"Homeowner Covenants" A study in our move towards collectivism...

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Homeowner's covenants are an interesting (almost oxymoronic) concept. In order to buy property in the subdivision, you have to sign a contract effectively giving up most of the usual rights of owning property in the first place. Some are pretty lax and are things that most homeowners do in the first place. Other make so many demands on the homeowner that the entire neighborhood looks (and feels) vacant. I do understand the frustration that has led to these legally binding contracts. I think we've all experienced the neighbor who takes "property rights" to such extremes that neighbors no longer feel "at home" at home. The guy who insists that the perfect color of a home is some form of yellow usually reserved for soiled diapers. The one who has some sort of allergy to the scent of freshly mowed grass. The weekend mechanic who has 5 projects all over the yard, but only seems to enjoy the hobby on the 3rd weekend of every month. I even had one neighbor who decided that it would cost way too much to replace his whole roof, so he fixed the many, many holes in his roof with a patchwork of groups of shingles in seemingly random spots. His "money saving" decision was nothing more than a laughing stock, until a few of his neighbors decided to move (not necessarily because of him). NONE of the homes that were put up for sale would sell. It was during the height of the housing bubble, so it wasn't like real estate was just not moving. They had plenty of interested parties showing up to view the homes... but no one was interested. A few of the more open interested parties admitted that they loved the homes, they just couldn't bear living in view of the eyesore across the street. Hense the real purpose of Homeowner Covenants... maintaining property values. The concept of the covenance is one rooted in collectivism. Somehow I am responsible to maintain the resale value of your property (and vise versa). I am pretty "pro choice" when it comes to these pesky little documents. While I don't see any reason to want one myself, I also don't see any reason to keep others from having them. What I do detest though is that they go beyond the collective. They aren't enforced by the people appointed or elected to act as officials of the homeowners association.. they drag the government (in other words, the rest of us) into enforcing them. Two homeowners have a "grievance" against each other, cool.. let the homeowners association deal with it... but NO! That's not good enough. They have to drag lawyers, courts and city/county officials into their little scuffle. The defenders of the concept claim that no one is forced to participate because the buyers are fully aware of the covenants before buying the home. They say that they are just agreements between consenting adults, and no one else's business but their own... But like most other private attempts at collectivism, they aren't happy with keeping it in the collective, they demand the government honor the rules they want to live by. I fully and completely support the right of anyone to live the collective lifestyle they choose... I also expect those who choose such lifestyles to keep it amongst themselves. If they demand the government get involved, they cannot (with any honesty or integrity) claim that it's a private matter. (((Note, in writing this, I noticed a few words that could infer a double meaning. I used the words in the context of this article and meant no disrespect or pun towards gay people.))))