The LA Times article by Donie Vanitzian on property rights and HOAs (The time to protect your real property assets is before any HOA litigation) is excellent!
“Each titleholder’s real property in a common-interest development may be pledged as collateral for any association loans, which may be obtained without approval from owners. That leaves titleholders to pay the mortgage bill through special assessments or homeowner dues. These assessments are in essence a lien, levied against each property until the association’s loan is paid off. When owners sell their property, the buyer either accepts the lien with the sale or the seller has to pay the lien off before the sale. That’s just one complication.”
It is another in a long series of invaluable information provided to help homeowners and not the HOA corporation that has its own attorney. The Vanitzian column in the LA Times fills a void in full disclosure that the pro-HOA special interests with their paid lobbyists avoid and fall silent.
Did any of those CAI HOA surveys ask respondents how they felt about these HOA powers? I wonder.
HOA Constitutional Government 
This is good information for people to be aware of who are living in an abusive HOA. I had to short sell and lost $65,000 to get away from the Venetian Condominiums in Scottsdale, AZ. A majority of bad board members can do horrible things to their fellow homeowners.
Thank you for drawing my attention to her column again–what she does is very valuable.