A blow against local tyranny?

From Florida comes word that a State legislator is attempting to outlaw HOAs – Home Owners Associations.

Juan Porras, a Miami Republican, is pushing to liberate nearly half the population of Florida who live in communities with HOAs. Over the years, TPOL and other lovers of liberty have pointed out the abuses of people and the denial of liberty that these organizations do. We have not pointed out that these quasi-governmental bodies also often charge incredible “membership fees” to pay for both their evil deeds and the few good deeds such entities are known to do. In Florida (and no doubt elsewhere), these HOA fees can run as high as $500-600 a month.

All too often, the money is collected under the same threat of legal and law enforcement action that property taxes enjoy. And then the money is used to harass and otherwise abuse the members of the HOA: the homeowners or indirectly, the renters.

Such matters as having a flag flying, leaving up Christmas decorations too long, leaving your garage doors open, or having a child set up a lemonade stand are prosecuted and fined.

It is no wonder that Porras and others seek to eliminate these entities. It is reported that as many as 9.5 million Floridians (nearly half the state’s population) live in subdivisions or communities controlled by these tyrannical institutions. Oh, yes, their ruling boards are “elected” by the community, and that board (often a self-perpetuating oligarchy) creates community rules, maintains common areas and collects funds to do so. And are the perfect example of the nanny-state on a tiny scale, often of just a houses but sometimes of hundreds and hundreds of homes.

Of course, this problem is found in every State that we know of, and not just in suburbs. Most people (some surveys report 70% or more) will prefer to purchase a house in an area not within an HOA. Sometimes, the Realtor does not tell buyers of their existence. (And there are HOAs which are not the institutional Karens that most are.) Yet many city and county governments require that powerful HOAs be formed, as one of the conditions of approving the subdivisions or even issuing building permits. The HOAs are often built into government-enforced covenants on the land itself.

Such institutions are beloved of bureaucrats because they act as a combination of free contractor for the city and a secret police, looking for violations of various codes, creating new rules and regulations often without the checks and balances which (supposedly) limit the power of municipal governments.

Some lovers of liberty will argue that a statewide ban of HOAs will limit people’s freedom of association and prevent them from exercising their right to organize for the “common good.”

We here at TPOL would suggest that these types of endeavors, like churches and the state, and liked schools and the state, need to be totally divorced from any ties to governments, and made entirely voluntary and able to be withdrawn from at any time. Just as governments (or others) cannot force someone to join a church or prevent them from leaving a church (or a civic organization or fraternity like the Lions Club, Eagles, or OddFellows), participation should be voluntary and without coercion.

If someone wants to organize a neighborhood improvement club and pool their money to do good things: to maintain public parks or put in a recycling drop point or install cute road signs, by all means, let them do so. But deny them ANY power to take other people’s money or force them to abide by rules and standards, arbitrary or not, which do not directly harm their neighbors in a physical manner.

But HOAs, of course, are just a minor threat compared to the power that municipal governments, local districts, counties, and State governments, and the FedGov, have over even the minutia of our daily lives. Just getting rid of HOAs does not restore liberty.

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