Southeastern Houston HOA's.

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Originally Posted by rschreck

Well...thanks for the few responses that were relevant.

The reason I am asking is because a couple of my good friends live in condo's here in Denver. Both of them have 1) nosy neighbors (both older, retired neighbors) who have nothing better to do than run to the HOA meetings and complain about anything that someone is doing slightly wrong (if you are offended, I don't apologize) and 2) both cannot figure out where their HOA fee's are going.

Texas has different laws for condo corporations as opposed to HOA corporations. The latter is typically associated with SF homes in subdivisions. Both types of involuntary membership organizations are bad but the laws in condo-land are even worse for homeowners.

I've read that HOA fees vary in the Houston area. If I am going to be spending $300 a month, I would like to see my money at work. And I'm not talking about giving warnings to Joe my neighbor because his grass is 1/8" too high and/or because Sam across the way decided to put up brown curtains instead of tan. Obviously there is no snow removal in Houston and I know that is something that takes up a big chunk of HOA fees here in Denver. I can see lawn care being a thing with a condo, but with you own home? Get off the couch and mow.

So for those of you who are paying between $300 and $500 a month, where is you money going?

The "professional" management companies come up with all sorts of ways to squeeze more money out of the HOA corporation directly and out of the homeowners indirectly (i.e., off the books of the HOA). You probably won't find that many places in the Houston area charging $300/month unless you are talking about a condo.

As far as where the money is going, the industry of HOA attorneys and management companies has sought to conceal that for many years. Texas adopted some laws in 2011 to curb the disclosure problems, however, many of the "professionally" managed HOA corporations quickly adopted "policies" relating to records access that make it cost prohibitive to access the records for typical inquiries.

Also, as stated by a few, I think it's a little ridiculous that I have to ask to either put a tree in my yard, plant flowers, put in a pool, paint my home, use my garage for something other than putting my car in it, replacing my AC unit. Doesn't that make you feel like a 'glorified renter'?

Agreed. The pro-HOAers will tell you that you have a choice to buy housing that is not burdened by an HOA. The reality is that in the Houston area it is very difficult to find suitable non-HOA housing. This isn't because of a buyer demand for HOA housing but rather because of local government mandate for HOA housing. Good luck finding housing built in the last 3 decades without one. In fact the city planning department has been trying to force subdivisions that aren't burdened by HOAs to become HOA-burdened subdivisions where the HOAs have assessment, lien, and foreclosure powers. Even the subdivisions that don't have involuntary membership HOAs often have a "voluntary civic association" and the folks in control of them tend to be and lawsuit happy - it's a control thing. Avoid condos like the plague. To avoid HOA property you will have to find non-subdivision housing which usually (but not always) means much older housing.