How an engineer’s lesson in systems failure can become a blueprint for understanding dysfunction in the HOA model.
HOA Detective™ | March 20, 2026: Certain phrases stay with you long after they are spoken. Not because they were dramatic, or poetic, or even particularly memorable in the moment – rather because, over time, they reveal themselves to be fundamentally true.
My father, Henry P. Horton (HPH), was a mechanical engineer and a genius. I realize that most people consider their fathers and mothers to be geniuses, and they may well be. HPH was, in fact, an IQ-off-the-chart’s genius. He had his flaws, but as a brilliant engineer, problem-solving was not one of them. It was said many times by people who knew my father that:
“Old Henry Horton can fix anything!”
His worldview was shaped by the “designed environment.” Which is to say the purposely engineered systems that make the world work – how they were designed, how they functioned, and, perhaps most importantly, how, and why they failed.
HPH the Engineering Oracle: My father once told me, you can’t fix a machine until you understand how it is designed, and the best way to understand how it is designed is to take it apart. Not surprisingly, he could often be found in his workshop taking something apart.
If he stumbled across an old camera or piece of electronic equipment at a flea market or garage sale, the first thing he would do is go straight home, fix a cup of bad coffee (lots of cream, lots of sugar), head into the shop, and start disassembling his new find.
When he did bother to resemble the item, it would emerge as a working model, possibly working almost as well, if not better, than it did when it was new. Sometimes he didn’t bother to repair the item – relegating the item to his parts inventory, instead.
At the time, I took this as simply a practical approach to fixing an old camera that didn’t work or an amplifier that needed some new life. In retrospect, it was HPH’s engineering philosophy in action. The same philosophy you might apply when fixing an engine, a gearbox, or a piece of industrial equipment also applies to inanimate objects like HOAs. It is a universal axiom:
To “fix” a broken system, you break it down piece by piece and observe what is NOT working. Contemplating as you go, the bigger question – can this device be made in such a way that it works better?
Shortly after HPH died, I found myself faced with the proposition of employment as a reserve study provider. Fast-forward to 2026, and the Detective has spent almost two decades dissecting homeowner associations (HOAs), budgets, reserve studies, and failed governance structures – using the HPH approach to solve the problem of a broken mechanical device.
The HPH Methodology: HPH’s approach to engineering problem-solving was methodical. A way of thinking and analyzing a problem from the perspective of a problem solver – a deliberate discipline, if you will. Not a knee-jerk reaction.
I remember once giving him a ride home from the auto repair shop after he had dropped off his car. This was a man who could have rebuilt the engine himself if he had wanted to. So, I asked him, somewhat naively, why he didn’t just do the work himself. His response was immediate. No hesitation:
“Automobiles are dirty, imperfect machines – and I HATE working on dirty, imperfect machines.”
That was it. The Oracle of Engineering had spoken, and the conversation was over. Thanks for asking, my boy – CARS are imperfect machines!
As far as I know, he never changed the oil in his cars himself. He much preferred to pay someone, and no doubt longed for the era of the full-service gas station – the attendant who would pump the gas, check the oil, maybe clean the windshield.
RIP Henry P. Horton: HPH passed away on Christmas Day in 2003 at the age of 76.
In his lifetime, he owned two homes. Neither was in an HOA. This decision was not because he was prejudiced toward HOAs. The last time he bought a home (1976), there were perhaps 100K HOAs in the entire country, so HOAs were the exception rather than the rule – unlike today.
If he had lived in modern times, he would have evaluated the prospect of owning an HOA from an engineer’s perspective, and very likely concluded that he had absolutely no patience for the HOA ecosystem.
There is no doubt in my mind that after careful deliberation, HPH would have declared HOAs to be an imperfect machine. If he had been solicited for advice about how to fix this imperfect “machine,” he would have, no doubt, started by dismantling the HOA construct to better understand the mechanism to fix the imperfections in the machine’s design.
A Tribute to the Oracle of Engineering: As a tribute to Henry P Horton, and the many problem-solvers, current and past, who have devoted their lives to solving mankind’s many problems, the HOA Detective™, and CIDAnalytics will publish a series of essays called “Fixing the Imperfect Machine.” In this context, the “machine” we refer to is the common-interest development/housing model in the U.S., Canada, and the English-speaking countries worldwide.
It was true what they said about Henry P. Horton – he really could fix anything – and if he were around today, there is no doubt in my mind that he could fix the imperfect machine known as the HOA. On March 24, 2026, we will begin publishing two articles on Tuesday and Friday that will cover the following topics related to fixing the homeowner associations:
I. Governance Architecture (The Control System)
II. Management Company Model (The Operating System)
III. Financial Architecture (The Power Supply)
IV. Reserve Study Industry (The Forecasting Engine)
V. Vendor Ecosystem & Procurement (The Supply Chain)
VI. Legal & Regulatory Framework (The Rulebook Layer)
VII. Developer & Declarant Legacy (The Original Design Flaw)
VIII. Owner Behavior & Market Dynamics (The User Layer)
IX. Information Asymmetry (The Hidden Wiring)
X. Insurance & Risk Transfer (The Shock Absorber System)
XI. Maintenance & Capital Planning (Wear-and-Tear Reality)
XII. Data, Analytics & the Future (The Diagnostic Layer)
Because You’re Buying More than a Home!
