Is HOA really necessary? I'm pretty sure by starting the petitio

Moon007 :
Yes, we do and I am not a fan at times.
One bad apple will ruin it for the whole bunch.

Moon007 :
Our HOA bullied my across the street neighbor into trimming up his 2 live oaks and planting grass. They threatened to fine him $200 a month of he didn't fix his yard. He is 88 years old but he did what they told him.
No his yard looks so much better than before. He fixed his sprinkler system and it is watered regularly. I love my neighbor but he is a tad cheap.
His house looks so much better now.
I stayed silent during this process and he could just rant to me. Now we are both happy and I have a nice yard to look at. ❤️

You'd like to think that every resident would be a homeowner who maintains their property well, but that just doesn't happen. As others have pointed out, a drive through any neighborhood in neighboring towns without a CA proves that. I was on our CA board for six years, and one thing that horrified me--and was a constant battle--was homeowners who wanted to cut mature, healthy, beautiful trees for no reason and got angry when they were denied. The trees weren't too close to the house, they weren't sick, the owner just didn't want them in the yard. Many owners just ignored the bylaw requiring prior permission and cut the trees anyhow, but the CA prevented a lot of this. For me the whole point of living in Kingwood is being surrounded by the beautiful forest, so I didn't understand why these people didn't choose another location if they felt that way.

I believe KAM and the individual village HOAs still provide a service to Kingwood that the COH wouldn't . I can only imagine what our community would look like without them. However, I only wish they would maintain their own yard ( medians and common areas) to the same standards expected of us. Their yard is overgrown with underbrush and vines in areas and quite often lacks proper mowing.

Theoldman :
Agreed - when I first moved here I believe KAM still took care of the medians- there were crews every week mowing, trimming landscape- taking the dead stuff out. A few years after we moved to KW COH took over. The medians started looking bad. They'd come every 8 weeks and mow the grass to the dirt which kills the grass and invites weeds. The trees are so overgrown - you take your life in your hands when you pull out from a side street onto KW Dr

Labslady: I doubt that KAM (Ethel) was forced to relinquish that service.

Moon007 :
This area would go downhill fast. FYI - Look at all the medians - they are COH's responsibilty and now the villages have to mow because COH mows them every 6 weeks. If we didn't have the funding from the homeowners - they would be more unsightly.

Moon007: yes, the HOA is necessary, the neighborhoods will get trashed very quickly without them.

The medians are AWFUL here except for town center area, unkempt, unsightly, and dangerous for drivers trying to maneuver intersections. We don't need to cut the beloved trees to improve this - COH needs to keep the medians better maintained, clear back the undergrowth, vines, Yaupon, etc. What can we do??

Moon007 : we might not like HOA at times, but they do make sure the neighborhoods are clean. Yards are mowed no signs in the yard garbage cans not out in front. Some people would let their yards go. And it would be unsightly.

Moon007 :
My village has a very nice community center with an Olympic size pool and we also have two large parks. We can use the center for personal events and lately we have employed private security. The city and kingwood service association does not pay for any of it!

Donnawisdom :
I know that my HOA cannot issue a fine against a property owner. They can take the owner to court. Read the charter documents to clarify the extent of the authority or better yet go to the meetings and join the board! You

sweetie : Unfortunately, not all HOA's send letters and enforce all those things. Our's used to when KAM was our managment, now all those things you mentioned happen on a regular basis.

When people purchase a home in an HOA community they sign documents at closing stating they will abide by the bylaws of their community. A copy of the bylaws are given to the purchaser at closing but you can also go online to your community website to review the bylaws. It seems most complaints are from people that don't follow the bylaws in their community and yet they blame the HOA for being the villians. The intent of the bylaws is simply to maintain the values of the homes in the community we live in. The HOA board is simply a group of your neighbors who volunteer their time to keep your community maintained. This includes managing the landscape agreement, irrigation systems, maintenance & repair of community properties such as pools, gazebos, fences, greenbelts, sidewalks, etc. Many communities have had extensive storm damage in recent years which requires trees to be removed. Insurance rates have gone up significantly and the HOA's insurance policies are equally impacted. In the community I live in, the Association Management company has a represntative who monitors the community for bylaw infractions and sends the notifications to the homeowner. The HOA board does not get involved in bylaw infractions unless the homeowner requests a hearing to appeal the infraction.