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As more and more communities followed in Levittown's footsteps, HOAs advanced, and their scope in society shifted. New laws were
created, new groups formed, and big decisions were made to meet the demands of the ever-expanding homebuying market. Here's a
timeline of the most important events in the first decades of HOA community building:
• 1947: Levittown was founded.
• 1948: The Shelley v. Kramer Supreme Court case established that racially restrictive housing covenants aren't legal.
• 1951: The number of homes built in and around Levittown reached 17,000.
• 1956: The Federal Highway Act allowed for the construction of interstate highways in the U.S., increasing suburban housing
development.
• 1960: The National Association of Housing Cooperatives (NAHC) was founded to support cooperative housing communities,
paving the way for the first true HOAs to manage them.
• 1963: The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) approved mortgage insurance exclusively for condominiums and subdivision
homes with an HOA, boosting the popularity of common-interest housing.
• 1964: The Urban Land Institute (ULI) published the first systematic study of planned communities and called for a national
organization for community association education.
Sources:
FindLaw,
findlaw.com/realestate/owning-a-home/history-of-homeowners-associations, corporate.findlaw.com/law-library/clean-water-act-summary.html
Cornell Law School, law.cornell.edu/wex/shelley_v_kraemer_(1948)
NAHC, coophousing.org/history-of-nahc/
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