As some others have mentioned, when are these other families supposed to find the time while they work 60 hours a week, have activities to take their children to, church, etc.? That leaves those with no jobs (often housewives) as the only ones with the time or desire to police the neighborhood.
If it is important enough to you, you will make the time for the once a month Board and Owners Meetings. It is really not much of a commitment in most HOAs. A lot is done by e-mail and conference call now, too.
You mentioned in another post that in the very unlikely event a HOA were to be created in an existing neighborhood and one had no choice but to join then that person should move away.
What about if you live in a neighborhood and in the very unlikely event a neighbor moves in next door and doesn't take meticulous care of his yard, puts up a shed in the backyard, and parks an old car in his driveway? Why can't YOU move away?
That is an option, too. Does that seem fair to you?
Again, I understand the purpose behind HOAs. People want to live in neat, orderly neighborhoods. They don't want someone negatively affecting their home values. I get all that. Unfortunately, taking steps to prevent such things by creating an institution that combines people, money, and power over others simply leads to an abuse of that authority and history proves this time and time again.
It can lead to those problems. However, I think the negative aspects are overblown because the only HOAs people hear about are negative ones through the press. That is probably less than 1% of all HOAs in the US.
Most of the cases on my desk are not the HOA running wild - it is one owner who does not want the rules to apply to them. Most of those people should have never bought in an HOA.
Another point -- what's to eventually stop HOAs from demanding to run a background check, know what church (if any) someone attends, what their children's GPAs in school are, etc. before even allowing someone to move into a neighborhood? Or (shudder) is this already happening some places?
There are plenty of HOAs like that (There is a very, VERY exclusive one in Palm Springs that famously will not allow people in the entertainment industry in, period). If the CC&Rs allow such things, then it is allowed. If you don't want to live in such a community, don't move there.
Again, generally (largely) speaking, being part of an HOA is VOLUNTARY. You CHOOSE to buy a home in an HOA and, by law, you are given the CC&Rs, Rules and Minutes of the HOA BEFORE you close escrow. If you don't like the rules, move on.
There are some people who happen to like what HOAs can provide and, if you stay active in your HOA, you have a pretty good chance of it being a positive thing.
MotionMan