What You Need to Know About the Dark Side of HOAs

written by

Jim Mucci

posted on

November 4, 2024

Living in a HOA neighborhood can be tricky. Your neighbors help make rules about how homes should look. Each month, you pay about $200 to keep the area nice. But watch out! The HOA can make you pay more money when big repairs are needed. They can even take your house if you don't pay on time. Some people in charge might treat others unfairly or waste money. Keep all your papers safe and take notes when you talk to the HOA. This way, you can protect yourself if problems come up. Before you buy a home with a HOA, learn what you're getting into. This will help you avoid stress and save money later.

Hidden Costs and Rising Fees

When you join a community with an HOA, you may find extra costs you didn't expect. Besides your regular HOA fees, you might've to pay for big fixes. These can cost a lot of money, and you must pay them.

The fees you pay each month can go up too. The HOA can make you pay more money each year. They do this to fix things that break or save money for later.

You also have to pay small fees to fill out forms or make changes to your home. If you want to rent your home to others, you might've to pay more fees for that too.

If you pay late, you can get in big trouble. The HOA can even take legal action, which can hurt your credit score and make it hard to get loans later.

Power to Foreclose Your Home

HOAs can take your home if you don't pay them. This is their strongest power. Even if you owe a small amount in fees or fines, they can take your house.

Unlike banks that try to help you when times are tough, HOAs often rush to take homes away. Your HOA can sell your house to get the money you owe them. They can do this even before your bank can step in.

This means you could lose your home over a few small missed payments.

To keep your home safe:

Pay your HOA bills on time
Keep proof of all your payments
Read and answer any letters from the HOA right away

Selective Rule Enforcement

Living in an HOA can be hard when rules aren't fair. Some people get in trouble for breaking a rule, while others do not. This often happens because board members pick and choose who to punish.

Maybe they're friends with some neighbors but not others. Or maybe they don't like someone, so they give them a fine.

For example, you might get a warning about your Christmas lights, but your neighbor who's on the board has the same lights and gets no warning. This isn't right, but it happens a lot in HOAs.

Playing Favorites With Rules

Living in a community means everyone should follow the same rules. But sometimes, people in charge play favorites. This isn't fair to anyone.

You might see some people break rules with no problems. A board member parks their work truck at night. Nothing happens. But when you do the same thing, you get in trouble right away.

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Keep track when you see unfair treatment. Take pictures. Write down dates. Write down who breaks rules and who gets in trouble.

Talk to your neighbors who see the same problems. Go to meetings together. Speak up about unfair rules. Your state has laws that say everyone must follow the same rules.

If talking doesn't help, you can use these laws to fix the problem.

Remember: Fair rules make happy neighbors. When rules are the same for everyone, we all win.

Politics Behind Violations

When neighbors run HOAs, some people get treated differently than others. It's like when one person gets in trouble for their messy yard, but another person doesn't. This happens because some board members play favorites or hold grudges.

Here's what often happens:

Problem	Why It Happens	What Happens Next
Messy yards	Some people don't like others	Big fines
Bad parking	Hard feelings	Many warnings
House changes	People want control	Say "no" to changes

To protect yourself, keep good notes. Write down when the HOA tells you about problems. Take pictures of other homes that break the same rules. This helps show if you are being picked on unfairly.

Watch how the HOA treats everyone in your neighborhood. If they are nicer to some people than others, write it down. This way, you can show that the rules should be the same for all neighbors.

Limited Property Rights

When you buy a home in an HOA community, you share control of your house with your neighbors. This means you can't always do what you want with your home.

The HOA makes rules about how your house should look. You must ask them before:

Painting your house
Parking cars in your driveway
Making changes to your house
Working from home
Adding solar panels or TV dishes

Even small things need their OK. Want to plant new flowers? You have to ask first.

Want to put up a security camera? Ask first.

These rules can make it hard to feel like the home is really yours. Many people feel sad when they can't make simple choices about their own house.

Board Member Politics

HOA boards are made up of people just like you and me. Sometimes they don't get along, which can hurt the whole neighborhood. When board members fight or play favorites, it can affect your home and life.

Bad Board Actions:

Making rules for some but not others
Being mean to people they don't like
Using power the wrong way
Helping friends more than others

What This Does to You:

Rules that aren't fair
Slow fixes to problems
Higher costs
Lower home value

How to Spot Problems:

Rules change for different people
Angry meetings
Hidden information
Poor contact with owners

To protect yourself, go to board meetings. Read what happens at meetings. Talk to your neighbors. Work together to make things better. Remember, board members are neighbors too – they just need to work fairly with everyone.

What Goes Wrong	How It Hurts You	Red Flags
Playing favorites	Unfair treatment	Rules change often
Fighting	Slow repairs	Angry meetings
Bad use of power	More fees	Hidden facts
Special treatment	Homes worth less	Poor updates

Excessive Architectural Control

Living in an HOA means following strict rules about how your house looks. These rules can feel too harsh and stop you from making your home the way you want it.

Picture this:

You want to put up solar panels to save money, but the HOA says no.
You pick a nice color for your front door, but you can't use it.
Your kids need to take down their fun basketball hoop.
You want to plant flowers, but only some types are allowed.
You buy new windows, but must change them to match others.

These rules can be too much. They stop you from making good changes to your home. They also keep you from showing who you're through your house.

Many people feel stuck between what they want and what the HOA allows.

Financial Mismanagement Risks

Money Problems in HOAs

When people run an HOA, they must be very careful with money. Bad choices with money can hurt your home's value and make the neighborhood less nice.

Money problems happen when:

People steal money
Leaders don't know how to handle money well
Not enough money is saved for fixes

Problem	What Happens	How to Stop It
Stealing	Money is lost	Check books often
Bad Planning	Surprise fees	Get expert help
Low Savings	Emergency costs	Save more money
Wrong Spending	Less services	Watch spending closely

To keep your home safe, you should:

Look at money reports
Go to money meetings
Make sure there is enough saved for repairs

Watch how your HOA uses money. This keeps your home and neighborhood strong.

Legal Battles With Neighbors

Living in an HOA means you and your neighbors mightn't always get along. When people don't follow the rules, it can lead to fights that need lawyers to fix.

These fights can cost a lot of money and hurt friendships. Here are some common problems: