"HOA" has been colloquilized as a term used for all types of common interest communities, yet HOA describes a particular built environment and governance associated with particular laws.  View the community association statute matrix to see the differences!

CICs (cooperatives, multi-family residential condominium associations (COAs), and planned developments AKA homeowners associations (HOAs) and property owners associations (POAs), master planned communities (MPCs), planned urban developments (PUDs)) have ballooned since getting their start in 18th century London.   Read History and Structure of the Common Interest Community for an in-depth understanding or, for a more abbreviated history, check these secondary and tertiary references.  You might also like to learn about public interest developments (PIDs).  Statutes in many states require CICs to register as nonprofit corporations.  Community associations are also rooted in segregation.  READ: The Man Who Made the Suburbs White.

In the 1870s, a striking change was occurring in the residential habits of London’s elite. After centuries of living close to the ground in houses, Charles Dickens Jr. (son of the famous writer) observed that wealthy residents were starting “to avail themselves of the continental experience … and to adopt the foreign fashion of living in flats.”

READ: The Design History of London's Mansion Block Apartment Buildings

New York City was one of the first major US cities to develop cooperatives (for the well-heeled).  CICs exploded in prominence and quantity starting in the 1960's as they facilitated opportunities for more affordable home ownership (condominiums and co-ops), opportunities to enforce segregation via covenants (a practice that has since been denounced) and as municipalities discovered that they could reduce and/or eliminate their burden of caring for sidewalks, streets, lights, parks, plumbing and more by shifting those responsibilities to private homeowner associations.  As of 2021, 82% of new single-family homes sold are part of a CIC / governed by restrictive covenants.  What's a single-family home?

CIC-related statutory governance began with a focus on development in the early 1960's, then shifted to regulating developers in the 1970's and has since evolved a more comprehensive statutory framework in many states through adoption of provisions that are both unique to each state government and also through the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act (UCIOA) and Uniform Condominium Act (UCA) versions adopted over decades across a handful of states starting in the 1980's).

Straddling both government and corporate realms, CICs face many of the same challenges experienced by those constructs: drafting and revising legislation (written governance), contracting, human resources, budgeting and finance, engaging constituents (homeowners) and more.  Volunteer homeowner leaders are under immense pressure to plan and orchestrate a long-term balancing act maintaining physical property and quality of life for residents while simultaneously honoring the boundaries of federal, state and local statutes, codes, and governing documents. 

READ: Common Interest Communities: An Introduction — David L. Callies

Despite a Number of Differences, Community Associations Share Many of the Same Concerns

Every community association is unique, but most share the same governance needs.  

Governance qualities can be relatively easily compared (how many meetings are held, what policies and procedures are in place, how are elections conducted, how long are volunteer director terms, etc.).

Finances are another matter.  It's nearly impossible to normalize data inputs between communities because of the myriad factors involved such as: when was a community formed, its construction quality, the scale of homes and/or units, what amenities and common elements are in play, reserve funding, geographic location and pay differences, maintenance quality, decision-making history and governance style of elected volunteers, socioeconomic qualities, geographic pay differences, etc.  Most of those qualities are not even readily available or cognizable  and one cannot intuitively correlate their impact.

Whether formally incorporated or not, you should think of your community as a business corporation.

Homeowners who share a vested interest via their mandatory assessments are much like partners and/or shareholders of your corporation.  Alignment with a shared interest is the primary reason many CICs require that Board members (volunteer directors) own real property within the community.  The vendors your association engages cannot and will not share the same interest in the overall success of governing and operating your community as your homeowners.

READ: Homeowners Care About Many Things from CIC Info Bytes Issue# 84.

Homeowners and CICs have been led to believe they should trust the businesses that want their revenue, because, essentially, there is no other choice.  The United States lacks a sustainably funded nationwide nonprofit primarily focused on serving the best interests of CICs and their homeowners which means that CICs have no spokesperson and homeowners must be their own advocate in all but a few states with dedicated programs.

WANT TO HELP?  Join HOA United.

READ: Why So Many Common Interest Communities Need Help | Why Homeowners Hate Their HOAs | Let's Get Honest About HOAs | Assessing the Association Homeowners Think HOAs Aren’t Worth the Stress | New research busts myth that HOAs protect property values | Homeowners, residents dissatisfied with HOA communities...

Susan F. French muses poignantly while comparing CICs to government entities and businesses in Making Common Interest Communities Work: The Next Step (ABA's The Urban Lawyer, Summer 2005, Vol. 37, No. 3, pp 359-369).

• CICs have immense power to affect the quality of residents' lives and the value of their real property investments

• CICs are more difficult to leave (i.e. moving away from or selling a home) than exiting a business and/or private investment

• CICs have relatively invasive restrictions and the enforcement of violations is more likely

• Homeowners have little recourse to unreasonable, even illegal circumstances aside from filing suit