How to Stop Abusive Homeowners Associations before Problems Begin

September 7, 2007 By Matthew Paulson

Many home-owners associations are becoming a new level of government across the nation, and most local governments would rather just not get involved. Many home-owners associations provide their own security, utilities and lighting. In many instances, home-owners associations are a great way for neighborhoods to come together, take care of common problems and protect their property values.

Unfortunately, sometimes these associations can go overboard. There are residents who have lost their homes over issues which involved just a few hundred dollars. There even a case where a man lost his $285,000 home over a $1.50 bill! In several states, there is absolutely no sort of judicial review before a homeowner’s associated can foreclose upon a home. In these states, a home-owners association can kick you out of the neighborhood on a completely arbitrary basis, and more often than not, there’s not much of anything you can do about it.

Does this mean that all homeowners-associations are out to get you? No, but it does mean that you need to be careful, especially if you live in a state that does not have any protections for home-owners associations. Choose your battles wisely; you don’t want to lose your home over a dispute for $250, let alone a bill of $1.50!

So what can you do to fight back if a homeowners association is abusing their power? In most states, you can’t do much of anything. If you’re in a dispute with a homeowners association, you can either sell your property, move and let the next guy deal with them or try to take over the association and change it for the better.

It’s critically important to make sure that you have a home-owners association that’s on the level before you ever buy a new home in an area that has a homeowners association. Talk to a few of your potential neighbors and ask what they think about the association. Get the minutes of some of their previous meetings and see what kind of things go on at them. If they’re having a meeting soon, you could even go there and sit in on a meeting of the home-owners association before buying your next property.

If you’re fighting with a home-owners association already, chances are there’s other people in your neighbor who aren’t too happy with the organization either. This is when it makes sense to form a bit of a political coup. Usually the director of the association is voted in by a simple majority. You might want to quietly talk to some of your neighbors, choose a candidate that will better represent you, and then offer their name up the next time a vote comes around to choose the director of the association.

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