Government Jurisdictions vs. HOAs.
Some Homeowner's Associations like to think of themselves as groups that are equivalent to local government. Horror stories abound, but there is a distinct different between the two things.
An HOA is an organization made up of the joint owners of a condominium property. Each owner of a unit in that property owns the interior of their unit outright, along with a share in the rest of the property that is owned communally. That distinction is often not well recognized and elected HOA boards, along with property management firms hired by those boards, often think of themselves as the "rulers" of the association. They are not, of course. They are elected to that board by the people who own property in common to the development.
A year ago, my wife and I bought a townhome in a small development made up of eight quad structures. There are 32 properties in the development. The HOA retains a property management firm to deal with the day to day management of the development. As in some other condominium property, that property management firm in our case also manages several large apartment buildings. The property manager assigned to our development occasionally slips and refers to the owners in the development as "tenants."
So, someone ran into one of the cluster mailboxes in our development. The car knocked the mailbox over. The mailbox is the responsibility of the HOA. The USPS does not own those mailboxes, although they must meet exacting requirements. So, the mailbox was lying on the ground. I notified the property manager and asked when we could expect it to be repaired and back in place. I pointed out on Friday that it was the HOA's responsibility.
In a return email, the property manage told me that it would be fixed "sometime next week."
So, I did some research and discovered that the broken pedestal for our 16-box mailbox cluster was a standard item. I found one in stock at a building supply business in the local area and sent the property manager another email. I explained that the USPS would not deliver any mail to those 16 units until the box was repaired. I explained further that the OWNERS of those units could have medical prescriptions coming, along with end of the month bills. I put a link in my email to the supply company that had the pedestal in stock and suggested that "sometime next week" was not acceptable.
So, this morning, two guys were there, installing the new pedestal. Within an hour, the mailbox was back in place, so mail delivery will resume this afternoon. I got an email in reply to mine as the work was going on. "Thanks for your information," it said. I am confident that had I not looked up a source for the pedestal that it would not have been fixed until "sometime next week."
I've always resisted living where an HOA existed, but I do now. We are not tenants. We are the collective owners of the development, according to my deed. The property management firm works FOR us. Sometimes it is necessary to remind such folks of the reality of the relationship.
The Moral of the Story
Now, if we could do the same with our local governments. That, however, can be somewhat more complicated. But still, we elect them as well and hire them to look after our interests. Perhaps we need to remember that more clearly. We are not "subjects." We are not "tenants." We are the owners. Governments are hired by us to do things. At all levels of government. Sometimes, they need a reminder of that reality. We should not be afraid of making that clear from time to time.