By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
AUG. 12, 2025 | Homeowner associations: some people love ‘em; some are in one and can’t stand it, but can do nothing about it. When buying a home, membership in the HOA comes automatically, and there is little you can do about it.
Homeowners Associations (HOAs) are a standard of many residential communities in the United States, but what exactly are they, and why do they exist?
An HOA is a governing body formed within a residential community, typically in planned neighborhoods, condominiums, or townhome developments. The primary responsibilities of an HOA include maintaining shared spaces, enforcing community rules, and providing a high standard of living for all residents.
Up front, let me say I’m most pleased that I do not live in a neighborhood with an HOA. All too often, people elected to these HOAs go far away from reasonableness in enforcing the rules. For instance, they might veto your desire to change the color of your house, or not allow a shed in your back yard, and generally are onerous in the interpretation of the governing rules. The better associations guide with a tender hand, while keeping the area pristine.
Yet I see that these associations might do an even better job for the homeowners they represent.
Here’s a hypothetical case: suppose at the entrance to your neighborhood, there are several open lots facing the major thoroughfare. What if someone bought one of these properties, and planned to put a 16 pump gas station and convenience store at the entrance to your subdivision? And let’s suppose that you did not live in an area with an HOA.
If the zoning was proper for this gas station, there would be little you could do about it.
On the other hand, if this property was in a HOA, those property lots would not allow such a business. Yet if the property for the gas station was down the road a short distance, at the entrance to another subdivision without a HOA, that would be a different story. Residents of both subdivisions might object, but little could be done.
Here’s where a well-run HOA might be of great assistance to both sub-divisions. While most HOAs are well aware of the activities within their HOA, a really good HOA might have a wider influence. Voluntary representatives from the HOA might attend regular governmental meetings, at the county and city level, to be aware of widespread activities. They might be watchdogs for the HOA residents, to keep abreast of what was going on. Such individuals could sound a warning bell to their HOA neighbors, as well as other sub-division neighbors, alerting them to possible downgrading possibilities of the area. Local residents would be pleased that they might stop such an unwanted business.
Unfortunately, most HOAs do not take the wider course of watchdogging. And from time to time, unwanted possibilities arise that scare neighbors within the wider community.
Some HOAs will say: “Not our job.”
Yet the more alert HOA activist could see the broader picture and be of exemplary service to people in the area.
We hope those of you in HOAs have a solid working group watching out for your community, and keep you alert to possibilities.
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