Insurance is getting harder to find and more expensive in much of the country. Just ask homeowners’ associations.

Mirroring trends in the single-family home market, insurers are boosting premiums or exiting the business of covering HOAs’ common property entirely, citing rising losses from extreme weather and aging buildings. The steep premium hikes usually end up passed on to individual owners in the form of higher monthly dues.

For many insurers, HOA coverage is a relatively niche product, but the 74 million Americans who live in those communities rely on what’s known as master policies to insure common property like sidewalks, playgrounds, and in the case of multifamily buildings, roofs and certain interior and exterior features.

Source: FINANCE.YAHOO