Is the price rise a slap on the face? It sounds like it’s what you want. If you want letters to go out for minor issues and landscaping, towing etc, you need funding to do it. This has to happen before enforcement increases. I think that getting your ideal back is going to take several more big increases.

> Unlike socialism, I can politic my way into the board and demand change.

That sounds like the definition of socialism. What do you mean?

I think you're both talking about democracy. People in democratic systems can vote for socialist policies or not...

HOA is more like Democracy: you have to participate in the meetings and governance of the HOA to make sure it is run well, but people are often too lazy to vote or be informed, so it can deteriorate. The HOA isn't an independent entity, it is supposed to be collectively run and managed by all of the home owners.

Aren't they usually franchises of a larger national corporation?

The HOA can hire a property management company, and the builder usually sets up some kind of contract, but after the builder is out of the way, the HOAs are always run by the home owners.

HOA board is elected by the homeowners. Laws are clear on this.

They might hire out property management duties to an outside firm

It's not about being lazy. It's that (like government voting) people try to confuse and mislead you with HOA voting, too. Like they bundle a bunch of things together and try to sell you the changes you like, while burying the ones that hurt you deep inside the text so you don't notice them. Or making the rules obscure enough that you don't realize their full implications until it's too late. Or, when they come to your door and ask for your vote to changes to the HOA rules, they (at first glance, quite graciously, with a smile!) request that you hold off on voting so they can discuss your concern and find a way to incorporate it into their changes... except it later turns out the package is all-or-nothing (changing it would invalidate existing votes!), and their real intention is to prevent you from voting against the initiative until the deadline passes, so that they could gather the minimum number of favorable votes more easily.

> An HOA is like socialism.

I have no idea what an HOA has to do at all with socialism, apart from the fact both involve groups of people.

Aside from that, an HOA functions as well as it is run. It sounds like the folks running yours aren't all the invested in it or don't have the same priorities as you. The solution is, as you stated, being the one to try and make the change by joining the HOA leadership.

In my case, I don't have that issue, and the HOA is a few years past 30 running now. I suppose I'm lucky that there's enough homeowners in the neighborhood who are both will and able to run things to an acceptable standard.