[b]GovtThug[/b]:
Good luck on this one. Even though the HA may not be able to enforce the covenant in court, there are plenty of things they can do to get under your skin. One of my top clients is currently president of his HA, and the powers that the HA has over the members is quite interesting. For example, in his HA, part of the dues goes to trash removal, i.e. the homeowners do not contract for that separately. When a member does not pay, trash service is the first thing that gets dropped. After that, pool privileges are suspended (not a real threat in December, but you get the idea), certain maintenance services are withheld, but most devastating of all, the non-payer is listed as delinquent in the HA newsletter! OK, some of this may sound like chickenshit, and it is, but it all adds up to a pain in the ass.
I just bought a place in May, and I was adamant to our agent that I would not live in a development that had an HA. What you end up with are a bunch of Nervous Nelly old maids that have nothing better to do all day than to rat out even the tiniest infraction of the "rules." There are some people that seek out this type of regimented living, but I'm not one of them. I'll mow the grass when I'm damn good and ready, not when the neighborhood schedule says to.