I'm sure that's often true. And I know that I mostly give nature relatively free rein on my country property. That said, I can at least appreciate the point of view of why suburban neighbors on fairly small land plots who keep meticulously neat lawns, gardens, and homes are going to have an issue with the person whose house has peeling paint, an unmaintained lawn, and generally looks abandoned.

You could easily get the same thing out of a HOA in a city with fewer city-wide rules and regulations.

Local Governments traditionally played this role. Problem is that some people hate governments simply because they are governments so they make private governments. I guess that makes sense to them?

In my (non HOA) neighborhood leaving shingles on your lawn comes with a $100/day fine.

The people who were cleaning out the house next door to me (they inherited it) were leaving piles of garbage outside. I saw the blight officer leave a notice in their mailbox and the garbage was gone the next day. (I assume it was a warning rather than a fine, but idk.)

Unless the HOA rules have a stipulation about your roof shingles exactly matching the other roofs in the neighborhood, which is common. And boring a shit to look at. I hate HOAs so much.

If all they did was protect property values by keeping people from doing outrageous things, I might be okay with them, but they go way beyond that to the point where it diminishes the value of buying property (since you can't adapt it as you see fit). Municipal codes usually take care of the worst behavior, anyhow. Which is why if I ever buy land and/or a house, it will be in a more rural area. Then I can put a damn Tesla solar roof on it, build a shed with a different roof and paint it all purple with green stripes if I feel like it.

But this is addressed in the article: HOAs may not feel oppressive... until they do. And if that happens, then you'll essentially be powerless because in most jurisdictions, the law heavily favors HOAs.

I do think this is where a lot of the HOA problems come from - if someone wants to put something up on their front yard or lawn, then neighbors can intervene and say you can’t do that there.

Since you bought the property and it’s yours, why do others get to have a say in it? I know I don’t give two hoots about what the neighbor does to their own home.

Many (most?) of these types of rules are imposed by HOAs made up of property owners, not the city.

While we both agree with the problem this person is having, I'm the opposite of you with regards to your statement. HOAs can have a lot more power with a lot less oversight. If one is going to have these kinds of rules, they should be in the city/state rules or not at all.

The "agree to when buying their homes" is a faulty way of looking at it. You also agree to laws of the city/state you live in. No one is preventing you from leaving if you don't like it.

> But outside of that structure, what gives someone the right to dictate to their neighbors what they can and can't do with their own property?

The fact that you live in close proximity to them so many of your activities can affect them, and that it's only by communal agreement that you even have "property" at all.

You'd love mine. Fabricated violations. Select residents targeted by obsessed board members. No political signage from one party.

Sidebar: Our HOA restrictions insure that every waterway that feeds from this neighborhood is hopelessly polluted. Lots of HOAs work to achieve that tho.

Really? Are you being honest?? You really don't understand???

It's so you can tell your neighbors what they can and can't do with their own property. You give up your own freedom too, of course, but no one joins an HOA because they're worried how their own lawn might now.

HOA neighborhoods is an extension of the phenomenon of paving everything. HOA neighborhoods look like someone paved over everyone's soul.

I think a big problem is that one single thing is paramount in housing: selling the house later for a profit. People get this idea that because their property value fluctuates that you owe them something. Everyone must sanitize every aspect of their lives lest some random stranger get a whiff of it. I can't wait til all this horse shit resolves itself and all these people who treat housing like the stock market are underwater and signing divorce papers.

They were forced to sign it if they wanted to purchase property. If it was optional I wouldn't be angry. To me the entire reason for owning instead of renting would be to be able to modify the hell out of it to my house of my dreams. Yes I could avoid moving into an HOA neighborhood, but HOAs are spreading like viruses and it's becoming increasingly difficult to find a place that doesn't have one.

I would just ask that the law make HOAs optional when purchasing property. If you want the benefits HOAs give you (if any), you're welcome to join, but you shouldn't be forced to join one just because you want to move into a certain district.

> A year from now I won't have any say, because I won't be on the board.

So now the house you supposedly "own" will be governed by some people that you don't even know. If they don't like your yellow car they could make a fit of it. I'm angry because if I owned property in a free country they shouldn't even be legally allowed to make a fit of something that isn't impinging on their freedom.

> Generally, I like the HOA since they mow my lawn.

I'd rather save the HOA fees and pay for a lawnmowing service.

I suppose it's the same way that the idea of gated communities and redlining became acceptable. I live near one which once was such a place. While their online history has been written up to abhor their regrettable past practices, they still maintain a very large lakeside park that you need a keycard to get into that costs a pretty penny each year.

They can't afford a manor in the country, poor things.

And this is why I don't live somewhere where I'm ruled by an HOA

Then I wouldn't sign those contracts or I would not move into their properties. I'd move to the outskirts of their neighborhood and build there.

Governments have a perceives authority to enforce their regulations on everyone. No one perceives Joe-blow as having the same power. It is because of this that society can keep people in check when these situations arise but no one can control the government as they are presumed to have abilities ordained allowing them to (unfairly) arbitrate these situations.

I like order, and I do not trust most people to behave responsibly. I am more than happy to be told when to cut my grass if it also comes with the guarantee that my next-door neighbor is not going to be throwing wild house parties after dark, or turning his driveway into a junkyard, or running a kennel in his backyard, etc. Some people might be willing to tolerate this kind of barbarism, but not me, so I will gladly consign myself to the restrictions of HOAs.

Thank god that I do not have an HOA. Luckily things are different here, although I am very surprised that someone recently was able to cut down literally every tree on the property. (It appears the house was bought by an investor or someone quite wealthy.)

I honestly can't imagine the stress that an HOA would bring to my life.

Thanks for the kind words! I'm definitely still learning and making lots of mistakes along the way.

I have to agree. That's a completely unnecessary and arbitrary restriction on personal freedom.

>The only things I'd want a HOA to do is deal with noise violations, illegal parking, and maybe issues from a property which directly impact people living either side (e.g. smells, health issues -- like trash piling up, noise, etc).

Exactly - I'd be fine with this kind of thing, but they need/should have some kind of legal restriction to that level.