They can force someone to sell their house. It is vile. One ironclad rule for us if we ever relocated, would be no HOA. My SIL cannot even burn on her own property, and pats for the privilege of being told, or scolded if she does. Plus, she gets the privilege of having to meet with those m-effers every quarter or some nonsense. Hard pass!
Discussion
Yeah we are hoping to buy a home soon, but almost every neighborhood has HOAs. If we want backyard chickens or to make changes to the house, the HOA gets in the way.