Approximately 60,000,000 United States citizens now live in what are loosely defined as CIDs. While the earliest mention of an “Association of Property Owners” goes back to 1826 in Boston, these types of developments really started to propagate in the 1970s. Real estate developers faced a problem, especially in the urban and suburban areas surrounding large cities. Land was becoming scarce. In addition, most local governments had very strict zoning requirements with regard to lot sizes, setbacks, etc. In order to get around these problems, the developers turned to the CID. By creating a Not-For-Profit Corporation, the “Homeowners Association” (HOA), not only did they find a way around the zoning issues, but they also created a framework, which would let them exercise total control over a project until it was finished. Furthermore, they discovered a very seductive tool to entice the local governments to give their approval. That tool is this. The developers, through the HOA, would provide basic services such as snow removal and trash collection for a fee charged to the homeowners. The local governments for their part would get to tax the residents at the full rate, without providing any services. A true “Quid Pro Quo”.
http://www.texashoareform.org/PositionStatementOnCommonInterestDevelopments.doc
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