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

To clarify, prior to annexation the medians of major Kingwood streets were maintained by the adjoining Trail Associations or HOAs. Friendswood Development set up this system and put that responsibility into the Charter of each organization. They gave each of these organizations the ability to collect yearly assessments from homeowners to pay for the upkeep of the medians and other areas defined by the Charter of each organization. Neighborhood HOAs (Community Associations) were generally responsible for upkeep of the entries to the neighborhood, the swimming pool and park Friendswood built in each neighborhood. After annexation, the City took over maintenance of the medians. HOA dues typoically pay for upkeep of the pools,parks and entries. This includes pool maintenance, insurance and the cost of life guards. Most KW HOAs also contract for additional security patrols and mosquito spraying. In general the entries, parks and pools are well maintained. If you got rid of the HOA you would then have the City manage your neighborhood pool? Go to a City managed pool and see if you like it. Without an HOA the entries to each neighborhood and the neighborhood parks would be in the same condition as the medians. There is nothing stopping HOAs or Trail Associations from helping to maintain the medians, the responsibility is still in their Charters. If the conditions of the medians bother you, ask your local HOA or Trail Association to supplement the City maintenance. Some of these organizations still do. The medians in Town Center are maintained by the Association of the business property owners of Town Center. All Associations typically contract a Association Management Company. The Boards of all Associations are all non paid volunteers and Board membership changes over time. The Association Management Company handles day to day issues including accounting, assessment collections, insurance, legal and tax return issues. All HOAs and Trail Associations are set up as non-profits but they still need to keep accounting records and file tax returns. Just like homeowners, all Associations need insurance. The Association Management company does not decide when grass is to be cut or if grass in a median is to be cut. These decisions are made by the Board Members. If you are unhappy with your HOA, go to the meetings and run for the Board. Most HOAs and Trail Associations have difficulty getting enough volunteers to serve. Once you are on a HOA Board, you can the be the subject of complaints rather than the complainer.

HOA-s are very necessasary, with out them Villages woul deteriorate much more rapidly then they already are. Biggest problem is so many houses are rentals and the tenants do not care about deed restrictions. consequently the home owners do not get the deed restriction letters from the management associations. A good many of the rental home owners live out of state or out of the Houston area. The Texas Legislature passed a law that any sitting board member cannot be in charge of doing deed restrictions or architecural control authorization, so therefore it has to be hired by your service association and that increases fees. Trust me, without HOA-s Kingwood would become as trashy as parts of Houston already are.

Texasdad : I don't like the sound of that!

Moon007 :
I'm fine with HOAs, but they'e all bark and no bite. How do I know? We had a legendary home here in Foster's Mill who's owner broke every conceivable rule and laughed at the HOA for more than a decade. If you live in Fosters Mill you know which one I'm referring to. HOA did nothing. Home has since been sold and completely remodeled.

Texasdad :
I'm not certain that the information in your post is 100% accurate but I am certain that the rent amount will be adjusted to include all of the cost of ownership, meaning as the costs go up so will the monthly rent + profit for the homeowner.

jlc1938 :
100% agree with your comments!

djcodyblue :
TOTALLY agree. I wish Fosters Mill had an enforcement team with some stones. I hope they read this.

Just give it a few more years and Kingwood will look like they have no HOA, thanks to the city of Houston.

cbear : It's more than likely NOT up to the HOA to assist in this situation.

I know they are a pain sometimes but I have lived in areas without them and I will NEVER go back... The pros out weight the cons IMO I honestly knew when I bought my home there was an HOA, so I don't get why people are so shocked...