Homeowners Associations have begun to harbor too much power and control over homes and land that they do not own. They should not be upwards of $2k/month and they should not be allowed to decide what homeowners do and don’t do with their homes, ie: own pets (such as dogs, cats, etc), build sensible fencing, show political affiliations or show signage aligning with beliefs, housing colors, and holiday decor. HOAs were originally created with the intent to provide homes in neighborhoods with a safer feeling and help with things such as lawn work and plowing. They were not created for people to control other people’s property.
At the very least, it should be OPTIONAL for a homeowner to join and pay into an HOA. It should not be mandatory.
HOA’s are awful and causes more frustration and animosity within a small community. The HOA I currently am monitored by attempted to use a drone to look into everyones backyards in an attempt to issue citations for uncut grass, boats and cars parked in the back yards. Then they had the local PD drive through and issue citations for vehicles parked in driveways that were partially blocking the sidewalk. One of the many “Presidents” that have come and gone actually informed the neighborhood that he preferred to have everyone park on the side of the road and not in their driveways. It is almost like the people who “Run” the HOA boards were always picked last in everything in life and now this is their way of getting back at the populous in their area. Oh and flags…gotta love how they restrict your freedom of speech with their “Flag Covenants”. Abolish the HOA systems and let people live their lives on their property.