Why do you have to join an HOA if you buy a home in an HOA neighborhood? Why isn’t there an opt out option?

Question

Edit just to clear up: I don’t have a positive or negative opinion on HOAs. I know next to nothing about them. They’ve just been mentioned to me a few times by family members recently and I asked about aspect I didn’t understand

In: Other

Answer 1

For the same reason you can’t opt out of taxes. You benefit (I’ll leave it to you whether the benefits are real or not) from the services offered.