no matter how incompetent or corrupt, can be dealt with, but that requires an amount of time and effort that most citizens aren't willing to sacrifice.
Maybe Florida is a special case. Maybe Floridians are so in favor of less government that they view HOA issues as being between private parties and should be settled by those private parties without government interference. If so, then people who join HOA's in Florida need to know ahead of time that they may have to take time out of their precious TV viewing schedule to fight the HOA, or heaven forfend, become part of the HOA when necessary.
To greet us and welcome us to the community? No. To hand me the rules of the HOA and walk away. Never again.
I’ve started seeing a creepy commercial on TV for DelWebb.com, which looks like a “retirement” type community but it features a Stepfordy-type lady talking about how fun it is to ride her bike with her community pals and to ride faster and faster and faster. I’ve not heard of Delwebb but I know it has an HOA.
HOA’s are evil.
They need to be completely voluntary. You should be able to un-join one without moving out.
Goodness, there sure seem to be a lot of people here who do not understand private voluntarily entered into contracts.
No wonder some of you got burned.
Seek an attorney next time you buy a house in a HOA. Maybe he/she can explain the basics of contract law to you
Terminate all HOAs.
I doubt that most here that oppose HOAs know what they are talking about. In fact I suspect some have never owned any property at all.
First the basics: Anybody buying an HOA property gets complete disclosures, including rules, budgets, bylaws, what is paid by the association etc. BEFORE THEY DECIDE to complete the purchase.
In all or most states, a buyer is advised to consult with an attorney, if after the explanation by the realtor, and reading of the documents, they STILL don’t understand the contract.
I have been a real estate broker for over 25 years, and have had MANY buyers simply state they don’t want to be in an HOA community. Fine, end of discussion. We get on with the business of finding them a property meeting their criteria.
I have had many people specify they want to be in a particular area, where all or most properties fall into variations on HOAs. They know exactly what they are bargaining for, pros and cons.
Among the pros of an HOA are security, certainty of maintenance, amenities (pools, etc.), degree of conformity, protection of property value etc.
I suppose there is a certain profile of somebody that buys in such an area, but later becomes dissatisfied, and makes a big deal about his/her dissatisfaction.
I have had clients, and family members, who were very active with HOA boards of directors. You as an owner, might need to do so in the future, especially if matters turn negative.
I have seen associations with problems, get turned around by concerned owners, with the skill and willingness o get involved.
But as with everything, are some who spend more energy complaining, than anything else.
By the way. If you are shopping for property in HOA communities, don’t hesitate to inform your realtor that you intend to interview some owners of the community/complex.
After owning in a well managed HOA community, many owners would gladly do so again.
What I don’t get about all these HOA horror stories (and I admit, I’ve never lived under one of these regimes) is:
Don’t the home owners have the voting power to elect who they want into the power positions?
And if they do, is the problem that a critical mass of them are always to sheepesque to care about what is being done to them?
Just curious (because I would never in a million years buy property inside one of these organizations).
A snowbird senior friend of mine signed on to a Broward county exclusive retirement trailer park deal where seniors would own their trailer but rent the land to a land owner with a HOA arrangement. The owners sold the place.The new owners promptly canceled the HOA arrangement raised the land rental rate $70 to $618 nonthly and eliminated the exclusivity clauses. Is that what this is ?
Anyone STUPID enough to buy a house with covenants on the deeds and part of an HOA gets what they deserve.
I know that sounds flippant but its true, you voluntarily agreed to buy a “property” that let other folks decide what you could do with and how you could use it.
There was a great “X Files” episode about an HOA.