It is our position that overly restrictive homeowners associations can quickly become perversions of the freedoms they are meant to provide. HOA’s continue to be a power force in self-government. Unsatisfied with services provided by the local municipalities or desirous of even more self-constraint, these groups have become ubiquitous in residential development in the US.
While designed to maintain property values by requiring minimum standards of care, they are too often used to constrain even the most innocuous of individual liberties. Much attention has been given to those groups that have prevented the display of the American flag, claiming that flags, regardless of their nationality, are garish distractions from the bucolic nature of the subdivision.
This week it was reported that another zealous Florida HOA has voted to restrict children’s outdoor play. Bicycles and ball play are among the many forms specifically listed for prohibition. The HOA authorities claim the rules are intended to “keep the kids safe” and free from threat. Perhaps, but we are inclined to believe it is another example of small minds with unrestrained power. While we defend the right of associations, we abhor retroactive moves on legitimate property rights.