always, I have two homes in HOA communities and I have to say that I like them. They're not perfect and controversies arise. But it's governance and oversight for the community. Theoretically handling matters that affect the common good and everyone's substantial investments.

Yes, sometimes the wrong personality types (and know-nothings) wind up on boards but when that happens, spread the word and don't re-elect them when their terms end.

I spent two terms on the board for our main house and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I tried to make a difference and stay above catty behavior. I'll speak for my own experience - why homeowners speaking at meetings are sometimes marginalized is because too often, they show up to gripe and insult. I just got the agenda for a Board meeting next week and noticed that homeowner questions were welcome but limited to 3 minutes each. That's the way to do it!

Much of what patriceny shares is probably common from place to place. When Board members are honest and try to do what's best for everyone, you can't ask for more.

We hate ours Always. We are still here in our second home in a Florida. Our first experience with an HOA.

Right now we are doing a bathroom remodel now while the majority are not here because even though we are doing nothing wrong, they try to get involved.

We have been given road blocks when all we want to do is improve our property. Pettiness and jealousy among other issues.

Patrice, I would like my DH on the board as well. After all that has happened though, he’s disgusted.

Always, yes they probably don’t want you there, but too bad. If they are not running things right, they need someone for checking and balancing.

Elmer, I agree with everything you wrote. That's what my spouse trying to do. Fairly and clearly apply the already agreed-upon rules, and to fairly vet/discuss any proposed changes.

Now only if we could get the rest of humanity to be as reasonable, life would be good!

I actually love our community. I take pride in the appearance of my home and I like being in a place where others similarly try to keep things up. I love the amenities that the community has too.

I'm thinking my spouse may be a 1 term board member though. Parts of it are exhausting. The stories do make for entertaining tales though.

I was in an HOA from the early 90's - 2000's. It was a townhouse, so we were linked together physically as well. In Southern California 1990's new construction there were a lot of issues and we, like many condo communities, had to pursue construction default litigation. Part of the issues with the construction involved incorrectly installed fire sprinklers that resulted in a lot of pipe burst claims on the master insurance policy. So we had lawsuits, insurance issues, and one of the buildings was sinking. We also had the normal issues of homeowners not using garages for parking, kids playing in the streets and people who didn't want to pay their association dues.

I finally got on the board around the time they were deciding what to do with part one of the default litigation settlement money. I wanted to be sure that it was being used in a manner that addressed the issues and wasn't wasteful. I sold my unit during my second term and was glad to get out of it. However, I'm equally glad I could lend a level-minded voice to the discussion.

I found my board to be the type who wanted to do the right thing, but had somewhat differing ideas on what that was. This was based on a number of factors around their backgrounds and circumstances.

I also found that many homeowners liked to be unreasonable about the rules when it came to their neighbors and mould them when it came to their own circumstances. It became tiring to deal with.

Board members come from a variety of backgrounds and with a variety of skills. What they have in common is a willingness to deal with complaints coming from all sides. They also have a desire to uphold the rules, which is often tainted (on purpose or not) by their "interpretation" of the rulebook in its entirety.

At no time is everyone happy and at all times there are criticisms of their work. Some are valid, some are not. This is true for the board as a whole and the individuals who sit on it.

Hopefully your experiences haven't been this bad:

......by their "interpretation" of the rulebook. Yes! We have one board member who consistently interprets the rules incorrectly. We had to hire a lawyer twice to prove him wrong.

ETA Bookwoman, for me it’s weird how the others in the ad are so complacent. I know it’s supposed to be funny, but for it strikes a nerve in me.

<But then please, for the love of squirrels, don't buy into an HOA>

This is the advice I followed. Our real estate agent in Palm Springs showed us several condos in Palm Springs even though we said we did not want a condo and definitely did not want HOA. One of my main complaints was the HOA fees. However, we ended up buying a house for which we had to assume the lease for the solar panels, and that was not cheap either. The solar lease allows the solar panel company to increase their rates 5% (I think) compounded annually, and I wish we could just get rid of this lease. We also have to pay for someone to wash the solar panels from time to time, due to dust accumulation in the desert, and we have to pay for pool maintenance. It would be nice to have an HOA to take care of this for us, but then we would not have a private pool - or at least not in any of the HOA residences that we saw in Palm Springs.

I think HOA works best if you do not live in the residence for most of the year. We were not planning to live in the desert most of the year, but lately I've been there about 50% of the time, mainly because there is a ban on new VRBOs, effective on the same month that we closed on the house.

I wonder how HOA boards work for residences that are empty most of the year.

