HomeOwners Association

A homeowners' association (abbrev. HOA) is an organization created by a real estate developer for the purpose of developing, managing and selling a development of homes. It allows the developer to exit financial and legal responsibility of the community, typically by transferring ownership of the association to the homeowners after selling off a predetermined number of lots. It allows the municipality to increase its tax base, but reduce the amount of services it would ordinarily have to provide to non-homeowner association developments.

Most homeowner associations are incorporated, and are subject to state statutes that govern non profit organizations and homeowner associations. State oversight of homeowner associations is minimal, and mainly takes the form of laws, which are inconsistent from state to state. Some states, such as Florida and California, have a large body of homeowner association law, and some states, such as Massachusetts, have virtually no homeowner association law.

The fastest growing form of housing in the United States today is common-interest developments (CIDs), a category that includes planned unit developments of single family homes, condominiums, and cooperative apartments. Since 1964, homeowner associations have become increasingly common in the USA.