I've had 2 and they were both far, far more than just overbearing (yes, I realize that I used that word in my previous comment). My first HOA had a pair of elderly sisters that were both on the board that would walk around the subdivision a few times a week with clipboards just looking for anything that they would come at you with. One time they had the board lawyer send me a threat of putting a lien on my property because I had left a paint can on my driveway for a few hours... while I was literally painting a room.

The only people that HOAs serve are authoritarians and people who only think of their home as an investment whose value is more important than anything else. I just won't play that game anymore.