This case is interesting. A judge supported a homeowners association rule that a couple cannot smoke in their own townhouse.
First of all, I’m very much into smokers rights. I despise smoking bans and pretty much all “for your own good” legislation.
But the issue here isn’t smoking; it’s the right of homeowners associations to control what goes on on their properties. These associations are created by developers, and they maintain control over individual behavior to make a neighborhood a better place to live. According to Wikipedia, “[a] homeowners association (sometimes HOA) is an organization comprised of all owners of units in a housing development, which may or may not be part of a gated community…In the United States, the vast majority of homeowners associations are incorporated and are therefore governed by a board, which is in essence a private government.”
The only credible argument against them in principle has to do with the fact they’re permanent. Owning land at one point does not give you the right to dictate what happens on it for all eternity. I’d argue you shouldn’t be able to write, in your will, that all future tenants must do this or that; not sure if that would hold up under current law. But the rules are passed by a committee of current homeowners, so no specific dictat is permanent. I would assume the homeowners could vote to dissolve the association if they so chose.
Now, there are some problems with homeowners associations in practice, including the fact that some ban clotheslines — the environment-friendly drying solution that’s more common in lower-class neighboorhoods. Also, from anecdotes I’ve heard about power-tripping board members who give homeowners notes to take their garbage cans in faster or cut their lawns more.
But in this case, I have to say the judge made the right decision. When the couple moved in, they agreed to follow the HOA’s rules. As long as there’s nothing that hurts society at large, like forbidding pro-environment practices, there’s no reason the government should step in.
Robert VerBruggen blogs at http://robertsrationale.blogspot.com.
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