Not a fan.

Not a fan of these pseudo govt entities

Palm Harbor FL.

HOA"s are comprised of the homeowners in the community. HOA's are not some secret society, some exclusive realm with special privilege. They are homeowners who have mostly volunteered to do a job from which there are literally no 'Thank You' ever to surface. They are charged to maintain the rules by which their society will function. 

The problem becomes clear when HOA membership is occupied by those suffering the emotion of diminished relevance. Then an HOA becomes the kingdom of a tyrant.

The HOA at Westchase in Tampa Florida, exhibited the Worst of HOA behavior.

When the soldier from Afghanistan was to return home from battle, the HOA was punitive in preventing the wife of the solider, the children of the soldier from placing a WELCOME HOME HERO banner in the yard.

That made my blood boil. Is the Westchase run by an HOA or a tyrant?

I think they have a sound purpose and if operated properly can help protect the communities property value. I serve on 4 HOAs boards in Clarksville TN.

Dale - Here in Chandler, AZ, all new construction subdivisions have HOA's. There are some county islands where there are no HOA's. I guess there is good and bad with HOA's, but you can't change the fact that you have them, so you have to live with them.

I live in a rural area where an HOA can exist purely for irrigation water purposes only. I don't have strong feelings about HOAs in general one way or another. Even in some of the subdivisions that have stronger rules. The HOAs are there for a reason and that reason is generally to protect the integrity of the neighborhood. 

Everything here in Naples Florida has an HOA.  Part of life.

I'm on the island of Kauai in Hawaii, Dale. Like people, some HOAs are great and some are... let's just say not. Good ones have well-reasoned rules and policies, reasonable value-based fees and they are efficient in business procedures.

I have to agree with Gabe Sanders on this one. It really does depend on the Members and how they run the show. Sometimes HOA is great, to keep a clean, orderly Neighborhood. On the other hand, I do know of an HOA that is extremely over zealous, I believe, or extremely bored to nik-pik.

Hi Dale.  From Stuart, FL, I don't have a feeling one way or the other.  They can be great or they can be terrible.  It all depends on the members and how they decide to run the show.  

i'm in MA and we don't have HOA within our subdivisions....the town takes over the roadways and maintains them...

I live and work in Valencia, California.  Our first Home Owner Associations began in 1967.  The community has stay desirable due to the rules of the association and the amenities offered.  The entire community has a unity and 4 of our associations have swim teams that compete with each other.  I can't thank the people that volunteer to run the association enough.  Jealous people say they pass rules to benefit them.  They should run for office and work for free.  I'll gladly let them pass rules that benefit them if they provide a quality life in our community.

I've seen some HOAs do a great job, and others not so much.  I'm in Orange County, CA

Dale Erwin You can appreciate an HOA when you go into a neighborhood where there isn't one and you see everything from heavy duty business vehicles to boats sitting out on the street. They do have their benefits.

Personally I do not like them. For someone that does not have the time or capabilities they are a God send.