I own a condo that (obviously) has an HOA. I’ve had no problems with it. I’ve done two fairly major projects, both of which I was supposed to get approval for. I blew them off. They know that I blew them off and they’ve done nothing about it, nor do they have any plans to. My logic is that as long as you’re doing something that the majority of the residents won’t have a problem with, you’re ok. And if the majority of the residents do have a problem with it, then it’s probably something screwy that you shouldn’t be doing anyway. Most HOA regulations are really just to keep the really crazy sh*t from happening. My thought process prior to my two projects was, “Is any resident of this building going to be bothered by what I’m doing here?” If the answer is “no” then it’s unlikely that the HOA is going to come after you about it. The reason is simple: Ultimately, the HOA represents the residents; if the residents don’t want the HOA to pursue something, they wont. It’s the residents’ money, after all. Just my 2 cents.
