Having lived in like 9 different places now, I completely keep flip flopping on them. It only takes one neighbor burning tires while doing burnouts, drag racing, and shooting rifles at all hours of the day to seek sane people to live around (true story). Or a lady who refuses to cut her yard, so you get mice and snakes everywhere in your yard. In the nonHOA places I lived, 3 were awful, and three were mostly fine.
On the other hand with HOA, having another entity to tell you what to do with your large purchase doesn't sit right with me. On paper they're not so bad. My experiences with them(three times) have been completely incident free, plus got access to a nice pool and garbage collection. But you'll read a lot of no doubt true horror stories that show how things can go awry.
Functional municipal governments handle garbage collection, building recreation centers with pools, cleaning up green spaces when people dump tires, mowing overgrown sidewalks and controlling vermin.
I've personally had my city pick up tires from a green space (also recorded the company that dumped 'em), cut overgrown yards and sidewalks, and they consistently collect my trash.
Why would someone with a functional local government ever entertain the straightjacket that an HOA enforces on its residents? It's not their business what color I paint my house, where I put my basketball hoop, or what size and style hedge I grow around my front yard.
The simple answer to your question I think is that the vast, vast majority of the US does not have a functional local government that does any of those things.
I remember calling the police about the rifle firing(this was not on acreage), and they acted like I was annoying them!
From what one developer in Florida told me, the local government doesn't want to pay for roads, services, or amenities for any new developments, so requires they set up an HOA to cover it. Seeing as over 80% of new build homes are in an HOA, I tend to believe that.
> the vast, vast majority of the US does not have a functional local government that does any of those things.
Not very true for municipalities with above minimal population. It is true that some local govs are less funded, ergo less effective. But the trend is to do well with the resources available.
> I remember calling the police
Police are not code enforcement.
> Florida told me, the local government doesn't want to pay for roads, services, or amenities for any new developments,
I'm FL for 30 years. Local govs don't tax for neighborhood road improvements. They do tax for code enforcement. Residents get what they pay for and code enforcement is pretty good - responsive but not onerous.
source: volunteered for code enforcement for 4 years
> Functional municipal governments handle garbage collection, building recreation centers with pools, cleaning up green spaces when people dump tires, mowing overgrown sidewalks and controlling vermin.
They don't generally do any of those but the first on private property, except maybe (for the cleanup tasks) after citing and fining the property owner for failing to do it in addition to charging them the cost of having it done, and they often do the first only under a contract with the property owner, so that with a shared structure with a common set of bins, the contract would need to be with an association responsible for the shared bins.
An HOA is just another form of government more local to your house. There can indeed be very specific covenants but most of what you mentioned a city will not do until very far down the path of misery. Joining the board or participating in the HOA is a great way to get your voice heard.
While cities may do the things you describe, its usually going to long after the problem emerged.
They are absolutely against the law. The problem is that none of it is enforced in any manor. Try calling the police in most places for something that isn't an emergency. They'll tell you to file a report, and they'll look into it at some point(hint: they won't).
At least with HOAs, they will fine you and possibly take your house. For these extreme cases it's a great way to keep people in shape. I guess the problem is when they get abusive and try to do the above for yard weed, paint, or other benign violations.
I am in the same boat. I am sure the horror story HOAs exist but I have never experienced them. I don't like the idea of them but I think they are necessary in most communities unless you are living on large acre sized lots.
On the other hand with HOA, having another entity to tell you what to do with your large purchase doesn't sit right with me. On paper they're not so bad. My experiences with them(three times) have been completely incident free, plus got access to a nice pool and garbage collection. But you'll read a lot of no doubt true horror stories that show how things can go awry.