[legion]

One of the houses I lived in had covenants but no HOA. The developer created covenants to make sure all of the houses looked a certain way, then simply did not ever start an HOA. Once the developer was gone, there was no enforcement mechanism for the covenants, so they are effectively moot.

Years ago, my parents bought the 7th lot in a 400+ lot subdivision. The developer didn't get around to founding an HOA until about 50 houses were built. My parents refused to join the HOA, pay dues, or follow the covenants. The HOA filed liens and tried to collect past dues and fines (as my dad put a satellite dish on the house which violated the covenants) when they sold the house, but their real estate attorney got them out of it as joining the HOA was not part of their purchase agreement (and didn't exist at the time of their purchase).