It is 1 billion percent the norm around me. I personally have been fined for three different basketball hoops in two states by boomer ass HoA board members. They (boomers and HoAβs alike) are literally the anti fun police.
Same reason I βchooseβ to work for a shitty employer or do business with a shitty company or live in a shitty city/state/country - sometimes my options are limited and I canβt afford to opt out of society entirely. When it comes to HoAs, in the area I live my options were severely diminished. Choosing a house without one means that Iβd just be complaining about some other compromise I felt forced to make.