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WHAT IF YOU WAKE UP – AND THERE ARE NO MORE
HOAs?
By
Jan Bergemann
Published
March 1, 2013
Imagine
you wake up, turn on the radio and the news tells you that the
President issued an executive order dissolving all HOAs in the
USA
?
I
imagine the reaction of folks listening to this news will be
very different! From: “Oh shi.., I need a new job” to
“Thank god, now I can finally sleep in peace again” – I
think we will hear it all.
The
explanation for these opposing views is pretty obvious: From
folks who love these HOAs to folks who plainly hate these HOAs
– you have it all.
That shows that this system running communities has lots of
friends and foes – and debates over HOAs are often very
emotional. While one side claims that communities without HOAs
would quickly go down the drain, others claim that communities
without HOAs are a lot more neighborly. Let’s be honest, there
are lots of HOAs here in
Florida
where the word “neighborly” is absolutely unknown. In these
HOAs neighbors who fell on hard times are served with lawsuits,
liens and foreclosures – instead of chicken soup and/or
cookies!
Are
HOAs really doing what owners buying into these communities are
being promised when
purchasing a home in a mandatory homeowners’ association?
Latest
since the collapse of
Florida
’s real estate market we all know that this HOA system can
seriously backfire. Owners living in communities with a high
foreclosure rate quickly realized that they suddenly have to pay
for the unpaid dues, TV, water etc. of the neighbors who stopped
paying dues – and are now living at the expense of their
neighbors for two or more years, often bankrupting families who
don’t have the financial means to pay for the ever-increasing
dues and special assessments levied to make up for the budget
shortfalls caused by unpaid dues and/or foreclosures.
This,
on the other hand, caused property values in HOAs to go down
faster than in areas where the homes are not located within
HOAs. Potential buyers were warned by ugly headlines that they
are responsible for paying bills their future neighbors don’t
pay any longer.
Other
HOAs circumvented increases of dues and special assessments by
cutting back services. The result – for example: Landscaping
that quickly attracted code enforcement – exactly the opposite
of what potential buyers were promised when buying into the HOA.
I
could never understand why a HOA would improve the property
values. How come that isn’t an issue in
Europe
, where HOAs are illegal? Are all the properties in
Europe
down the drain because there are no HOAs?
Let’s
make no mistake: While some will cheer about the news that HOAs
are no longer in existence, some others will be really unhappy
campers – not even counting the ones that are now out of a
job! There is no easy solution for this dilemma. I already
suggested many years ago that developers should build
communities with and without HOAs. Then people would have the choice
whether they like HOA living or not. But since you can barely
find homes in
Florida
outside of HOAs that are newer than ten years, folks looking for
a newer home are forced to move into a HOA. And since there is
no choice the clashes between HOA proponents and HOA opponents
will continue.
If
you wake up in the morning and think that HOAs no longer exists,
it must have been a dream or a nightmare that gave you that
idea, depending where you stand on this issue! Where do you
stand?
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