Overview
When a dispute begins with your HOA, how you handle the early stages can determine everything that comes after. Most homeowners understandably feel angry, anxious, or overwhelmed when a board acts unfairly, ignores concerns, or issues questionable violations. But the first steps you take are crucial. The more clinical, organized, and strategic your approach, the more powerful your position becomes if the dispute escalates into IDR, ADR, or litigation.
This Fact Sheet explains the core strategies California homeowners should use at the beginning of an HOA dispute, including how to communicate, how to document issues, how to leverage your governing documents (e.g., CC&Rs and rules) and state law, how to detect selective enforcement, how to address board silence or “ghosting,” and when these early strategies should give way to seeking out and hiring an HOA attorney (like those at MBK Chapman).
Key Points
Homeowners in California HOAs can meaningfully improve their position in any dispute by following several proven steps. These steps help establish credibility, build an accurate record, and demonstrate your reasonableness long before the HOA’s attorney ever gets involved. And, if it becomes necessary for you to hire an HOA attorney to represent you, those steps that you followed will allow us to take over from a position of strength.
- Stay clinical and avoid emotional communication. While frustration is natural, emotional or accusatory statements rarely help and often damage your position. From day one, your emails and written communications should be factual, concise, and free of hostility. This creates a record that shows you behaved reasonably and professionally throughout the dispute. Put it this way: assume that everything you put into writing will one day be put in front of a judge/arbitrator or jury, and then act accordingly.
- Document everything (in writing) from the beginning. Keep written records of conversations, emails, violations, photos, dates, and any communications with board members, management, neighbors, vendors (or any applicable party). Always memorialize verbal conversations with follow up emails that summarize what was discussed or agreed to and that end with a message along the following lines: “If my understanding is incorrect, please let me know in writing.” Proper documentation is often the best evidence a homeowner will have, so it’s in your best interest to have everything in writing.
- Create a timeline and organize your communications. A simple dated log with supporting emails, letters, and photos can be invaluable later. This type of organized evidence is often the first thing a mediator, judge, or attorney looks for if it turns out that you aren’t able to resolve the dispute on your own.
- Learn to recognize and document selective enforcement. Selective enforcement occurs when your HOA treats you differently than other similarly situated members. It occurs any time the HOA applies rules inconsistently, whether in architectural approvals, maintenance responsibilities, use restrictions, violations, hearing outcomes, or discretionary decisions. Selective enforcement includes situations where the HOA pursues enforcement against one owner but ignores identical conduct by others, and it also includes preferential treatment, where favored owners receive leniency or approvals denied to others. Documenting selective enforcement requires comparing how the HOA treated you versus similarly situated homeowners. Gather photographs, correspondence, architectural approval records, violation logs, and witness statements. The goal is to create a clear record showing that the HOA applied the same rule differently to different people without a legitimate basis. Courts take selective enforcement seriously because it’s not only illegal, but it also undermines basic principles of fairness and due process. For a deeper dive into selective enforcement, see my full article, “Selective Enforcement in California HOAs: What It Is and How Homeowners Can Fight Back.” Or, if you’d prefer to watch or listen to a podcast episode dedicated to selective enforcement, tune into my HOA HELL podcast episode, “California HOAs and Selective Enforcement: How to Spot it and How to Stop It.”
- Use your CC&Rs and other governing documents to support your position. Your CC&Rs, Bylaws, and Rules are not just restrictions placed on you. They also impose duties on the HOA. Pull the relevant section, reference it specifically, and politely ask the HOA to explain where your understanding is mistaken. Showing you can cite your documents precisely increases your credibility and signals that you are prepared and informed. A lot of bad HOAs will back off when it’s clear that a homeowner knows what he or she is doing.
- Check for direct conflicts between HOA rules and California law. In California, state and federal law trump CC&Rs. Older CC&Rs often contain outdated restrictions that conflict with newer legislation. When this happens, the CC&Rs become unenforceable. If you identify such a conflict, calmly point out the applicable law and ask the HOA to correct its position. [For example, a lot of HOAs never bothered to update their governing documents after the Legislature amended Civil Code 4741, preventing HOAs from banning rentals of 30 days or longer. I did a 90-second short on this issue on my HOA HELL podcast, “Rental Restrictions: What Your HOA Can’t Do Anymore.”
- Call out ghosting or silence in writing. If the HOA or management begins ignoring your emails or calls, document the silence in writing (but in doing so, remember the first Key Point above). Summarize each attempt to communicate and request a response. A clear record of repeated attempts followed by silence is powerful evidence of HOA negligence or breach of duty.
