Having An HOA: A Good Thing Or A Nightmare

I feel like homeowners associations can be helpful, but also a total nightmare. Have you ever gotten a ridiculous notification from your HOA?

I live in a newer development in Meridian and I really like it, and what I like about homeowners associations, is that your neighbor can't just decide one day to paint their house pink or put a weird pool in their front yard, but sometimes HOA's can be a little outrageous.

One time, I got a letter about the fact that I had a broom sitting on my back patio and thought it was a little odd, and also wondered, who took the time out of their day to call and REPORT that? Meanwhile, the person next to me had wild weeds reaching into the street from his yard.

Most recently, and I'm not sure if it's HOA related, but my mother in-law (to be) was staying for a few days and had her RV had some electrical issues and she didn't have AC, and ALL the RV parks around the Treasure Valley were booked for the weekend. We live on a corner lot and she parked outside of our house on the street for the weekend and as soon as Monday rolled around, she was reported.

Now I get that you're not supposed to park those vehicles for more than 72 hours but she was there just over that amount of time. So while an HOA can be a good thing, they can also be a total nightmare.