Those involved with homeowner associations give a number of reasons for their growth, including building and lifestyle trends and demographics. A big building trend today is for lifestyle communities, where the buyer owns his own unit, but an association maintains the outside of his home, cuts his grass and shovels his snow. Ten or 15 years ago, Schiavone says, there was some resistance to homeowners associations because people didn't want to pay that extra fee. But it's a maturity thing. We're all 10 years older and we're busier, and we've become more familiar and comfortable with the benefits of homeowners associations.
Homeowners associations are just more accepted right now.
Timothy J. Siegfried, a real estate lawyer in South Whitehall Township, believes homeowners associations are also becoming more common because people want more control over their neighborhoods and thus their property values. Homeowners associations have covenants, conditions and restrictions which govern such things as exterior color schemes, landscaping, and even when garbage cans can appear on the curb. Deed restrictions also can set architectural and aesthetic standards, but homeowner associations have more teeth in enforcing the standards, Siegfried says. Municipalities don't enforce deed restrictions, so if residents were upset with a neighbor and they had no homeowners association, their only recourse would be to file a lawsuit, he explains. Thanks to Pennsylvania's Uniform Planned Communities Act, homeowners associations can fine residents who don't follow their rules and regulations.