- Use IDR (informal dispute resolution) strategically. IDR exists to give homeowners and HOAs a chance to resolve matters before lawyers become involved. A properly written IDR demand can force a meeting and create a forum for clarification or negotiation. When used correctly and clinically, IDR can resolve many disputes without the need for escalation. [I dedicated an entire section of my new book (HOA HELL | California Homeowners’ Definitive Guide to Beating Bad HOAs) on how to use IDR strategically (i.e., as a tool to help you get what you want). Although the book’s official release date is December 15, 2025, you can preorder the book right now on Amazon (Kindle only until 12/15) or barnesandnoble.com (hardcover/paperback/ebook).]
- But learn to recognize when IDR is not appropriate. If the board is hostile, unreasonable, or abusive, IDR will almost certainly be unproductive. You are not required to tolerate hostility or personal attacks. And remember, no matter what your HOA or governing documents might say, you are never required to engage in IDR, but if you request it, your HOA is required. If you’re interested, you can watch a 90-second short from my HOA HELL podcast called, “Can My HOA Force Me Into IDR? If They Say ‘Yes,” They’re Lying.”
- Recognize when it is time to consult an attorney. When the HOA has already lawyered up, threatens liens or foreclosure, repeatedly stonewalls you, or clearly violates your HOA’s own governing documents or state law, then it’s probably time to call us at MBK Chapman. Early consultation will allow us to evaluate your documentation, assess exposure, and guide next steps before the situation worsens or you waive rights you didn’t intend to waive.
By approaching disputes clinically, documenting everything, citing governing documents, and invoking your rights strategically, you establish yourself as the reasonable party and create a record that can carry significant weight if the matter escalates.
FAQs
Why should I remain clinical when my HOA is being unreasonable?
Because emotional statements can weaken your position. A calm, factual record shows you acted reasonably, which is crucial if a mediator, judge, or attorney later reviews the communications (which you should always assume will happen).
How do I document my communications properly?
Keep and organize all emails, take photographs, save letters, and memorialize any verbal conversations with follow up emails. Create a dated timeline that logs every significant fact.
What is selective enforcement?
Selective enforcement occurs when an HOA enforces rules against one homeowner but not against others who engage in the same conduct. It also applies to inconsistent architectural decisions, approval denials, maintenance demands, nuisance enforcement, or penalties imposed on some owners but not others. Preferential treatment is the opposite side of the coin, where favored owners receive leniency or approvals that others are denied. Both violate the requirement that HOAs apply rules uniformly.
How do I use my CC&Rs or Rules in a dispute with my HOA?
Find the exact provision that applies, cite it in writing, and ask the HOA to explain where your understanding is mistaken. Boards often violate their own governing documents (especially, the CC&Rs) because they’re either ignorant as to what they say, or they just don’t care. Pointing to the exact section is more effective than making general claims. It also puts subtly puts the board on notice that you’re not going to be an “easy” target.
What should I do if my HOA ignores my emails or calls?
Call them out. Document, in writing, each attempt to communicate and each instance of non-response. Send a final summary email listing all the dates you attempted contact and noting that you never received responses (or adequate response) to any of them. This creates a record of HOA negligence or breach of duty.
When should I involve an attorney?
Common triggers include threats of liens or foreclosure, being contacted by the HOA’s attorney, repeated stonewalling or misconduct, or clear violations of your rights under the governing documents or California law. Consulting us at MBK Chapman sooner rather than later can prevent costly mistakes and help us determine the best strategy moving forward.
About MBK Chapman Fact Sheets
Homeowners searching for answers online will often come across articles that appear authoritative, but are actually written as search-engine marketing content rather than by an experienced HOA lawyer. These pieces tend to prioritize keyword density over clarity, accuracy, or legal context, which often leaves homeowners more confused than informed.
At MBK Chapman, our Fact Sheets are part of our HOA Law Library and are written by Michael Kushner, an HOA lawyer with decades of hands-on experience representing California homeowners. In fact, Michael Kushner is the HOA lawyer who pioneered the systems and strategies used by some of California’s most successful homeowner-side HOA law firms.
Each Fact Sheet is deliberately concise, statute-based, and designed as a quick-reference guide to help homeowners understand key HOA laws and enforcement rules at a glance.
AND DON’T FORGET TO TUNE INTO MY PODCAST, HOA HELL
YOU CAN ALSO ORDER MY GROUNDBREAKING BOOK
HOA HELL | California Homeowners’ Definitive Guide to Beating Bad HOAs
Amazon | Barnes & Noble
