&gt;Yeah, no. Having an unelected, compulsory board governing the area is not freedom.<p>Whether the officers are elected or not (or whether there are officers at all) would be determined by the founding documents of the HOA. But it is definitely not compulsory.<p>&gt;Often times not, as one cannot buy houses in an area without being a member of the HOA.<p>That doesn&#x27;t make it compulsory. If you buy a house in an established HOA you chose to be subject to it. If you don&#x27;t want to be subject to it, you don&#x27;t buy the house. Saying you should have the right to buy a house in an HOA area and not be subject to it is saying you believe contracts should be non-binding, that is, worthless.<p>&gt;I get to vote on members of my local government. I don&#x27;t get to vote on members of the HOA.<p>As pointed out above, an HOA can have whatever structure the founders want it to have, or whatever the current decision makers amend it to be. As a tangent note, democracy does not define freedom.