We’re in an HOA that had reasonable protocols when we moved in and life was tolerable. Nice homes and yards. Good neighbors. Then the developer got greedy and began to build shitbox cookie-cutter houses that were sub-standard according to the rules — smaller than minimum required square footage, scrunched together.
The newbies across the street from us used theirs for short-term rental like Air B&B (also against the rules), so riff-raff was coming and going all the time. The HOA wouldn’t enforce the rules.
So HOAs ONLY benefit the developer, or the Board can decree whatever they want. An HOA is a mess. Hubby is from SoCal, so he likes the idea; I hate it.
HOAs are only as good as the people that run them. Mine is fine but I live in a modest neighborhood that keeps out the riff raff to a certain degree but is not overbearing. A somewhat reasonable take on a HOA.