ConsumerAffairs.com:  Buying into an HOA leads to buyer’s remorse

Melody eventually concluded: “HOAs are not about pink doors and purple pansies that are not allowed.  It is about money, lawyers and property thefts. It is about lies and deceit to get innocent people to buy these properties.  It is about the collusion and schemes that HOAs bring to world of extortion. PAY UP whether you owe it or not or I will steal your house.”

By Jennifer Abel

11/08/2013

Of all recent articles we’ve published, none inspired more reader response than “Homeowners associations: government minus the checks and balances.” Ordinarily, we love it when readers write us to say “Great story; great job!”—but this week, we were dismayed by the number of people from all over America who wrote us to commiserate: “Yeah, my HOA is just as bad. Maybe worse.” 

We mentioned three bad-HOA stories culled at random from the previous week’s headlines: in Las Vegas, the Harbor Cove Homeowners Association had to pay $65,000 to the family of a disabled Harbor Cove man — the family kept an ambulance parked in their driveway to transport their son to his medical appointments, but the HOA board wanted them to ditch the ambulance and refused to back down until the federal government got involved and reminded the HOA that disabled Americans have rights, too.  Read more: