Property Relationality: Homeowners' Associations and Regulated Reside

• In Event: 40821 - Community and Urban Sociology Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 14. Urban Governance I: The Organization of Power

Abstract

How do homeowners’ associations (HOAs) impact homeowners’ residential experience? Over one-third of U.S. homeowners live in HOAs, which are mandatory-membership organizations designed to protect future property values through regulations and assessments that cover shared amenities and maintenance. HOAs are also unique in that a subset of owners serve as volunteers on a board of directors, which govern the associations. HOAs are often depicted in public discourse and existing literature as contributing to segregation and resource hoarding because they provide goods that only residents can enjoy. Yet with their significant growth across the country, HOAs are no longer home to just the privileged. Researchers need to better identify variation in homeowners’ experiences within these organizations as well as potential structural and financial risks linked with shared housing.

I answer the posed question by analyzing original interview data with a diverse sample of 75 HOA homeowners, including board members, in the Chicago metropolitan area. I compare across the type of HOA (single-family homes, townhomes, or condos), HOA age, neighborhood sociodemographic and racial makeup, and location (city or suburb). I find that HOAs’ fiscally shared structure of housing costs and mandatory rules alters people’s understanding of private ownership and, potentially, can lead to significant conflict and material risk. I also identify owners’ unfamiliarity with HOA rules upon purchase and a lack of participation once occupying an HOA, even though homeownership is often people’s largest financial asset. There is variation in experience based on owners’ ability to pay for shared housing and boards’ capacity to govern. These findings further our understanding of real property systems more broadly as dependent on pooled collective risk and participation.

Author

• Maura Fennelly, Northwestern University