What Are the Nuts and Bolts of Homeowners Associations?
What is a homeowners association and why do they exist? Condominiums, cooperatives, planned communities and other forms of homeowners associations (“HOA”) are to allow the owners to administrate and manage their community. One of the main purposes of the HOA is to enforce a set of covenants (promises) that bind all owners. The covenants are usually contained in a document called a Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (“CC&Rs”). Many HOAs include common property, such as pools, greenways and private roads and in the case of condominiums, usually building structure, walls, roofs, plumbing, wiring and other aspects of the building. Individual property owners are required to pay assessments (usually monthly) to enable the HOA to operate the association and maintain the common property. Who serves on homeowners associations, what do they oversee and how are such associations governed? A board of volunteer owners elected by the remaining owners usually governs hOAs. The boar