My friend Jimmy used to have a condo in Redondo Beach with an HOA, and he seemed to be happy with it, but his neighbors were very easy going. None of them really wanted to be on the board, and so Jimmy was on it for a while. I think people who really want to be on the boards make the worst board members.

Our only experience has been the 20 years we've owned a vacation rental condo on Maui. When we bought, the AOAO board was incompetent, but for the last 10 years it has been very good. I still would prefer to live where a HOA isn't necessary -- where a municipality has good building and maintenance codes and responsive services.

When we built this house we did run afoul of a nasty self-righteous group, the mayor-appointed Building Review Board. It was six nattering nabobs with a lot of opinions, but no experience in architecture or design -- and they'd only meet sporadically. We lost two years dealing with them, and I lost 20 pounds. (OK, so ten was not missed.) These people far exceeded the law, and we became the case study that broke the logjam, along with a neighbor (an attorney) who sued. Only then did the city attorney bring them to heel.

Eld, we have 2 people on our board who continually try to enforce rules which are not actually written the way they are trying to enforce them. They are using their position on the board to try make things the way they personally want them to be - which is actually in direct conflict with the way the rules are currently written.

I'm not talking grey areas here either. It's crystal clear the rules allow it - but they are trying to deny people the ability to do it, because they don't like it.

It's very frustrating. Both for my spouse, who is a "just follow the rules" kind-of guy, and the people who are trying to make improvements which our community is very clearly supposed to allow. It sounds exactly like what you are experiencing too. I'm sorry.

We "had" an HOA when we moved into our last house, then it dissolved. We had several neighbors with two dozen chickens. Horses in a residential, high density neighborhood. One guy got a donkey. When the neighbors solar panels were hit by hail and broke, she said she couldn't afford to remove them when she was turned into the city inspector(she told me at yoga class, in confidence, that was a lie). Another woman fenced in her FRONT yard. A hot tub broke down...they put it in the front yard so THEY didn't have to look at it.

This is why we wanted an HOA again.

The area where we now live has an HOA. One guy needed high speed internet, didn't want to pay for it....a special assessment was made and we ALL had to pay $960 to put in the infrastructure for the NEW high speed internet. A company no one had ever heard of....and could go bust any day. ☺ Another woman was running a business out of her mailbox. When checks for a week totaling $35K went missing.....we ALL got new mail box clusters, with video cameras and solar lighting.

One persons needs, seem to dictate the "whole". But....all in all.....it's pretty cool. I like it here! Lots of like minded people. Craft club, book club, mens club.

If a dog is off the leash...report it and something is done about it.

So far I've never had to deal with one - refused to even look at houses that had HOA's.

I have served on two HOA boards...and we have had very few problems with either of them. I appreciate living in an area where everyone is required to keep their homes looking nice.

Yes, that is why we bought into one. This is a second home and we wanted little maintenance as possible.

Who would guess it would become a horror show?

Patric, yes I agree. In our case one board member wanted to change the bylaws to a home owners rather than condo concept. We have single stand alone homes but with the condo set up. DH said no way and confronted them.

So far every new idea has been wrong.

These homes are 30 years old. The outside of the homes all look pristine BECAUSE of the HOA. But.....other things are deteriorating and the board is not interested in doing the maintenance,

We are being blackballed because in another incident, DH stood up for omeone being bullied. Yes, degraded in front of others at a meeting.

They did that to us as well on a phone in meeting. Ugh, so unprofessional and rude.

All this said, I have always been a good neighbor. After meeting all the owners (15 homes) honestly, I am not interested in any of them socially. I always thought we could live amicably, side by side. But, I never I imagined such hostility, negativity and rudeness. We are the only ones that are doing a full renovation of the entire house. This has no effect of them, yet our next door neighbor said that we are moving too fast! DH is 72 and I’m 66. We have owned this home for 8 years, but just started using it ourselves. How many years should we take to fix it up? Laughable.

I like the gated community as a whole. Lovely lakes, walking paths, built around a preserve.

Hopefully we will meet nice people in the other neighborhoods.

Don't want an HOA? You'd change your mind in my neighborhood. There's a house that is purple. Barney purple. So are the cars. There's a house with condiment colors for their trim on their red brick house. Yes, I mean mustard and ketchup.

This is a neighborhood over a hundred years old. Some houses are in the millions. Some houses are quarter of a million. Some houses are flamingo pink, a LOT of them are blue, daffodil yellow, you name it, we have it. If you like freedom of expression, this is your neighborhood.

If you don't, love your HOA.

Would not buy a house with one and glad I don't live where there is one. No one would like my side yard veggie gardens. I would probably also be fined for having two dumpsters in my driveway for the past few weeks, and building material out front. Not to mention the bushes I cut a few weeks ago that I'm slowly bagging up. The bushes are regrowing so I may just cover the entire area where they are in black plastic...probably another HOA no-no.

