We’ve been vacationing in Fountain Hills for many years and decided to purchase a house. When we contacted a Realtor, we discovered that Fountain Hills has a sort of HOA called the Neighborhood Property Owners Association.

Our Realtor didn’t seem to know much about it, so we pulled up their website, which gives lots of information, including the fact that only about 4,200 homes are included.

We were surprised to learn there are fees for almost anything one wants to do to the exterior of their home. The town issues permit for all structure improvements with the exception of painting, so the NPOA fees are additional.

We then decided to visit the neighbors and included asking info about the NPOA. We were truly surprised to learn that many of the members had no idea they were in fact “members” of the NPOA. And many of those who knew did not approve of the fees, inspector, large one-person office and other complaints that we fail to mention because we do not know them as fact.

We also heard that at the annual meeting there was over $100,000 in the NPOA coffers but financial statements were not submitted to members, only a screen was shown of a financial statement.

We also found during our exploring of neighborhoods that some areas were members of the NPOA while some blocks across the street were not. What amazed us was that all areas looked good, which made us wonder what the NPOA serves that the town does not.

Our confusion is cleared up. We will definitely buy and live in Fountain Hills but not in a NPOA area. Perhaps in this day of building codes and town pride such an organization is no longer needed. Money is hard to come by and having to pay for a mailbox or a patio screen seems excessive.