Who owns the HOA?

You're a member, not a shareholder

Buying a unit or lot in a common interest community doesn't hand you a slice of the association the way buying stock hands you a slice of a company. Ownership of your home carries an obligation, and a membership, in the association; the two are bundled by the declaration, not sold separately. The association itself is usually a nonprofit corporation or an unincorporated association organized to manage the community. Whether yours is incorporated, and under which state's law, is worth confirming from its articles of incorporation rather than assumed.

The association can hold title separately from you

In a condominium, owners jointly hold the common elements as tenants in common, so in a real sense they do own the shared property together. Most subdivision HOAs work differently: the association itself, as a separate legal entity, typically holds title to the clubhouse, the pool, and the common area. You don't co-own that property directly; you're a member of the entity that does.

"The typical subdivision has a common area that's owned by the HOA by virtue of a recorded deed or plat."

Source: State Bar of Texas, common area ownership article, State Bar of Texas

That entity only exists because a declaration was recorded creating it in the first place. See What does an HOA actually own? for the fuller picture of common versus limited common elements.

A board elected by members runs it

Members don't manage the community directly. They elect a board of directors (or trustees) to act on the association's behalf. The board's authority comes from the declaration and bylaws, not from anyone's personal ownership of association property. See Board vs membership for how that relationship actually works day to day.

Before turnover, the developer is in control

Before enough units are sold, the declarant typically appoints and controls the board. That control is not indefinite. State common-interest statutes generally set a hard ceiling on how long a declarant can keep the board, regardless of what the declaration says, a milestone called turnover.

"Sixty days after conveyance of 75 percent of the units that may be created to units' owners other than a declarant"

Source: Nevada Revised Statutes Chapter 116, Nevada Legislature

That 75 percent figure, and Nevada's alternate five-year cutoff, are one state's numbers, not a national rule. Check your own state's statute and declaration for the trigger that actually applies to your community.