Can You Refuse to Join an HOA? (2024)

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Chances are, if you build a new home or purchase a house that was built within the last decade or so, you will live in a community that is run by a homeowners’ association.

A homeowners’ association fulfills several functions within the community, including maintaining a certain aesthetic pertaining to neighborhood architectural and landscaping standards, as well as providing maintenance and upkeep of any community facilities and public spaces. Although there are many perks to living in an HOA, they often get a lot of bad press. Some may wonder if homeowners have an option when it comes to joining a homeowners’ association, so let’s take a look at the options:

When Membership is Required

Some HOAs have voluntary participation, while others are mandatory. Obviously, those who live in a community where membership is voluntary do not have to join, but may not receive the benefits that come from the HOA. Those who live in a mandatory membership community do have to join the association, pay assessments, and comply with neighborhood standards. Generally speaking, there is no way around it. Membership must be taken seriously, rules must be followed, and dues must be paid.

If you buy a home in a neighborhood that already has an established HOA, you must join as a condition of purchasing the new home. Assessments will be payable starting when your sale closes; you do not have the option to opt out of joining the HOA. Bottom line: if you do not want to be a member of the association, you should purchase a home in a different area.

When Membership May Not Be Required

If an HOA is created in a neighborhood where no association previously existed, current homeowners are generally not required to become members of the association. Similarly, sometimes a community with voluntary HOA membership will decide to become a mandatory HOA community. Most often, this decision is made due to dwindling funds and/or participation, which are needed to continue with the upkeep of public amenities.

In these situations, homeowners are not obligated to join, but many can be convinced to join once the benefits of membership are adequately explained. An association can be created to include as many households as desire to participate, then the CC&Rs can dictate a provision stating that once those households which do not join are sold, the new owners will be required to join the association and begin paying assessments.

Dissolving an HOA

If you live in an HOA community, you do not have the option to opt-out. However, if you are interested in getting rid of the HOA, there is often a way to do so; be advised the process is difficult, lengthy, and very costly.

If this is truly an option you wish to pursue, you should talk to your neighbors to see if there are more people who feel the way you do. Generally, it takes an affirmative vote from 80% of homeowners to abolish an association. Read your CC&Rs and understand your state’s laws, which will outline the rules and specify the procedure for how to dissolve the association. If this is still a plan of action you wish to pursue, you will need to hire an attorney with experience in this matter. Because the dissolution of an association is a legal process with explicit details that need to be followed and paid attention to, the collective group of homeowners will need adequate legal representation.

The Alternative

Instead of taking drastic measures and pursuing the dissolution of an association, we recommend first considering what can be done to make the HOA better for those in the community. Are people unhappy because of leadership? Management? Excessive bylaws? Assessments that are too expensive? These are all problems that are easily solved.

If you’re unhappy with the way your HOA handles things in your community, one of the best things you can do is get involved! Talk to your neighbors, attend board meetings, or even volunteer as a board member yourself. Take action to help your community be a place where you and your neighbors enjoy living.

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1. 

   Michelle ReimersJuly 9, 2019 at 12:02 am

   Our neighborhood has a HOA for the front 58 homes. The back half of the homes (approx.20) are not in our HOA. However, we all share the front entrance of the neighborhood, but not the cost of the front entrance maintenance. While those back half do not contribute to maintenance cost. What is our legal right to have those not in the HOA contribute?

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     The Big TAugust 28, 2019 at 8:18 am

     If they do not belong to your HOA, then you have no options – zero – to force them to join or pay dues, assessments or maintenance to your HOA. You made an agreement to pay for maintenance of the neighborhood entrance, they did not. You agreed to be responsible for all assessments and payments required for the HOA, they did not. You cannot force them to pay for something they did not agree to, and it is ridiculously selfish of you to expect them to.

2. 

   AprilOctober 14, 2019 at 2:48 pm

   I have 2 condos in same building, but both of doorbells are not work from the day I bought condos, I have tried various ways to make an appointment for repair (more than 30 times at least) in last 2 years, but they did nothing, so can I refuse to pay HOA?

3. 

   AprilOctober 14, 2019 at 2:54 pm

   or can I pay HOA until the doorbells fixed?

4. 

   JimDecember 30, 2019 at 2:26 am

   Moved in to a supposedly a deed restricted neighborhood. Come to find out years later there are 22 homes that do not have to pay dues as these houses were sold before they registered the HOA. I was not told this when I purchased my home. It says deed restricted on our front sign but not all homes have to abide by the hoa rules. They can do anything they want but want me to abide by the rules and pay dues. This was a new development when this all took place. I feel when a home is sold in here that should have to be disclosed as it really is not a completely an HOA development.. They can park boats , trailers, or anything else they might want to. They can even add an addition to there house where I am not aloud. They can have an outdoor kitchen where I am not aloud. What are my options as I would not have purchased under these circ*mstances.

5. 

   Antonio R GonzalesJanuary 19, 2020 at 8:05 am

   I live in a community that had two HOA’s. There are condos and Villas. The villas had their own separate by-laws. We have paid the condo association monthly for our services(water, mowing, plowing, etc.) becuase they were already set up with those services. When I bought my home in 2014 I bought under the pretense that I was joining the Villas HOA by the realtor. Recently the condos association decided that the villas should pay more for their services and doubled the rates we were paying. prices went from $200 to $400. The villa owners tried to talk with the condo asso. about the excessive fee increase to no avail. While we were checking on our rights through our by-laws it was discovered that our HOA was no longer active and hadn’t been since 2008. Form another HOA? join condo HOA? Do nothing with their HOA and hire our own company to do out services? There are 5 Villas that are on/were on the original villa HOA. Do we have to form a HOA again? Any help would be appreciated.

6. 

   Jacqueline B TempleMarch 15, 2020 at 4:48 pm

   I live in a HOA…my question is as follows:

   Is it a legal mandate(Binding) for the management to request the names of everyone who lives in the home? Please advise?