---
title: "HOA (Homeowners Association) — What It Means | Ondo RE"
canonical: https://www.ondorealestate.com/glossary/hoa/
---

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Renting & management[All terms starting with H](/glossary/#letter-H)

# HOA (Homeowners Association)

Also called: homeowners association, hoa dues, coa

An association governing a community, collecting dues and enforcing rules that can include rental restrictions.

HOA dues fund shared maintenance, insurance, and reserves, and the association enforces community rules. Dues count in your housing costs and in underwriting, and special assessments can arrive on top of them.

For investors, the governing documents matter as much as the dues: rental caps, minimum lease terms, and approval requirements can make a property unusable as a rental.

## Why it matters

Read the governing documents and the reserve study during due diligence. An underfunded association is a future special assessment.

## Put a number on it

This term feeds the calculators below.

- [Monthly Cost of Living CalculatorEstimate your monthly living expenses, housing costs, transportation, utilities, food, insurance, and more with Ondo’s interactive cost of living calculator.](/calculators/cost-of-living/)
- [Home Affordability CalculatorEstimate what home price fits your income, debts, and expenses.](/calculators/affordability/)

## Related terms

- [PITIPrincipal, Interest, Taxes and Insurance, the four parts of a typical monthly mortgage payment.](/glossary/piti/)
- [DTI (Debt-to-Income Ratio)The share of your gross monthly income taken up by monthly debt payments, including the proposed housing payment.](/glossary/dti/)
- [CondominiumOwnership of an individual unit plus a shared interest in common areas, governed by an association.](/glossary/condo/)
- [Operating expensesThe recurring costs of running a property: taxes, insurance, management, maintenance, and owner-paid utilities.](/glossary/operating-expenses/)

## Go deeper

- [Townhome vs condo: the HOA docs lenders ask for](/blog/townhome-vs-condo-hoa-docs-lenders-ask/)

## More in Renting & management

- [Eviction](/glossary/eviction/)
- [Fair housing](/glossary/fair-housing/)
- [Lease agreement](/glossary/lease-agreement/)
- [Maintenance reserve](/glossary/maintenance-reserve/)
- [Move-out inspection](/glossary/move-out-inspection/)
- [Normal wear and tear](/glossary/normal-wear-and-tear/)

## Have a question about your own situation?

Ondo handles brokerage, lending, property management and notary under one roof, so the answer does not change depending on who you ask.

[Talk to Ondo](/contact/)[Browse all terms](/glossary/)