Should HOAs have a say in this:

Recently a girlfriend of mine was looking to buy a home in a neighborhood next to ours and her realtor gave her a list of the HOA rules/fees, ect before she put her offer in.

We were having dinner together and she showed me the HOA rules and most of them were pretty normal:

- no cars on blocks in driveways

- no pets are allowed to live outside

- must have approval to build fences, concrete pads, buildings, play sets, ect.

- no cars parked parked on curbs for longer than 24 hrs.

- yard must be maintained, any damages on the exterior of the home should be fixed in an appropriate time frame

You know normal shit that comes with living in a subdivision with an HOA... but there was one that was a complete surprise to me:

- no smoking/vaping anywhere in the neighborhood is permitted and doing so will result in being fined if caught..

Now, my friend and I aren't smokers.. but obviously there's people out there that smoke cigarettes.. and if you own your own home I feel like I don't give a shit if youre smoking in your back yard or front yard or anywhere.. that's your property..

Do you think that the HOA is overstepping with their rule on smoking when it comes to someone smoking on their property? Like aside from the fact that smoking is terrible for you, that second hand smoke is terrible for you and third hand smoke is also a real thing... Do you think they should have the authority to enforce these types of rules? Again, she's not a smoker so she doesn't care.. but I thought they were kinda ridiculous. These homes arent on top of one another, they all have decent sized lots.. and what not.. and in my neighborhood I've never noticed if someone's been smoking cigarettes.. but I could always smell if someone's smoked cigarettes inside their home/vehicles, especially when my husband and I were looking for a home to buy before we bought our current home.. or when we've bought vehicles to flip, so we've always passed up those homes and cars because it was gross as fuck. 🤮

However, I know people who smoke outside of their homes and unless they are literally smoking right then, then I've never noticed a lingering cigarette smoke smell.. and really that's the only reason I could think of when thinking about why this HOA rule would apply. I guess in hindsight if, if you're looking to quit smoking I found the neighborhood for you.