Homeowner Associations were once the exception and now are almost everywhere. HOAs are the governing bodies that establish rules and regulations traditionally used to run a particular housing development. Before buying a home to live in, rent or flip you need to make yourself aware if there is a homeowner’s association and what all the rules are. HOAs have a lot of power over what you can do on any given property. Even the right to rent your property can be prohibited.
CC&Rs (the Declaration of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions) describe what homeowners may or may not do on their property. The good news is, as a homeowner you are given the right to vote on the rules and instrumental in electing officers for the association.
Common HOA Regulations:
Fees – Most associations collect fees to maintain and landscape common areas, to provide snow removal and upkeep of shared pools or parks. This can be done annually, semi-annually or monthly.
Pet Regulations – The quantity of pets and the kind of pets are often determined by the HOA.
Rental Guidelines – Not all communities allow a property to be rented. Make sure you check the rules if you are buying a home as a rental.
Maintenance Standards – If you don’t want to be told to remove dead trees or when to paint your house you may want to consider a neighborhood without an HOA. The benefit of this is that your neighbor must keep his house up helping you maintain a good value for your home.
Occupancy Limits – An HOA can tell you home many people can be residing in your home.
Parking – This is very common. Most HOAs have rules about street parking and RV parking.
Noise – Some HOAs have specified quiet hours. So if you are having an outside party at a certain time you may need to bring the festivities indoors, so not to disturb the neighbors.
There are things HOAs can not do:
- HOAs can not discriminate.
- They can not inforce rules that are not in their by-laws. However, by-laws can be updated and changed.
- They can not put restrictions on satellite dishes.
The local police have no authority. These are civil laws but law suits do happen when necessary and can be expensive to fight.
Common HOA rules can alter an investor’s exit strategy #Ironclad
Key Points:
- 1Anyone buying a home with an HOA should make themselves aware of all the rules of the community.
- 2An HOA cannot discriminate, everyone must be treated equally and fairly.
- 3An HOA can help maintain a standard in the neighborhood helping to protect your real estate investment.
See the original at: https://www.fortunebuilders.com/hoa-rules/
