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Because most people are conditioned to be told what to do...see government school and the military for further examples
So I'll assume you live free and do whatever you want whenever you want?
Listen, we all live within certain parameters that our society has constructed to ensure order. Lawlessness and untamed frontier gave way to comfort and predictability. Does every aspect of society work well? No, but it works well enough to keep things together.
Because it helps maintain property values. Some are worse than others and you are a fool if you buy property governed by an HOA and don't read the convenants and bylaws carefully before closing on the house. My HOA has restrictions, they are reasonable, not to mention I appreciate that my neighbor wasn't allowed to paint part of his garage in LSU colors. He's still grousing about it, the rest of us are still quietly celebrating those rules every time he brings it up.
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To address the question: Because my neighbors currently have 15 barrels with lids held down by rocks in their postage sized front yard (as in 2 barrels width between the house and the chain link fence bordering the sidewalk), as well as a graveyard of car parts, old toys, and G-d knows what else that we all have to look at every day. HOAs are rare in these parts, and I have heard endless stories of coworkers' neighbors whose trash and disarray bring down the neighborhood's property values.
I'm no fan of developments, but I suddenly understand why my parents were on board with an HOA growing up.
Hoa can work great if you have the right leadership. The problem is the people who want to donate their time to run an HOA are exactly the type of people you don't want to have power.
Hoa leaders are usually busy body control freaks that enjoy power and rule with an iron fist. They care more about the letter of the law instead of the spirit of the law.
What first started as "making sure people don't paint ugly colors or junk in the yard" became requiring formal approval to plant annuals, not allowing various plant types, requiring grass watering during a draught so you either get fined by the HOA or fined by water district, etc.
Well. I'm old enough to remember when the suburbs had no HOA's. Some recollections. Neighbor who ran an auto repair shop out of his garage. The guy who got some on sale shade of purple exterior latex to repaint his home. Noisy rental properties. 10 people living in a 1300 square house. The tenants take every available parking space on the curb including alongside your mailbox. The hippie who had the brilliant idea of putting a large electrified peace sign on his roof. I could go on.
I lived 18 years without HOA, and 8 years with. I have never run into one issue with regard to the HOAs, but in hoods without HOA? Falling down decks, trash, junk cars, mold on the house and trees growing in gutters - whatever it took to devalue my home.
I grew up in conservative suburbia subdevelopments, they were all HOA neighborhoods. (I am not saying the suburbs or subdevelopments or HOAs are conservative, just saying the ones I grew up in were.)
so this family is facing jail time for a playground set that none of their neighbors that can actually SEE the thing are bothered by...
seriously people HOA are evil. If you live in one, you should get elected to the board then disband them.
People who like HOAs enjoy having everything landscaped and clean. They don't want neighbors with junk cars on their yard. If there are problems, it's easier to address them with an HOA. It's also convenient to not have to deal with landscapers etc.
With that being said, I've lived in HOA communities and non-HOA and I definitely prefer NON-HOA communities, but I understand why some people like HOAs.
Hoa can work great if you have the right leadership. The problem is the people who want to donate their time to run an HOA are exactly the type of people you don't want to have power.
Hoa leaders are usually busy body control freaks that enjoy power and rule with an iron fist. They care more about the letter of the law instead of the spirit of the law.
What first started as "making sure people don't paint ugly colors or junk in the yard" became requiring formal approval to plant annuals, not allowing various plant types, requiring grass watering during a draught so you either get fined by the HOA or fined by water district, etc.
Exactly, like anything else it turns into an abuse of power.
There is a grass overgrowth ordinance. One neighbor (the same neighbor who tattles on others) announced on our neighborhood site that the grass on so and so's property had grown two feet tall in some areas and informed us that he made a call to the city.
Well, it turns out they are in foreclosure and are having financial difficulties. He had done the same thing a year earlier and that family had suffered medical issues so had fallen behind on their yard duties.
A friendly note from a neighbor before calling the City would have been nice. It's hard to believe I have neighbors that sit around and watch other people's grass grow. It's better than having to pay for an HOA, but still, it creates tension and it's just nit picky.
Two blocks over there are people with abandoned vehicles and weeds tall enough where you can't see into their windows, but they don't have a busy body for a neighbor so they can live their lives.
They want to control their neighbors and think no one could ever possibly object to their behavior. These are the same people wanting more laws and more jail time for any little thing.
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