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Comment by del_operator | Hacker News Reader

Oh dang, I really like my HOA. I don’t hear much from them and it’s only $250 twice a year. However, it’s been helpful in rare cases where our neighbor had obnoxious election signs up til after February 2020. They are also helpful for managing the roads and nudging the community to install fiber.

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> it’s only $250 twice a year

I'd rather $0 than your $250

> However, it’s been helpful in rare cases where our neighbor had obnoxious election signs up til after February 2020

Why do you care? It's their property, as long as they aren't putting election signs on your property or blasting noise that affects you, they have a right of free speech.

Yeah. The parent post really drives home the point made in the article: HOAs are simply a mechanism to make other people conform to one's wishes.

In other words, they're a local form of government.

Not quite. No actual government will force people to remove political signs on people's front lawns, thanks to the First Amendment.

You’re missing the point. If the board makes a decision you don’t like, you can vote them out. They are elected officials meant to represent you so that the average homeowner doesn’t have to get into the minutia of contracts or managing common property.

Their "decisions" over my freedom of speech (and artistic expression) should not be something that is voted on.

No, I believe it is you who is missing the point. All government bodies in the United States are required to abide by the Constitution. Except for, apparently, HOAs.

"You can vote them out" is not an argument. The article goes into several factors that make it very difficult to dislodge the types of power-hungry individuals who tend to dominate HOAs. Perhaps you should read it again.

Here in South Texas the lawns were getting real loud when we bought our first home in December, so I think I was more willing to enter a social contract that was mostly hands off and had some limits on signage. We looked at many communities without HOAs and ultimately the location of our home was a big draw.

My last HOA was pretty good. I was on the board. We weren't overly invasive. My preferred approach was lining up help for homeowners who were in tough situations.

My present HOA is a well-known nightmare. I lament the lack of options that led to me being here.

True, I tried to do some research on how invasive they were before buying. The community looked great and our agenda usually just focuses on improving park/street lighting, clean up from storms, and street crack and seal.

> it’s only $250 twice a year.

Lucky you. Mine is over $250 a month, and half the board seem to hate the residents. They have made life difficult for families with kids, to the point where several are looking at legal options.

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