7 Diabolical (But Legal) Ways HOAs Can Access Your Property Without Permission

Homeowners associations can have their pros and cons. For example, membership often comes along with monthly or annual fees, but having access to certain community amenities can be a smart homeowner move since you can take advantage of these perks without an additional out-of-pocket cost.

However, sometimes those pros do come along with some cons, like the fact that some HOAs have rules in place that allow them access to your private space.

While it’s not always a bad thing, it can sometimes cause issues. Here are some things to watch for if you own a home or property located within an HOA.

One of the good things about an HOA is that your fees sometimes cover common areas like playgrounds, pools, and parks.

HOAs are responsible for maintaining those spaces and repairing any issues, which is great for your pocketbook, but it may mean they also have to access your private property if your home is located right next to a public space.

It’s good to be aware if you see any repairs that need to be made or other issues, and to ask your HOA board if they can give you a head’s up before making those fixes.

Some HOAs may have a variety of property types that can include condos or townhouses that share utilities or common wall space.

If your association needs access to your place to fix issues — like maintaining existing systems like plumbing, electrical, or duct work that you share with other units or a common area — they may have permission to access your home without warning, especially in the event of an emergency.

Speaking of when things pop up unexpectedly, if there’s a safety issue on your property or on community property next to yours that needs to be addressed in an urgent matter, your HOA may access your property without asking.

For these cases, an HOA does have the right to come on to your property and deal with the issue as it could be a problem that affects the physical safety of you or others in the neighborhood.

Like safety issues, HOAs have to respond quickly to emergencies before informing you of the problem as they need to respond swiftly to fix the issue.

It could be a fire, burst pipe, or anything else that needs a timely response and you may be thankful that the option is there to protect you and your property as quickly as possible.

One thing that some HOA members take issue with is HOA rules. Sometimes these rules could be picky like the paint color of your home or vehicles stored on your property.

Some of these violations don’t require the HOA to step foot on your property, but your contract with the HOA may allow them to access your space for potential rules violations.

For example, they may check your property if there are no pets allowed, and they’re trying to confirm if there’s a dog in your yard.

Building inspections occur regularly to make sure buildings are up to fire code or specific areas are still safe for residents.

Your HOA may be able to access your property for things like townhomes or condos to check your space and make sure everything is up to code or fix any issues that may be a violation of that code.

There could be other reasons your HOA may have access to your property such as the lawn maintenance that you pay for as part of your HOA fees, or accessing spaces like driveways to fix issues.

It’s important to review your HOA bylaws to find out what issues are acceptable and how much access they are allowed to have. You should also review them to see if they have to notify you before they can access your property and how much notice they’re supposed to give you.

It’s important to understand your rights when it comes to when an HOA can and can’t access your property for a variety of reasons.

You should have access to HOA bylaws that you agree to when you buy your property so check the bylaws, which should outline when an HOA is allowed to be on your property.

If you think your HOA has violated the bylaws, it’s important to document the incident and check the bylaws to see what is and isn’t covered.

After that, you may want to consider pursuing the issue by seeking legal advice from a trained professional who can give you a better idea of the issues that you may be facing with regards to your HOA.

Homeowners associations can be good options, but make sure you understand all the rules for your HOA before you decide to live in a community covered by an association.

Remember to also factor in the cost of HOAs with the additional fees each month or each year in addition to figuring how to pay your mortgage, utilities, and other costs as a homeowner.