You find a sales agent and tell the agent what area you’re interested in, what your price range is, how many bedrooms or bathrooms you want, and whatever else is important to you.

If you’re like most people, you don’t know anything about homeowners associations (HOAs), so you don’t tell the sales agent that you want to look at homes in common ownership developments governed by homeowners associations, nor that you do not.

The agent shows you homes that meet your criteria.

Since you didn’t tell the agent that you would prefer to buy a home in a development where you won't automatically become a member of an HOA, some or all of the homes the agent shows you are in developments governed by HOAs.

You don’t know that HOAs are a form of government. If the agent were to mention that to you, you might ask about what kind of governments they are.

The agent mentions little or nothing about mandatory homeowners association membership. This is not a selling point, especially if you start asking too many questions about it.

Consciencious answers to those questions might dissuade you from buying.

Maybe the HOA subject comes up, while the agent is showing you different homes, but the importance of the HOA is played down, and the answers you get may not even be accurate.

Here is the way a typical conversation might go:

Homebuyer: What does the HOA do?
Agent: It’s a private entity that picks up trash and removes the snow.

– or – If you write the HOA, they’ll replace a missing bush.
Homebuyer: What if I paint my mailbox blue?
Agent: Then they’ll make you paint it the same color as everybody else’s.

You find a home you think you want and make an offer on it.

The sales agent communicates your offer to the seller.

At this point, the agent may still not have mentioned that the home is in a development governed by a homeowners association, and you probably have still not even seen the governing documents of the HOA.

You may not even know that they exist.

You send an inspector to inspect the home, but not the HOA.

Closing

Well, you’ve seen the homes, made your offers, signed your life away many times, jumped through a thousand little hoops, laid out some cash and you’re ready to close.

And, finally, an owner has accepted one of your offers.

The agent puts a million papers in front of you to sign, so you sign and sign and sign.

At closing, the governing documents are presented to you. This is because the law requires that they be presented to you no later than at closing.

So that is when you get them.

At closing.

They’re thick and full of legalese.

They don’t point out what you need to know in plain English.

In fact, according to Shu Bartholomew, host of the On The Commons radio program, “Nothing in the required disclosure package will give you an accurate picture of what homeowners associations are really all about. Potential buyers are not told, for instance, that their private property is collateral for a corporation run and managed by amateurs.. no one specifically agrees to give up any of their Constitutionally protected rights... no one is warned of the imbalance of power in these associations... Instead they are promised ‘protected property values,’ carefree living, amenities fit for the rich and famous, etc., etc.”

If you are like most people, you don’t read the governing documents.

What you needed to know was not disclosed to you, and what you got turns out to be more than what you saw.