Sitting across the table over tea, Coretta — a pseudonym used to protect her identity — described her dismay at life in her central Florida community, where she says the homeowners association, or HOA, holds controlling power over residents.

A Black mother of three with a background in real estate, Coretta has lived for more than 20 years in what is now a predominantly Hispanic community. The anger she once felt, she said, has long since given way to apathy.

“I don’t think [the community developers] intended for it to be a heavily Hispanic population. … They were expecting a certain economic class to come here. I think they were trying to push out the ones that they felt didn’t belong. I think they’re doing that and have done that.”

Coretta was one of 47 residents of the community interviewed between 2017 and 202 by sociologist Stephanie A. Dhuman, an assistant professor at Hamilton College, as part of a study examining the experiences of people of color living under an HOA. Every person interviewed identified as Latino, Caribbean or Black.

Again and again, residents recounted the same story: HOA governing officials made clear to them that they did not belong, yet rising housing prices left them unable to afford to move. Many also worried that relocating would not solve the problem.

Nearly half of Florida residents live in communities overseen by HOAs — the largest share of any state. Nor is the phenomenon confined to Florida. Across the United States, 80% of new single-family homes in subdivisions and 60% of new single-family homes overall are governed by HOAs, meaning families like Coretta’s would likely end up in another one even if they moved.

Based on her research, Dhuman argues that homeowners associations act as what sociologists call racialized organizations. Such organizations, while appearing — or even intending — to be neutral, can create and maintain inequality. They can diminish the agency of racialized groups, meaning groups perceived as different from the white racial majority, and legitimize the unequal distribution of resources. Within these organizations, being seen as white often confers advantages and power, and what an organization formally states as its rules can differ sharply from what it actually does, in ways often shaped by race. In Dhuman’s assessment, HOAs meet all of these criteria in the way they are structured.

Rules and regulations

HOAs are a form of private government, led by an elected board of volunteer directors. Boards often oversee residents’ aesthetic choices to maintain a consistent appearance across the neighborhood, but their power extends well beyond regulating paint colors and fencing placement.

Acting as policymakers, HOA boards pass and enforce community restrictions, fines and sanctions. In some cases, they even hold the legal authority to foreclose on homes when a homeowner fails to pay HOA fees or assessments.

The policies HOAs create — and choose to enforce — are sometimes controversial. In 2019, one Florida HOA made headlines when it ordered a military veteran to remove her Puerto Rican flag — an episode that reflects the pattern at the center of Dhuman’s framework, in which formally neutral rules diverge from practice in ways shaped by race.

An association’s purview often extends beyond rules on flags or decorations on personal property to matters such as sponsoring events and activities tied to cultural celebrations and community services. That gives many HOAs a measure of control over home decor and residents’ public gatherings — parades, festivals and holiday parties — including which holidays are celebrated at all.

Exclusionary by nature

There are about 373,000 HOAs in the United States, affecting the housing of more than 78 million Americans. Yet there are no consistent laws from state to state on how board members are elected or whether they must reside within the HOA, and even in states where laws exist, regulation guidelines often vary across associations.

While federal laws limit the absolute power of HOAs, these organizations typically act as private government entities with substantial control. Research has shown that they also function as spaces of exclusion, maintaining residential segregation and favoring those of higher socioeconomic status.

One 2024 survey found that fewer than half of Americans living under an HOA believe their neighborhood is better off with one, and 1 in 10 had considered selling their home for HOA-related reasons.

HOAs charge dues — a median of $230 monthly in Florida, with some homeowners paying more than $500 a month — typically tied to extra amenities. For that reason, they can be exclusionary by nature: the additional income required to keep up with dues can act as a barrier to entry for many potential homebuyers. This exclusion often falls along racial lines, becoming a way of maintaining racial segregation — which, in practice, is treated as a means of preserving property values.

Voter suppression

At the other end of the dynamic are families who are pushed to the side. Throughout her research, Dhuman repeatedly heard about the lack of agency residents felt. None of those interviewed currently attended HOA meetings; residents who had gone in the past stopped long ago because they felt it made no difference.

Many residents voiced frustration over what they saw as voter suppression within their HOA. Associations set the rules for how and when homeowners can vote for board representatives. In this Florida community, the HOA had decided not to allow voting by proxy, which would let a homeowner designate a neighbor to cast a ballot on their behalf. Instead, each homeowner had to vote in person on the day and time set by the board — always a Tuesday, a schedule residents found inaccessible.

The HOA also allowed only the listed homeowner to cast a vote, shutting out other household members and renters. Under the association’s bylaws, renters were not even permitted to attend meetings, as this was a “privilege” afforded to homeowners.

The bylaws likewise excluded residents of multigenerational family homes, such as a woman Dhuman calls Elena. Such arrangements are more common among Latino families like Elena’s, and although Elena paid the mortgage on the home, she was still barred from voting for an HOA representative.

Exasperated, she said: “I’m not allowed to vote. You’re not allowed to vote with a proxy. My son, [who is listed as the homeowner], works crazy hours. He gets up at 3 in the morning to work, he comes home, has dinner and goes straight to bed … he never makes it. They should have that on the weekends.”

Even how the day and time of votes was communicated to residents was controlled by the HOA. Under the bylaws, the association did not have to make this information available beyond its physical office, located at one end of the community.

Restricting the American Dream

The story goes beyond paint colors and fences. Historical discriminatory practices such as redlining have inhibited homeownership for Black and Latino families across the nation dating back to the 1930s. More than half a century after the federal Fair Housing Act of 1968 outlawed racial discrimination in housing, homeownership rates are rising for all groups, but they are rising unequally. The Black homeownership rate, at 45%, remains lower than that of every other racial group, according to census data, while the non-Hispanic white homeownership rate stands at 73% — a persistent gap between the two.

As the racial wealth gap also continues to widen, Black and Latino residents are still more likely to rent than own their homes. At the same time, the number of HOAs in the United States continues to climb year after year, raising the question of what the future of housing will look like.

Racialized minorities will increasingly reside within HOAs, both as homeowners and as renters. Homeownership has long been a marker of the American Dream, but that dream presumes autonomy, voice equitable treatment. When HOAs fence out the participation and culture of minority residents, they limit the value of homeownership for those residents.

By Stephanie A. Dhuman, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Hamilton College.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. This story was originally featured on Fortune.com.