About Florida Homeowners Association Terror

This website was created to journal the experiences of living in a Florida neighborhood that is governed by a Homeowners Association (HOA), and the terror that can be inflicted upon homeowners just trying to live a simple, American life.

If you would like to submit your own experiences, please contact us at

FLHOAT

at

proton

dot

me

Put that together in correct form. We don’t like spam bots.

For now, this is what Chatgpt has to say to the question “Do homeowners really own their homes in HOA neighborhoods?”:

Short answer: yes, homeowners really do own their homes in HOA neighborhoods—but with strings attached.

Here’s the clean breakdown 👇

What you do own 🏠

If you bought a home in an HOA community, you hold legal title to your property (fee simple ownership, same as non-HOA homes). That means you can:

The HOA does not own your house.

What the HOA controls 📏

When you buy into an HOA, you voluntarily agree to its rules, usually called CC&Rs (Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions). These can regulate:

Think of it like:

You own the house, but the HOA sets neighborhood standards.

What happens if you break the rules? ⚠️

HOAs can usually:

⚠️ Foreclosure is rare but legally possible in many states.

What you don’t give up ❌

An HOA cannot:

The trade-off 🤝

Pros

Cons

Bottom line

You absolutely own your home in an HOA.

But it’s more accurate to say:

You own the property, while the HOA governs how parts of it are used.