this post was submitted on 15 Aug 2026
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Something like 35% of all homes in the US are governed by HOAs and roughly 2/3 of all new developments are adopting HOAs.
Reason number 4629 why I'll never be immigrating to the US. "Land of the free" my ass.
I've recently just understood what a HOA is. As a Canadian I thought they were "Unincorporated Municipalities" or there's also "Rate Payers Associations" which is like a proto-town where there's a group providing town-like services amongst themselves. Which to me is some sick ass anarchist shit. But an HOA is just letting your neigbours tell you what to do? That's lame.
HOAs were created because racists didn't want black people in their neighborhood. I fucking hate HOAs.
Judging by another guys post, HOA's are way of offloading a whole new tax structure on individual neighborhoods. The whole being racist thing is how they convinced everyone to pay it.
Yeah, the town didn’t even plow or maintain the roads in some HOAs. And the property tax “savings” instead go to scumbag property management conglomerates.
Wait until you learn about when they created SATs.
I don't have an HOA but my property operates under deed restrictions that limit property owners in meaningful ways, establishing usage of the wells, easements, number of structures and so forth.
One of my neighbors repeatedly referred to herself as "the head of the HOA" and I told her she needed to stop saying that because we don't have one. I didn't say as much but I would hire an attorney to send a C&D if she were to keep that up.
you'd both be morons in that situation
My neighborhood is deed restricted but most of the rules are just how to be a good neighbor. Trash cans can only be out from this time to this time. Your grass can't be over grown. Personally, I like the structure and I like living on a street where everyone agrees we want our immediate environment to look and feel nice. I've never heard of anything ever having to be enforced because everyone just does it, and when someone doesn't, it usually just means they need to be checked on.
The grass thing would frustrate me as someone anti lawn and want to engage in more sustainable alternative methods of maintaining a yard. I also dislike rules on how you can paint your house.
You also have to keep in mind that whoever enforces this stuff can easily go from "neighbors checking in" to "neighborhood nutjob brings a ruler on walks to issue fines" with some changes in neighbors
HOA's! Fuck me. I mean, say what you want about the tenets of municipalities, Dude, at least it's a system of governance!
Local governments are subject to monitored elections and the bill of rights.
HOAs are neither. Their elections can easily be cheated, and they're under no legal obligation to respect the civil rights of their members.
Well, the quote I butchered was meant to denigrate HOA's and say that municipalities were indeed a form of governance whereas HOA's are a form of tyranny. So I'm not sure what point your making, but high five!
Sure, but there's a chance they could become the ones fucking their neighbors over for cheap thrills! That makes it okay! /s
HOAs vary a lot. In my city, every new development has one as a condition of getting permits from the city. That's mainly because cars and their infrastructure are stupidly expensive, the city just can't afford to maintain it all without raising property taxes. I have friends who live in an HOA neighborhood, and basically they just pay an extra monthly bill to cover snow removal, maintenance of common areas, and such. For them, it's nothing like the horror stories of HOAs that can take your house if your mailbox is the wrong color. It is just a group providing services that the city can't afford anymore.
So they aren't a proto-city like an unassumed municipality, they are like a posto-city where late stage capitalism goes to retire and find a new revenu stream.
Some of them, yeah.
So, instead, everybody gets to pay HOA fees. I guess as long as you don't call it a 'tax' people will go along with it.
kinda funny though in that the city only exists to do that stuff so why not get rid of it and have the county run all the little developer cities.
It is free, but that privilege doesn't come for free.
As long as you have enough money and don't step on the toes of other people who have money, you can seemingly get away with everything.
"With freedom and justice for all who can afford it."
More like land of free to be asses.
Don’t let the internet scare you. The USA is still amazing. I’m an immigrant myself and I could’ve never asked for a better place.
What are you comparing it to?
This is like the dumbest shit I have ever heard. You are no authority of anything. Why should anyone care what you think? Lots of people are immigrants. We have kids in cages and you are a insane person. You sound like a cop or a human who has lost its instinct to survive. Yeah the grass is greener but that is just because it is made of plastic.
Ok
I have heard many municipalities only allow new construction as planned communities because they don't want to do the trash and local roads and simplifies connections water/sewer wise and they require water run off management and such.
The municipalities know the suburbs are a Ponzi scheme and don't want to be left holding the bag. Single-family homes on large lots simply don't generate enough tax revenue to pay for the infrastructure they use.
I’d imagine it varies greatly by municipality but I’ve known of a number of new developments where I am where the local laws required developers to establish and manage an HOA while they build.
The developer hands it over to the property owners to run after a determined amount of time.
I bought a home built in the 90s that technically had an HOA because the town required one when the subdivision was built. The HOA was defunct until 2010 or so when someone wanted to add an addition to their house. They put in for permission from the town. Town said "did the HOA approve it?" Homeowner went "HOA? Oh, I guess we should have one of those." After that, the HOA existed to rubber stamp home additions and send out email reminders to get your septic tank pumped. No fuss, no fees.
Current home is a condo with a shared roof. HOA is much more hands on and my biggest complaint is they suck at communicating expectations. Like, I'm fine following rules. I'm autistic, it's kind of my thing. Just tell me what they are before you yell at me for breaking them. (note: I'm easy to yell at because I have a history of abuse, yelling is more a tone of voice than a volume thing.)
On the other hand, anything outside my walls isn't my problem and it's way cheaper than renting was. And I go to the monthly meetings.
This is perfectly reasonable, as well as warning requirements and remediation time before any penalties apply.
I would never buy a house in an HOA if the state it’s in doesn’t have disclosure laws like mine. Where we live you get the CC&Rs, bylaws, articles of incorporation, rules and regulations, recent meeting minutes, the current budget and reserve study, the assessment schedule, any special assessments, pending litigation, and an estoppel certificate from the management company prior to purchase.
Time to go live on the other 65%.
I'll live in a goddamn cardboard box before I live in an HOA house.