Home Owners Association (HOA)

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Home Owners Associations The concept for the origination of a Home Owners Association (HOA) was to maintain and protect property value by providing constancy of the original planned neighborhood and providing certain services (i.e. trash prick-up, and other maintenance individuals would have to take care of their selves). Also, HOAs would allow the neighborhood to be able to provide certain capital improvements and conveniences for the neighborhood such as common areas which all could enjoy (i.e. pools, tennis courts, walking trails, and club house for use by the residents for personal events). In turn, the neighbors would collectively fund these activities/ services, by paying monthly dues. In most cases each would benefit, even if they …show more content…

Look before you leap into that home purchase. The HOA neighborhoods automatically give you membership when you purchase the home and there is no opting out! • PRO: Maintenance HOAs attempt to keep all common area of the community attractive and functional. The up keep of common areas such as swimming pools, tennis courts, and walking trails are all covered by the association fees. These features add to the aesthetics of the neighborhood. • PRO: Appearances Usually there are rules to prevent property neglect which could result in the neighborhood deterioration. Painting and external home maintenance along with things such as asking that garages be keep closed and limiting parking on the streets after a certain hour, could be included in the rules of the HOA to help to assure that property values within the community continue to be competitive with the surrounding market. • PRO: Mediation HOAs can mediate neighbor disputes. The purpose is to resolve the problem quickly and avoid any further differences. In this instance, the HOA is making the final decision, thus neither neighbor bears the guilt for the outcome. • PRO: Community unity and …show more content…

When HOAs reserves are not sufficient to cover expenditures, it can impose an assessment to come up with the necessary funds. Both dues and assessment can be demanded without notice, thus not allowing for individual budget adjustments. • CON: Liens and Foreclosure HOAs may be able to place a lien or foreclose on your home (for pennies of the value of the home) for failure to pay dues and/or assessments within a designated time frame. If you take the HOA to court and lose, in addition to your legal fees, you are likely to also have to cover the legal bill for the HOA as well. • CON: Management Usually HOAs are governed by elected homeowners who have jobs, therefore, management is often found to be of poor quality. These volunteers don’t always have the time to oversee HOA matters consistently and third party management companies can be solicited (who actually have no ‘personal’ interest in the

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