HOAs are out of control for the same reason that government is out of control. People generally can't be bothered to be involved. I see the signs for the HOA meetings every month and think, "I should go to that and give those bastards a piece of my mind!" but I never go, because I just plan to move instead.

Personally, I think that HOA need to be 100% auditable by the public, and all money collected should be kept in a reserve fund for when things get damaged and need to be replaced. Have enough money in the reserve fund and nothing damaged that year? No fees next year.

The HOA at my place just got switched to some clowns that hire their friends and over pay them. Also, we have an issue where the brick veneer has fallen off of several buildings because it was not installed correctly. Now, EVERY passage way between buildings has been chained off for going on two years now while they wait on a settlement with the builder. You can't even get to any of the "common areas" because the access points are chained off. If the HOA would save monthly fees instead of paying their friends to do who knows what, certainly not repave the parking lot, pick up trash, fix the bird screen on my chimney, or mow the lawn more than once a month, then maybe they could have already fixed the buildings for the residents while being tied up in court. Not to mention that two summers ago they came around and told everyone that all the buildings were going to get new roofs.