I have my own HOA story to tell. Normally HOAs aren’t as bad in the midwest as in many areas. Sometimes without them you get just lawsuits trying to enforce covenants on deeds.
20 years ago my wife and I built in a new neighborhood. While the HOA was still under control of the developer, they started the process setting up the Home Owners Association with actual property owners. I attended the first couple of meetings and found myself explaining how and why of certain issues during both meetings. Sure enough, no good deed goes unpunished, a few weeks later three neighbors show up at my door wanting to know if I will serve the first term of President of the HOA. I declined but they kept pleading as the only person running was the woman who was the biggest busy body in the neighbor hood.
I finally agreed with the proviso that I would resign a year later and made them all promise to never ask me to even attend a single meeting again.
I served the one year, played educator and peacemaker and then true to my promise I never attended another meeting for the next 15 years I lived there.
I got them off to a good start but after another 200 homes were built there were too many that came later to keep the lessons I taught them fresh in their minds and sure enough, they had a mess on their hands the last few years I was there. The last meeting i heard a report on had an open floor infidelity fist fight between two women.
“Developer owned”
Another memory of a bank asset I worked on once.
At the peak of the market in the mountains of Western NC people were buying property site unseen.
When the crash happened just about every 2nd home development that was in the early phases failed.
The developer built a magnificent community center on the main road leading into the project and was to turn it over to the HOA upon sellout. This was a mountain lodge type dwelling large enough for weddings and had a indoor pool.
The neighborhood had sold about 40% of its lots when the developer went belly up. Since the lodge was financed by bank A and the lots financed by bank B, Bank A didn’t have any problem foreclosing and selling the lodge.
Anyone who had bought a lot under the premise of having use of the community center got screwed.
Someone bought it and turned into a really nice home.