Do You Really Have to Join an HOA?
In theory, a homeowners association (HOA) is a great idea: neighborhood property owners band together to share costs and enforce a few simple rules that will improve their quality of life and the value of their property.
But there are also disadvantages. There are so many HOA horror stories out there that you might not want to legally commit yourself in the first place. Like many tedious activities that require a lot of time and effort, many HOAs are dominated by pushy people who get drunk on their meager power and use it to impose their own ideas of how to live on everyone else. As one person tweeted:
HOAs are for people who have bought a house but are missing out on all the benefits of having a landlord (absurd rules and regulations, fine print contract details, the job of evicting the people who need housing and care the most and getting your money). instead of nothing)
— @blimpeh August 24, 2021
If you are buying a house, you should consider whether you are ready to live by the rules of the HOA. You may not search in areas governed by them. But what happens if you already have a contract or if your dream home is covered by a contract – can you refuse to join? Answer: It depends.
The difference between “mandatory” and “voluntary” HOA
More than half of owner-occupied homes in the US are in HOA-managed areas. But just because an HOA exists doesn’t necessarily mean you have to join it. This is because there are two types of HOA: mandatory and voluntary.
Membership in a voluntary HOA is not required, but you will not use the facilities provided by them unless you join them, which may include access to shared facilities such as pools or a club. Voluntary HOAs usually don’t impose rules about the look of your home or other aspects of your life either. So, when choosing to volunteer to join an HOA, it all comes down to how much you want to use these nice amenities. (Keep in mind that voluntary HOAs can be converted to mandatory HOAs if the homeowners agree to the change.)
Mandatory HOAs, as the name suggests, are mandatory . This means that when you buy a house, you are required by law to join an HOA, pay its fees, and abide by its rules. To many, this seems absurd, but all this is primarily related to the legal mechanisms used to create an HOA. HOAs are built using ” covenant documents ” and covenants are tied to the land on which the house is built and thus cannot be disposed of. There is usually no wiggle room here – the HOA paperwork will be part of the closing process, and failure to sign them will most likely destroy your home purchase. Mandatory HOAs almost always include (and enforce) rules, such as how far from the curb your trash cans should be kept and what kind of landscaping you can have in your front yard.
A word of caution: You can not be forced to join an HOA if your homeownership predates it, even if all the other houses in your area sign up.
Exercise due diligence
When it comes to HOAs, the most important thing is to do your research.
- Don’t be surprised: before you even see the house, find out if there is an HOA to worry about. If you are 100% sure that you don’t want the hassle, don’t even try to consider houses according to the rules of the HOA.
- Know what HOA you are dealing with : read the rules and agreement before making a final purchase. Sometimes voluntary HOA advice pretty much means you have to join, and there’s nothing worse than finding out how stupid the HOA rules are after you’ve bought a seat.
- Trust, but verify: are there documented cases when eccentrics literally invented homeowners associations out of nothing to push their neighbors around? Why yes, yes there is . Just because your friendly neighbor tells you about the HOA and your obligation to pay the fees doesn’t make him one.
- Know the problems of dissolution: this is America, the land of the free (and arguing), so of course you can try to dissolve the HOA. It looks like an insanely expensive and difficult task . You’ll need over 80 percent of your neighbors to be on board to even try, and the process will almost certainly require a lot of money and lawyers.
The easiest way to avoid trouble with the HOA is not to buy housing under the influence of the HOA, but to put up with the fact that you pay for your amenities and services like a sucker.