The actual goal I'm attempting to achieve is to create a pre-populated user database for the home owner's association in my sub-division.
I want to make certain community aspects of the site public, and certain available only to actual property owners in the community, but I don't want to charge them for the access.
Can membership levels be created for FREE registration?
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/s2member/
This is possible but I’d try role scoper first. I guess you will have to set membership levels manually for each user. Then you give access to certain categories or pages using role scoper.
Yes you can use s2member and it gives you the option to limit access as you are creating pages or posts. It has 4 member levels. Best if there is a paid service or membership involved.
Another option is http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/members/