Bingo, rob, you got it exactly right. Besides managing matters of common import - pools, roads, security, etc - HOAs protect everyone from the bad judgement or poor taste of individual homeowners. That's why building, painting, reroofing or remodeling plans need approval (in my HOA it involves an architect) to maintain the appearance and ambiance of the neighborhood. Owners of neighboring houses are also consulted.

We had one jerk couple who submitted plans for a house on an un-built lot. Board and nearby neighbor approval was obtained. Construction started but with a design having significantly different external lines and features than had been approved. And blocking a neighbor's view. Fortunately the chair of the Building Committee at the time was a general contractor. He spotted the change from submitted plans one day while driving by to check on the progress. He called the building permit issuing office and had the permit pulled and the site red-tagged - the Board has the power to do that. It took two years before the project was restarted, the owners had no intention of building to the plan they'd submitted. Was that overreach? No, not to me. Rules are for everyone to follow.

We never dealt with this but since we downsized, we do have an HOA. The development is very well run, but it is an adjustment. The monthly meetings are NOT open to the public. DH joined it (the board) less than a year ago and is finding it very frustrating and catty.

We saw that commercial about a month ago ( the GEICO) and we both thought it was not too much of an exaggeration. We do have some very "in charge" board members.

I do appreciate having them handle lots of the maintenance, but then I am kind of removed from it. DH is really souring on the whole thing.

Yeah, we would get run out of a neighborhood with an HOA...........

I will not even tolerate a nosy neighbor, let alone a group of know it all busybodies with no lives so they must make it their business to impose their taste on everyone. The whole idea makes me shudder.

My poor brother is dealing with an HOA who comes by and measures how high his grass is. He got a notice because it was 1/4 inch higher than their "standards" dictate. 1/4 inch. A former coworker took an extra 2 weeks to replace her roof because she had to find a shade of gray that her HOA approved of for her shingles. Really? there are approved and unapproved shades of gray for roof shingles? Apparently so. She ended up just telling THEM to pick her shingle, which is probably EXACTLY what they wanted. It took the board over a week to stop bickering over the different shades of...and i cant stress this enough...GRAY for heavens sake. Amazing that people want that. But to each their own, as long as it fits in with the HOA standards of course.......

rob, why does the color of someone else's house bother you? I get it if there was some sort of entity (HOA) that you pay to come around and FORCE you to paint YOUR house purple or pink or yellow or whatever.......

Who decides what is "poor taste?" You would have to possess an unreal amount of arrogance to decide what makes someone else happy is somehow inferior because it doesn't line up with your opinion.

Glad we decided to protect ourselves from such tyranny.

Oh, to answer the original question, my father was briefly on the board of the HOA of the neighborhood we grew up in and my parents still live. It was dull according to him. But dull in a good way. The HOA in that neighborhood mainly deals with the maintenance of the grass in common areas and unoccupied lots. They did not have strict (or any) rules regarding things like color or what kind of mailbox you could have or things like that. The only time they step in is when the choice of a homeowner infringes on the PROPERTY of a neighbor, not just their "taste."

We've only had them for rental properties we own. As landlords, we've found them to be a good thing, for the most part. However, I personally would not want to live in a place with an HOA based on stories from family members and friends.

"Who decides what is "poor taste?"

Where I live, it's an architect whose charge is to maintain the character of the neighborhood. Not by slavish conformity or but by staying within reasonable standards. Keep it simple, a purple house as rob described would not be within those standards.

Supreme Court Justice Potter, in another era (the 1960s) when faced with a case about what was and wasn't obscene material under then existing law, said:

"I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I
understand to be embraced within that shorthand description ["hard-core
pornography"], and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing
so. But I know it when I see it"

I think an expert in the aesthetics of residential building, ie an architect, would probably say the same thing about what's tasteful and what's too extreme. You can't easily define it but you can easily judge the suitability of what you see, whether in the form of color samples, material samples, or drawings (all of which must be submitted).

Why is purple "poor taste?"

Any sort of restriction based on surface things like color, that are entirely personal preference as far as what one finds pleasing, are demanding "slavish conformity."

The HOA I know is also charged with ensuring the community's look remains relatively consistent. There are acceptable colors spelled out that people can use with no real review. If you go off script it needs architectural review. Since there are no purple houses and it's not part of the original color schemes....no purple will be allowed.

Purple in Key West or the tropics fits in. However it wouldn't fit in, in my attractive if somewhat muted-toned community.

