Why we hate HOAs

Sun staff

Sunday, March 4, 2012 | 2:01 a.m.

We asked what you thought about homeowner associations. We were overwhelmed with your response. Here is a sampling of what people hate. You can also see what people love about HOAs and why they think they are necessary or a "necessary evil."

Personally, I don’t like HOAs one single bit. ... Mind you, not all associations are bad but so many are poorly run, and those who manage the funds are careless or wasteful with the finances. I consider paying association fees double tax on the residents. We pay the association fees to maintain the roads, maintain the common areas, etc. Then we pay the county in property taxes basically for the same services.

The community I live in is unique in that the main road is county while all the small cul de sac areas are community. We pay a fee for that and we are told the fee will be going up. If it were up to me, I’d drop the association and let the county take over the whole place. So I guess you could say I tolerate the HOA. Associations are more and more like the federal government eating away at our freedoms as citizens — too much of Big Brother watching over us.

— George L.

•••

The concept of HOAs essentially is a good one. In reality, most HOAs fail as a result of the people involved.

We’ve lived here (in an HOA) for more than 12 years. Our HOA is poorly run with unqualified people at the helm. What they don’t have in ability they make up for with ego. It is a big responsibility to maintain a community with more than 1,500 homes. ...

Would you believe that there are sections of the area that have never been landscaped? Others have been neglected for years. ...

Based on my experience in Las Vegas, I would never purchase a home that belongs to an HOA. Thanks to price drops in homes here, I would lose too much on my home to want to move. We also like our home a lot. Now, if our HOA took better care of our area, home prices within our tract might move up a bit simply as a result of the area appearing to be well kept and maintained. Don’t expect them to reverse course any time soon.

— Ron H.

•••

My wife and I have plans to visit Las Vegas this summer. We’re highly motivated to relocate to the area from Pennsylvania. ... I have specifically requested homes with no HOAs from real estate agents. I do not plan on ever purchasing a home with an HOA. We do not like the idea of someone telling us how to live in our home or on our property. It defeats the notion of pursuing happiness. Especially in the difficult economic times, who wants to pay someone to tell them what to do or how to live?

— Eliott M.

•••

I’m dealing with TWO (one in Nevada and one in Florida). Hate ’em. No need for ’em. I’m on the board of both. The one in Nevada has a management company. The one in Florida does not. Both work just as well.

The management company mainly costs us money. But, the management company does things that owner/volunteers do in the Florida HOA. ...

But here is the really big issue: The CC&R in Nevada is way complex (not so in Florida); the HOA law in Nevada is even worse, and it changes every year. Talk about big government. It’s so overwhelming that no one can explain why we even bother to have a CC&R! Think about it this way: When you buy a dwelling and sign the paperwork, you’re signing a contract that includes the CC&R. What if the Nevada law changes and disagrees with the CC&R? To me, the contract wins.

— Gene S.

•••

I’ve lived a variety of places in my life, but this is my first experience with an HOA. I hate it. I have always said I’d rather see people have HOAs than pass silly laws, but our HOA goes above and beyond. If I want to do antthing to the house I have bought and paid for, I have to ask permission. If I want to paint my door blue instead of white, gotta ask. If I want to break the shrub-to-tree ratio for my front yard (I believe for every tree there must be four shrubs) I have to ask. This is supposed to be my property, but it seems I’m just renting it from the HOA. ... I will be happy to move back to a place where I actually get to own my home. I couldn’t care less what my neighbors do or if they have car parts on their lawns. My house and its upkeep stand on their own merit; they are my castle and no one else’s business.

— Mary B.

•••

I’ve lived in various communities over the years, from Northtown to Henderson, and my experience with HOAs has always been beyond awful. Most recently, I have received multiple letters about “weeds” on the side of my rental property, hedges deemed in need of “shaping”, and other extremely ridiculous demands. After pulling the “weeds” once (barely distinguishable), I was told I didn’t do a thorough enough job, and I would be fined $100. ...

While this kind of thing is annoying, if it keeps the neighborhood to a high standard of appearance, I guess I can tolerate it in most cases. The part that is absolutely intolerable, however, is the HOAs’ hiring of towing companies to patrol neighborhoods around the clock. ....

I work a full-time job, have a child and run a business, and like many, I imagine, I do not have the time to attend meetings or protest this stuff in person. ... Keeping the community nice is one thing, but going above and beyond to antagonize residents over insignificant issues and create problems is where the line should be drawn.

— Joe B.

•••

Homeowner associations all share one common attribute in that they all are designed to formalize the process of telling people how to conduct their private lives, in this case, how to maintain and utilize their homes. ... My personal belief is that the HOA is an affront on our collective ability to apply common sense.

True, there will always be some people whose living style clashes with all their neighbors to the extent that they do need to be told what to do, but I feel most strongly that this should be the function of local government.

— James P.