Avoiding Problems with Home Owners Associations

June 4, 2008

The purpose of a home owners association is to keep up and manage the neighborhood including public parks, roads, and pools. If you live in a community with a homeowners association, you are obligated to pay dues – which can be anything from $100 to $10,000 a year, depending on the neighborhood and its amenities.

Homeowners are also obligated to live by the association's rule book, also known as covenants, conditions and restrictions (CC&Rs). An elected, volunteer board of directors is responsible for enforcing these rules.

The regulations vary widely but typically cover such things as the color of your house, the kinds of trees you may plant, where you can park your car and whether you can rent out your home.

In some neighborhoods, homeowners have faced fines for such offenses as flying the American flag, decorating for unapproved holidays or putting the wrong color curtains in their windows.

Homeowners associations even have the right to foreclose on those who fail to pay their association dues.

According to a study by Sentinel Fair House, a fair housing group in California, associations were responsible for 18 percent of all foreclosure actions in five counties they studied over a 12-month period. All told, associations foreclosed on about 70 houses in five counties for amounts of less than $2,500 – including legal fees.

Before you purchase a house, spend some time researching the home owners association. Learn about their rules, conditions, and restrictions. Finally, learn if there has been any complaints filed against the home owners association.

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