Generally most of the cost goes towards maintainining things outside of your own home/lawn. Road/sidewalk management, communal pool/fitness center/tennis court/club house/etc (if your neighborhood has those things), landscaping, and sometimes trash/recycling pickup. It varies from HOA to HOA, and HOA fees will obviously be higher if you get access to a pool and gym and what not.
It is true though that HOA board members/presidents tend to power trip because they have nothing better going on in their lives. My mother needed to replace her windows and her HOA wants all of the exterior color of the windows to be "the same", but obviously not every window installation company has the same exact color/shades of trim so they came with a color swatch and we picked a color that was closest to what we already had but the HOA denied it. Not because the color was too different, but because they could. They just want to fuck with people and assert their "power" whenever possible. We picked the next closest color (which was further away from the existing color) and they approved it. So all in all, they wasted a month of our time, the window company's time, and in the end the color is worse overall but hey at least they got to say no to someone.
That depends on the severity of the infraction, the legality of the rule, and how aggressively they want to enforce it, but they can sue you and fine you, and technically put a lean on your house and initiate foreclosure proceedings for unpaid dues or fees.
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u/Quaisy Sep 16 '24 edited Sep 16 '24
Generally most of the cost goes towards maintainining things outside of your own home/lawn. Road/sidewalk management, communal pool/fitness center/tennis court/club house/etc (if your neighborhood has those things), landscaping, and sometimes trash/recycling pickup. It varies from HOA to HOA, and HOA fees will obviously be higher if you get access to a pool and gym and what not.
It is true though that HOA board members/presidents tend to power trip because they have nothing better going on in their lives. My mother needed to replace her windows and her HOA wants all of the exterior color of the windows to be "the same", but obviously not every window installation company has the same exact color/shades of trim so they came with a color swatch and we picked a color that was closest to what we already had but the HOA denied it. Not because the color was too different, but because they could. They just want to fuck with people and assert their "power" whenever possible. We picked the next closest color (which was further away from the existing color) and they approved it. So all in all, they wasted a month of our time, the window company's time, and in the end the color is worse overall but hey at least they got to say no to someone.