Those of us who like conformity to agreed upon rules and some level of assurances against a purple house tend to like HOAs. Those of us who want a purple house will be happier in a non-HOA community. America allows for both choices and we all win. :) The only ones I struggle with are the ones who hate HOAs but buy in one anyway, and then spend their time ignoring the rules they agreed to and annoying all of their neighbors.

We checked before we purchased this house and it was not in a HOA. The houses in back of us were but not this one. We received a mailing about a city meeting for all the members of our HOA. Some how our little 6 house strip was suddenly in a HOA and no one HOA or city could tell us when the change took place. Considering most of the small HOA are post war small houses so far no one has cared about anything other than mowing one small park, the entry way to the other houses off a main street, and approving the sign in front of the Lutheran Church which apparently took 8+ months to do.

Yes, patriceny, I get that. Why buy in a neighborhood like that if you dont like it? That make NO sense. Its one of the reasons why we live on acreage in the country. Peace,privacy, total autonomy of the property we paid for.

However, like in the case of my brother, I think a lot of people buy into such neighborhoods,wanting some sort of conformity or a governing body to deal with difficult neighbors or whatever, but unaware that there will be some doofus with a ruler on their lawn every saturday to find something to whine about.

LOL, I had a purple door until a couple weeks ago. Now it is streaky white because I haven't gotten around to putting another coat on it. Don't know if I will bother because I'm getting a new door when I do the windows.

Will your new door be purple too!?!??!

Understood Amylou. Doofuses wreck it for all of us, no matter the setting. Takes me back to my main complaint- that people are weird critters. :)

Amylou, probably not. I'm probably going to go with white.

Where things go astray is when the board so members start bending the rules for themselves and cohorts. Obvious prejudice against others.

It really is not hard to follow basic rules. We chose HOA because this is a second home and we wanted turn key. We didn’t want to worry about gardening, painting the exterior etc. I do like that all 15 houses look pristine on the outside. I don’t care what they look like on the inside.

I think people spend more personal energy being unkind than just doing the right thing.

Then there is the issue of past grievances between the home owners. One especially burned many bridges when he was the president of the board. The difference was he understood the bylaws and did everything legally. Some could appear mean spirited. One home owner was ill and had her daughter come to help her, the daughter had two dogs. Only OWNERS are allowed dogs. You get where this went.

For the most part when he was president he led by the bylaws. DH defended him when we had issues with skylights. The other home owners who had past grudges, now have grudges with us. Nothing to do with this present issue.

The list goes on and on.

HOA's are effectively private micro-governments that people pay to be part of. Sometimes folks like what they paid for, sometimes not so much.

Not that much different than actual government entities, just smaller. For folks that got trouble with just a dozen or two houses in their HOA, imagine the PITA that a community of a hundred or two houses in it can be. Just as good and bad, just bigger.

When you're a member of a bad one...they're very, very bad and hard to get rid of. When you're lucky enough to be a member of a good one...nail their feet in place and pray they won't tire and resign. Currently...I'm a member of a very, very bad one and despite continual attempts by many of us to replace them...the failure rate is high. To make matters worse, we're victims of an equally bad management company who's the right arm of the Board of Directors. If you live in a HOA community and yours is good...support them with all your might. Go to meetings. Get involved. Volunteer to help make your community better. HO apathy is the cancer that will kill any HOA community.

Amy,

You'd have to see the houses I've suggested that aren't everyone's cup of meat. The majority of people wouldn't want to live next door to them. They're really awful. Sure, a better choice of words to describe them could be used instead of poor taste. And we're not talking about a door or lawn furniture. When it's the entire house it's too much, and really, the shade is hideous. It's not a lovely lilac. It's Grimace purple. Their cars are the same shade. Its their house and they get to do it. Could be worse. There's a house here, on the million dollar house road that has two six foot tall chickens flanking the driveway. Ugh. That is what I can't stand.

Kathsgrdn....ALL you've mentioned "would" be allowed in our HOA. Dumpsters while there's construction or clean up is fine. A veggie garden....all allowed. No lot here is under 2.51 acres tho. What you've mentioned would only be a spot on a large lot.

Ours isn't as rigid as SOME in my area, thank goodness. My HOA doesn't require a specific # of large to medium shrubs trimmed to their specifications, for example. And, yes, I've gone to a few of the meetings. Our Board of Directors are power hungry and corrupt. Every 2 yrs we try to get them voted out, but have been unsuccessful so far. This has been going on for more than 20 years. I've lived in my neighborhood for 44 years.

Each month they send out over 300 letters to residents, citing deed restriction infractions. If the perceived infractions aren't resolved to their satisfaction in 6 months, they sic their attorney on the homeowner. The attorney conveniently is related to the VP of the BOD.

