Quote from other thread:
That’s not what I said. I objected to HOA’s telling people what to do with their private property, but that’s as far as I went regarding objecting to or endorsing anyone telling people that they can and can’t do with their property.
I do think someone needs to stay on top of it or, yeah, the city is going to look like a landfill. I just don’t think it should be my neighbor from down the block getting worked up over things like my grass being 4 inches instead of 2 inches or my garage door being open for more than 15 minutes or deciding that they get to inspect my backyard…which now means they’re not just interested in curb appeal, they’re going out of their way to find infractions.
Granted, this goes out the window if your house is located on a big plot of privately owned property (think, gated community) or a condo or apartment. That is to say, if you live on property owned by someone else.
Having said all that, if you’re made aware of the HOA (and it’s rules/fees/structure etc) before you start signing things and you’re okay with it all, more power to you. But in general, I have no interest in them. We have enough Gladys Cravitzs running around, we don’t need to give them the power to levy fines against things they don’t like.