Homeowners’ associations (HOAs) are the governing body of many common interest communities (CIC), such as subdivisions, who manage the common areas and interests of the community. When a person buys property in a CIC, there is a legal servitude on the property that binds the owner of the property to follow the covenants, conditions, and restrictions (CC&Rs) that govern all the property in the community. Each homeowner must follow these guidelines and pay the fees of the HOA. The HOA ensures that the common areas, such as a community playground, remain in good condition and ensures that homeowners follow the CC&Rs such as requiring grass to be mowed weekly.
Along with the rising popularity of HOAs, disputes increasingly arise regarding the authority HOAs may have and the rights of individual homeowners. When you buy the property in a CIC, you cannot opt-out of the authority of the HOA. The CC&Rs determine how broad of authority HOAs have and the limitations on enacting fees. Some HOAs have minimal fees and enact minimal requirements such as requiring your property to be presentable, meaning no two feet tall grass or boarded up windows. Others can have much higher expectations with fees in some cities averaging in the thousands monthly. Many HOAs have very particular guidelines like preventing any items being in the yard, requiring doors to be a specific color, requiring cars to always be in the garage, or even requiring flower beds to have specific flower colors. As such, it is very important that homeowners look at the CC&Rs for the property they potentially buy.
When homeowners break a restriction or do not pay fees, the HOA will have specific remedies set in the CC&Rs such as fines or even forcing the home to be foreclosed on in extreme circumstances, ranging widely among different HOAs. Some laws limit how HOAs can punish homeowners such as limiting foreclosure actions to when the homeowner acts unruly, but these laws vary greatly from state to state and city to city. Further, some federal and state laws may prevent the enforcement of restrictions by HOAs that become unconscionable or against public policy. For example, federal laws prohibit HOAs from banning homeowners from having a service animal.
[Last updated in March of 2022 by the Wex Definitions Team]