But, I am glad the deed restrictions keep me from having neighbors that park non working rusted cars and/or tractors in their front yards, and similar unsightly issues.

<I think an expert in the aesthetics of residential building, ie an
architect, would probably say the same thing about what's tasteful and
what's too extreme.>

There are good architects and bad architects, and their taste levels vary drastically. It is also difficult at times to get various architects to agree. Many times avant garde architects (or ones who are forward thinking) are considered to be in bad taste by conservative and backward thinking architects.

I loved the Memphis Group in furniture design in Italy in the 1980s, but many people hated it - just watch Ruthless People. It was started by architect Ettore Sottsass - one of my favorite designers. He was inspired by colorful houses and buildings in India and Africa.

You don't want to have to try to sell a house next door to an eyesore or an illegal business. In our town, the municipality takes care of that. No need for a separate HOA unless you want to pay maintenance selected by some committee instead of choosing your own.

Gated communities puzzle me. A *gate* protects nothing, unless it is the only opening in an enclosure of 12-foot fences -- possibly with concertina wire on top -- and monitored by an armed guard 24/7. (Thinking Venezuela here.)

Not all municipalities have adequate code enforcement. Our starter home was in a suburban development of small (1800 sq ft) homes on quarter acre or smaller lots. A homeowner on one of the smallest lots "wanted to live in a forest", so he planted hundreds of saplings that covered his entire lot, front, back, sides. In a year, you couldn't see his house for the trees and undergrowth. What kind of a beating do you think his neighbors took when they sold? Another man collected rusty old *fire trucks*, which he parked in his driveway and yard. Will you get top dollar for a house overlooking that junk?

"There are good architects and bad architects, and their taste levels
vary drastically. It is also difficult at times to get various
architects to agree. Many times avant garde architects (or ones who are
forward thinking) are considered to be in bad taste by conservative and
backward thinking architects."

lars, I think your notion of the process my HOA follows is WAY overblown.

It doesn't take an IM Pei to have a better understanding of the neighborhood's style and ambiance than would have a random homeowner with likely no relevant building experience and potentially poor taste. It's a simple task. They're all custom homes and different but none is 4 stories, none is a 2 room cottage, and none is in disrepair. Styles vary but all are tasteful and there are no eyesores (as with a purple exterior).

Secondly, the purpose of the architect's review is so that the assessment of the aesthetics is done by someone who's NOT on the Board. The architect charges a very modest fee and is happy to help out.

It works.

My 30 year old HOA neighborhood is similar to what Elmer described.

The neighborhood is made up of 3-5 acre plots, some fully wooded and others that were once pasture and now only have trees that the owners have planted.

The style of houses vary widely but all house plans must be reviewed by the HOA hired architect prior to starting the build. Houses must be of a minimum of 1800 sq/ft with an attached garage. Outbuildings are allowed up to 2000 sq/ft total but the exterior and roof must match that of the house.

There is a modest assessment of $300/year and 2/3 of that goes towards maintenance of our private road. Not paying the yearly dues is about the only way a homeowner can really get in trouble with the HOA.

The twice yearly HOA meetings I have attended have never been contentious. Usually it covers such boring topics as when to hold the neighborhood yard sale or pot luck street party.

There are other restrictions but all are reasonable. Livestock is allowed but limited in number by type. No eyesore vehicles parked in view of the road, etc.

At least "bad taste" isn't boring. I find those developments where all of the homes are some matching shade of beige to be depressingly dreary. BTW, I love the idea of the six foot chicken sculptures. Picture, please!

Bad taste is bad taste.

At my secondary home, the developer made an effort to break up a degree of uniformity of detached but closely proximate homes by not putting similar models adjacent to one another, changing superficial features and trim to provide some variety, using a wide range of different roofing materials and colors, AND, most importantly, varied color schemes for walls and trim for each one. All to good effect, it doesn't look like a cookie cutter neighborhood like so many do.

The HOA at that location decided the easiest way to keep up that good effect was to require new roofs use the same material and color as was originally used and to restrict the paint color schemes of units to the original colors used by the developer. Not just the original colors, but also requiring that only the same brand of paint and the exact same color formulae must be used. When a homeowner wants to repaint their home, they have to contact the HOA to get the exact colors to use and where to use them.

The development is >20 years old, most places have been repainted multiple times. and it looks fresh and interesting. I don't care if that's seen by some to be heavy handed, the result is worth it.

I would never paint my house purple like this one in our neighborhood, but I am glad that I could if I wanted to. I think it is beautiful and unique.