By community format
Every HOA format, a different governance shape.
Condo associations manage buildings. Townhome HOAs manage party walls and rows of exterior cladding. Detached HOAs manage covenants and amenities. Small self-managed boards do all of it after dinner. Find the format that matches yours and the rules and tools tuned to it.
6 community formats · general orientation, not legal advice · cross-linked to state guides, statutes, and board roles
- Condo HOA
Condominium association
Shared-wall ownership: the board manages a building, not just a community.
Condominium associations govern shared-wall ownership: each unit owner holds title to the airspace inside their walls, with the building shell, roof, hallways, plumbing, HVAC risers, and grounds owned in undivided shares as common elements.
Read the guide - Townhome HOA
Townhome community
Fee-simple ownership with shared exteriors — the boundary is set by the Declaration.
Townhome associations sit between condos and detached HOAs: owners typically hold fee-simple title to their unit and the land beneath it, but party walls, roofs, exterior cladding, and front yards are often common elements managed by the association.
Read the guide - Detached HOA
Single-family detached HOA
Fee-simple homes plus shared amenities — covenant enforcement is the main job.
Detached single-family HOAs are the most common community format in the U.S.
Read the guide - Self-managed
Small self-managed HOA
All the obligations, none of the staff — governance debt is the silent killer.
Small self-managed HOAs — typically under 50 to 100 homes, no professional management company, and a volunteer board doing the work — face the same statutory obligations as the largest associations.
Read the guide - Master-planned
Master-planned community
Layered governance — owners belong to a master and a sub-association at the same time.
Master-planned communities layer governance: a master association governs the entire development, and sub-associations (neighborhoods, condo phases, age-restricted enclaves) govern smaller pieces under their own recorded Declarations.
Read the guide - 55+ community
55+ age-restricted community
HOPA-compliant 55+ governance — the exemption requires verification, not just marketing.
Age-restricted communities (often marketed as 55+ or active-adult) operate under a federal exemption to the Fair Housing Act's prohibition on familial-status discrimination.
Read the guide
Pair the format with a state, statute, or role
The format frames the question — your CC&Rs answer it
Find the section that applies to your community.
Upload your governing documents once. The bylaw concierge cites the exact provision — your Declaration, your Bylaws, your Rules — with section + page references. Free under 250 homes.
These guides are general orientation, not legal advice. Review with counsel before relying on this.