Saturday, May 21, 2011

It's Your Neighbors, Stupid.

Who, not what, is a Homeowners Association?


                 The blogosphere is alive with stories about the transgressions of homeowners associations. Foreclosures. Enforcement of arcane architectural guidelines. Lawsuits by associations for minor rule violations. Owners suing their associations for failing to enforce the rules. “Nazi” boards. Libertarian owners. Just surf the web for awhile and you will see numerous all-caps diatribes against what is perceived as a corporate enemy—the homeowners association. But the truth is that the association serves the owners—not the other way around—in ways that many people do not think about.