This is our first home with an HOA - and I assumed they would help keep the neighborhood looking good and resale value would stay high. A family on another block was just trash - got in back when the banks were loaning to anyone with a pulse. They didn’t cut the lawn and parked ACROSS the sidewalk - unreal stuff. The son was reportedly in a gang trying to recruit other teens - not sure if that is true but I did see one of their vehicles parked not in the driveway but literally ON the sidewalk, or straddling it. Of course they eventually lost their home but the HOA had to step in and have the lawn mowed and I assume got their money recouped when the home sold. But my point is they couldn’t really do anything about their parking habits while they lived there, other than send letters saying it was against the rules. So basically and HOA is worthless.
I lived in a neighborhood with a mandatory HOA in the city once, and that was enough.
There were way more bad kids-and adults-out here until the summer people quit coming here-happily, when they did, it dealt a harsh blow to the meth labs and break-in artists. Sadly, when the economy here improves, they will all be right back again, driving insanely down the country lanes, crashing into trees and animals and throwing beer bottles in driveways and on the roads. I intend to be living in the community up the road where there are no summer homes by then...