Key takeaways
- Most new-home buyers surveyed by Homes.com said they read their homeowner association documents before closing.
- Covenants, conditions and restrictions are legally binding upon purchase.
- The bylaws, rules and regulations, financial statements and board meeting minutes contain information that can affect your finances and daily life.
Buyers of newly constructed homes overwhelmingly want to learn about the rules and procedures governing their new communities, according to the Homes.com New Construction Builder Survey.
The survey shows that people who purchased new homes within the past two years took the time to pore through voluminous homeowners association, or HOA, paperwork, including covenants, conditions and restrictions.
Some 77% said they read their association documents when they bought their home while only 6% said they did not. The remaining 17% were not part of an HOA. About 3,000 people who either bought a newly built home in the last two years or plan to do so in the next two years were polled in June 2026.
HOAs typically collect fees — which run from a few hundred dollars a year to several thousand dollars a year, depending on the community — to finance the upkeep of public spaces as well as amenities, including swimming pools, tennis courts and playgrounds.
Participants were also asked about their level of anxiety over association fees and other costs associated with homeownership. When weighed against other expenses, survey participants were relatively less concerned about association fees. For instance, 35% said they were anxious about their HOA fees, down from 43% in 2025. That compares to 50% who said they were concerned about homeowners insurance and 49% each for taxes and closing costs.
Ideally, buyers should review the homeowner association's documents before opting to purchase in a new-home community so that they'll have a clearer picture of the HOA's governance, budgets, fees, rules, restrictions and financial health. But in some cases, the rules may evolve so it may not be possible to know exactly what expectations will be in the future.
In general, the rules and procedures in new-home communities at first are established by the builder or developer. Laws vary by state, but once a certain number of homes have been sold, the association is turned over to the community. So, some rules and procedures developed by the builder may change in the future once the resident-elected board takes over. Also, early-stage communities may have limited minutes, budgets and other documents for buyers to view.
LeRoy Parham Jr., a retired federal worker who lives in Brandywine, Maryland, said he purchased a newly constructed single-family house in 2020 while it was still under the builder's control and now the rules are changing under the residents' board. He said his preference now would be to buy into an established community with the final rules already in place and not in flux.
"Before you put a deposit down, you should know what the [permanent] rules are," Parham said. "With a permanent HOA, a buyer can say, 'Do I want to live here or do they have crazy rules?'"
Buyers who opt into communities still under builder control should read whatever documents are available, pay close attention to the new board and participate in the process to amend and create HOA rules and procedures, he said.
The new board "did go over things at the meeting," Parham said. "There were a couple of things I didn't like. It was like trying to ratify the Constitution. Is it worth the fight? In some cases, it is."
Here is what you should know about a homeowners association before you buy.
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What is an HOA?
An HOA is an organization that manages a residential community, whether that is a single-family subdivision, a townhouse development or a condominium building.
HOAs are common. The Community Associations Institute in its 2025 annual Statistical Review estimated that about 78.1 million Americans live in some form of community association. If you are buying a home in a planned development, there is a good chance it comes with an HOA.
They set rules for what you can and cannot do with your property — for instance, the acceptable and banned colors for your front door and trim; how long you can grow your lawn; the procedures you follow when you erect a fence or build a deck; and how long you're allowed to leave your trash bin at the curb. They also enforce standards intended to maintain property values across the community.
Here's what to know about reading those documents:
What are covenants, conditions and restrictions?
The most important document in any HOA package is the declaration of covenants, conditions and restrictions, commonly referred to as CC&Rs. This is the foundational legal document that establishes the association, defines the community's rules and binds every homeowner who purchases a property within the development.
Covenants, conditions and restrictions are recorded with the county and run with the land, meaning they apply to the property regardless of who owns it. When you buy, you automatically agree to abide by them. You cannot opt out.
The document is typically written in legal language and can run dozens of pages. It is not light reading, but every section has practical implications for how you use your home, what you pay and what happens if you do not comply.
What do the covenants cover?
Here is what the document includes:
Property use restrictions. Covenants, conditions and restrictions define what you can and cannot do with your property. This may include rules about renting your home to tenants, operating a business from the property, parking commercial vehicles in the driveway or storing boats and RVs on the lot. Some CC&Rs restrict the number of occupants or prohibit certain types of animals. If you plan to rent your home as a short-term vacation rental, this section will tell you whether that is allowed.
