HOAs as a microcosm of what ails us. "This guest column from HOA activist Mike Kosor is the most civic-minded thing about homeowner associations you will ever read, I bet. Check it out:" Hugh Jackson, Editor Nevada Current. (reprint of May 14, 2025 Commentary is below)
More than half of all homeowners in Nevada live under the governance of a homeowners association (HOA). That’s over a million people—neighbors, families, retirees—subject to the decisions of elected boards that regulate everything from landscaping to lawsuits, budgets to property rights. These associations wield real power. Yet most of us don’t treat them like the governments they are.
Why not?
Because the real problem facing Nevada HOAs isn’t just overreach, legislative disdain, mismanagement, or unaccountable boards and regulators. It’s us. It’s civic apathy.
In a nation built on foundational values—free speech, democratic governance, rule of law, and private property rights—we love to talk about liberty and accountability. Fewer and fewer of us actually serve to protect them. We often only invoke those principles when we feel personally aggrieved, and abandon them when things seem to be going our way.
Look closely and you’ll see it: people defending free speech until they hear something uncomfortable. Demanding accountability only when the other side’s in power. Defending property rights in suburban developments while staying silent when low-income homeowners are displaced or unaccounted.
This selective loyalty erodes public trust. But the quieter, more corrosive force is disengagement.
In Nevada’s HOAs, the most local and direct form of government most people will ever encounter, the vast majority of residents have never:
Attended a board meeting,
Voted in a board election,
Read their governing documents,
Or volunteered for a position of leadership.
Even among those who are deeply dissatisfied—and that number is growing—most remain silent and inactive. We want better governance but don’t show up. We want more transparency but don’t ask questions. We want more options and fairness but don’t vote.
That’s how power calcifies. That’s how small cliques dominate community decisions. And that’s how fundamental rights—like fair elections, due process, or basic property protections—start to erode.
It doesn’t happen in a dramatic, televised collapse. It happens slowly, behind closed doors, while the majority tunes out.
And that’s exactly why it matters.
We don’t need to wait for the next scandal or lawsuit to take action. Civic engagement doesn’t mean becoming a policy wonk or full-time activist. It means showing up, staying informed, and participating in the decisions that affect your neighborhood, your investment, and your rights.
You don’t need to fix your entire HOA. But you can read your governing documents. Attend a meeting. Vote. Ask questions. Support a neighbor running for the board. Or run yourself.
Because when you don’t participate, you give your power away. And when enough of us do that, democracy—even in its smallest forms—starts to slip.
Let’s stop pretending our values only apply at the national level. The real test of democracy isn’t what happens in Washington. It’s what happens on your block.
Your HOA isn’t just a management company or a board. It’s you. It’s us. And if we want it to reflect our values, we need to start acting like citizens and owners—not spectators.
Mike Kosor
