Yesterday we talked about how important it is for homeowners to have a vested interest in the property by living where they own.  Of course, conversations of capitalism and the right to own property were forefront. Today, I’ve been studying about home owners associations and found that people either love them or hate them.

Wiki says,

A homeowners’ association (abbrev. HOA) is the legal entity created by a real estate developer for the purpose of developing, managing and selling a community of homes. It is given the authority to enforce the covenants, conditions, and restrictions (CC&Rs) and to manage the common amenities of the development. It allows the developer to legally exit responsibility of the community typically by transferring ownership of the association to the homeowners after selling off a predetermined number of lots.

Covenants and restrictions do have to be approved by the city or county planning commission right along with the development itself.  Depending on the area, I’ve seen restrictions against farm animals (no cows, sheep, pigs, or chickens) but horses are allowed.  In some of the pricier areas, boats and RV’s are not allowed to be parked in the driveway, or if there is a detached garage it must be brick and the brick must match the house.  Some neighborhoods will require certain types of fences (iron or white vinyl only).  If you have a pool, no part can be visible from the street if you’re standing in front of the home.  I like covenants and restrictions that require SIDEWALKS in neighborhoods (a shocking rarity where I live). And there are always the restrictions against cars that won’t run, couches on front porches, grass must be cut, etc.

While covenants and restrictions are enforceable by the HOA, these associations can also cause nightmares for homeowners.  New York’s Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has provided a paper for state residents on how to deal with bad associations.  HOA’s can be secretive with officers enjoying their positions a wee bit too much.  Sharon Stephens recalls the nightmares she faced from her HOA when she tried to get police to intervene with a criminal problem in her neighborhood.  SHE was arrested and faced many harrowing years in her neighborhood.

So while HOA’s can be incredibly helpful in many instances, they can be overbearing and terrible in others.  I’m lucky that my neighborhood doesn’t have an HOA (or at least an active one), nor do we require one. But there are many areas in my town where they are desperately needed and could be quite useful if managed properly.