Architectural standards. Most covenants require homeowners to get approval from an architectural review committee before making exterior changes to the property. This can include painting the house a different color, replacing the roof with a different material, adding a fence, building a deck, installing solar panels or even changing the landscaping. The goal is to maintain a consistent appearance across the community. The approval process, including what to submit, who reviews it and how long it takes, should be outlined in the CC&Rs or in a supplemental document called the architectural guidelines.
Maintenance obligations. The document spells out what the association maintains and what falls on the homeowner. In a subdivision of single-family homes, the association typically maintains common areas like pools, clubhouses, sidewalks and entrance landscaping, while each homeowner is responsible for their own lot, including the lawn, driveway and exterior of the home. In a condominium, the association usually maintains the building exterior, roof and shared systems, while the owner is responsible for the interior of the unit. Knowing where the line falls matters because it determines who pays when something breaks.
Assessments and fees. Covenants establish the association's authority to collect regular assessments, which are the monthly or quarterly fees homeowners pay to fund the HOA's operating budget. They also authorize special assessments, which are one-time charges levied when the association needs to cover an unexpected expense, such as a major roof replacement or infrastructure repair, that exceeds the reserve fund. The covenants may set limits on how much assessments can increase in a given year or require a homeowner vote for special assessments above a certain dollar amount. Read this section carefully. Association fees are a fixed cost of ownership, and special assessments can be significant.
Enforcement and penalties. The documents give the association the authority to enforce its rules. Penalties for violations can include written warnings, fines, suspension of access to common amenities and, in some cases, the ability to place a lien on your property for unpaid fines or assessments. A lien can lead to foreclosure in some states. Understand the enforcement process, including how violations are reported, how you are notified, what your right to a hearing is and how fines escalate.
Dispute resolution. Many covenants include a section on how disputes between homeowners and the association are handled. This may require mediation or arbitration before either party can file a lawsuit. Knowing the dispute resolution process before you have a dispute is far better than learning about it after one begins.
Other documents in the HOA package
The covenants, conditions and restrictions are the primary document, but they are not the only one. A complete association package typically includes several additional documents that work together with the CC&Rs. They include:
Bylaws. The bylaws govern how the association itself operates. They cover how the board of directors is elected, how meetings are conducted, how votes are counted and what authority the board has to make decisions on behalf of the community. If you want to understand who is running the HOA and how decisions get made, the bylaws are where you look.
Rules and regulations. These are the day-to-day operational rules adopted by the board. They tend to be more specific and more frequently updated than the covenants, conditions and restrictions. Examples include pool hours, guest policies, noise rules, trash can placement and holiday decoration guidelines. Rules and regulations can usually be changed by a board vote without amending the CC&Rs, which makes them easier to update but also means they can change after you move in.
Financial statements and reserve study. The association's financials show how it collects and spends money. The reserve study is an assessment of the community's long-term capital needs, such as roof replacements, repaving and equipment upgrades, and whether the reserve fund is adequately funded to cover them. An underfunded reserve increases the likelihood of a special assessment.
Meeting minutes. Recent board minutes can reveal ongoing issues in the community, such as disputes with vendors, deferred maintenance, rising insurance costs or proposed rule changes. They are not always included in the buyer package, but you can request them.
What to look for before you buy
Not all HOAs are the same. Before you close on a home in an HOA community, make sure you can answer these questions.
- What are the monthly or quarterly fees, and what do they cover?
- What is the current balance of the reserve fund, and does the reserve study indicate it is adequately funded?
- Are there any pending or planned special assessments?
- What restrictions apply to renting, renovating or using the property?
- What is the process for requesting architectural changes and how long does approval take?
- What are the penalties for violations and how are they enforced?
- Are there any ongoing lawsuits involving the HOA?
- What does the HOA's insurance policy cover, and what does the homeowner need to insure separately?
- At what point will the HOA switch to homeowners if it hasn't done so already?
If any of the answers raise concerns, consult a real estate attorney before you sign. The cost of a legal review is small compared to the cost of buying into an association with financial problems or rules that conflict with how you intend to use your home.