# Do You Belong To An HOA? Do They Suck? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 28, 2026, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-belong-to-an-hoa-do-they-suck/1034223 "2026-10-28T18:58:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2026, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-belong-to-an-hoa-do-they-suck/1034223/81 "2026-10-31T10:46:45Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > Incidentally, the leader of a group of residences in the neighborhood associations is called a 班長 hancho which entered English as “honcho” (pronunciated the same as the Japanese word) and I have had to take my turn as a 班長. That entire post was great but in particular this. I always thought honcho was a Spanish word. ---
**Author:** ![icon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c6cbf5/32.png) [@icon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/icon)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2026, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-belong-to-an-hoa-do-they-suck/1034223/82 "2026-10-31T11:16:32Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > Incidentally, the leader of a group of residences in the neighborhood associations is called a 班長 hancho which entered English as “honcho” (pronunciated the same as the Japanese word) and I have had to take my turn as a 班長. It depends though. Where I lived (and regularly visit) they are called the 会長 ( _Kaichō_) which is the word for president or chairperson. I most commonly heard the the word 班長 (Hanchō) which means group or team leader in relation to usually the most senior student who was in charge of leading neighborhood kids as they walked to school. Hanchō is used in military contexts as well, which is where the US likely got it during WWII. `//i\\` Edited to add, I never had to be the Kaichō, because I did not own the house we lived in, but I always participated in the annual cleaning that we did, and of course, the meal afterward at the small community center (just a small structure with a large room a kitchen and a bathroom). ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2026, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-belong-to-an-hoa-do-they-suck/1034223/83 "2026-10-31T11:43:54Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > That entire post was great but in particular this. I always thought honcho was a Spanish word. From Merriam Webster > A relic of the large U.S. presence in Japan in the years following World War II, the word _honcho_ comes from the Japanese word _hanchō_ meaning “leader of the squad, section, group.” We are uncertain of the exact route by which _honcho_ found its way into American military argot in the mid-1950s, though it is known that the Japanese applied _hanchō_ to British or Australian officers in charge of work parties in prisoner-of-war camps. By the 1960s, the word had become part of colloquial American jargon. And incidentally, “head honcho” isn’t used in Japanese. 班長 are group leaders “head” got tacked on when the word was adopted into English. > [@icon](#): > > Where I lived (and regularly visit) they are called the 会長 ( _Kaichō_) which is the word for president or chairperson. As I said, this is when there are smaller groups within an association. The subgroups are 班 han with a 班長 and the larger association is the 会 kai, with a 会長. Thus a large 自治会 neighborhood association that has 班 subgroups will have one 会長 president / chairman and a number of 班長 hancho. I lived in a large 団地 apartment complex with maybe eight multistory buildings. Each floor of each building was a 班, so there were 24 班. One 会長 and 24 班長. If an association is smaller (as most are) then it’s not divided into groups and they will just have the 会長. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2026, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-belong-to-an-hoa-do-they-suck/1034223/84 "2026-10-31T13:10:21Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > Because the US doesn’t have formal neighborhood associations Au contraire, my city of 250,000 has at least 30 neighborhood associations that are very active. Most have a FB page, do public service announcements, organize parties, 4th of July bike parades, clean up days, porch concerts, garage sale days, etc. Most also organize to do advocacy for their area needs with the city and county government. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2026, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-belong-to-an-hoa-do-they-suck/1034223/85 "2026-10-31T13:22:21Z")
Oh ok. Then in that case, there should be no excuse to call Japanese neighborhood associations HOAs, if the distinction already exists in America. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2026, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-belong-to-an-hoa-do-they-suck/1034223/86 "2026-10-31T13:45:17Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Interesting to find that in Japan, an ordered society where the collective good has traditionally been prized over individul expression, HOAs are by law strictly voluntary for detached housing\*, though required for condo and apartment dwellers. Even in New York City, you cannot buy a (cooperative) flat (apartment) without buying into the co-op. A condominium is a different story and then there would be a HOA. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-belong-to-an-hoa-do-they-suck/1034223.md?page=4)