Home Owners Associations have a special place in my heart.  They help maintain a nice standard of living in many areas – they make sure there are no junk cars, no unmowed lawns, and no trash to embarrass neighborhoods.

On the flip side, they tend to nag over even minor infractions.  For example, a Realtor in my office was complaining last week that a condominium he had listed would not sell because he is not even allowed to put a sign in the window.  (My thoughts are it probably won’t sell because nothing is selling in that specific condo complex given the recent crime and gunshot activity, but that’s another story!)

HOA’s can also be a ginormous pain in the wallet.  Dues from $50 (if you can get off cheaply) to $400 – depending on where you live, of course – will cover things like outside maintenance, insurance on the outside of structures (roofing, brick, vinyl), and management fees.

But what happens when there are a large number of vacancies due to foreclosure, abandonment, or home owners refusal to pay (the subsequent foreclosure won’t help in the short-run).  Some HOA’s are increasing their fees – forcing paying residents to make up the difference.  That doesn’t sit well with The Market Ticker,

Here’s what’s being claimed:

As a result, the remaining homeowners have become secondhand sufferers in the foreclosure crisis, experts said.

No, their foolishness was buying into such a community in the first place.  HOA’s have their place where the essence of the development is shared resource that has to be apportioned among the homeowners.  For instance, townhomes or condos where the roofs (and sometimes entryways, driveways and parking facilities) are shared, and therefore shared responsibility is mandatory for those items.

Genesis goes on to explain that home owners can vote to kill the HOA and it does NOT prevent people from being able to obtain title insurance when they sell.  Go read the whole op ed (caution: some strong language).   If I had to pay up to $200 per month on an HOA fee, I’d be the one carrying the petition around to eliminate the HOA.