Posted:
SetenaN
Different name are used by different organizations and states for two different concepts: developments and organizations. The law in your state may provide precise definitions, which you may be obligated to use.
Common Interest Developments (CIDs) — sometimes called common interest communities (CICs), planned unit developments (PUDs), planned communities, condominiums, cooperatives, etc — come in all varieties. In some, homes, townhouses, condominiums, etc. are built and then sold. In others, the lots are sold and the owner builds a home. CID seems to be the broadest term for the variety.
Typically, the CC&Rs for the CID (the land) require an association of owners which also has a variety of names: property owners association (POA), homeowners association (HOA), condominium association, association of owners, community association (CA), residential community association (RCA), etc. Because of the wide range of property involved including vacant lots, property owners association is the broad term that encompasses and best describes the types of property that could be involved. HOA does not describe a PUD that is sold as vacant lots.
The American Institute for Certified Public Accountants has adopted the term Common Interest Realty Associations (CIRAs). AICPA doesn't distinguish between CIDs and POAs, but their audit and accounting guide applies to an organization, namely the POA.
My preference for the most descriptive terms is CID for the land development (the place) and POA for the organization of owners (the people). In the same sense, owner applies to the land or property, and member applies to the POA. A person or entity is an owner of property in a CID (the place or land) and is a member of the POA (the organization).
These distinctions are important because CIDs and CC&Rs are governed by property law, and POAs are governed by organizational law, typically nonprofit corporation law.