For years I have study horror stories on the internet about homeowners associations.
It seems like all the people has an aggravating anecdote about dealing with one of these organizations.
I’ve heard about people getting fined $200 for leaving their garage door open for an entire afternoon while working on a car. I know it’s normal to get citations for having lawn that is too high, however I suppose it’s excessive to get angry about an open garage unless the resident was doing it 24 minutes a day, seven days a week. Other homeowner associations won’t let you have sheds or clothes lines in your backyard. It’s regular to have restrictions on the color you paint your condo and the type of fence you can put up, if any at all. Thankfully I live in a community with a fantastic homeowner’s association that is focused on helping and assisting residents instead of just harassing and policing them over trivial grievances. The best area is having an association president that used to be a building supplier. He knows all of the best companies in town from electricians to Heating, Ventilation and A/C companies. When I needed a modern air conditioning unit, he helped me get a discount at a supplier owned by a former neighbor of his. I entirely paid 30% less than the normal market value for that same air conditioning unit. It’s a relief being able to get a fantastic deal on a fantastic air conditioning component from a quality heating and cooling business. This is proof that a homeowner’s association doesn’t have to be inherently corrupt to run efficiently, it just takes patient and thoughtful owners to run it and keep leadership out of the wrong hands. I have our HOA president to thank for our Heating, Ventilation and A/C referral.