Overview

When crimes occur in HOA-governed communities, homeowners are often told that the HOA has no responsibility for crime or safety. That statement is wrong. While California HOAs are not required to act as private police forces or guarantee that crime will never occur, they do have real, enforceable legal duties related to crime prevention and safety in the common areas they control.

Those duties flow from two core obligations: the HOA’s duty to exercise reasonable care over common areas under its control, and its duty to comply with and enforce its own governing documents. When an HOA is on notice of known safety hazards or recurring criminal activity and fails to act reasonably, that inaction can expose the HOA to liability. The law draws a clear line between lawful discretion and unlawful inaction, and understanding that line is critical for homeowners seeking to compel appropriate board action.

For a deeper dive into HOA obligations when it comes to crime prevention and safety, see my full article on this topic, “California HOA Crime and Safety: What Your HOA Must Do About Security.” I also discuss HOA crime and safety obligations in detail on an episode of my podcast, HOA HELL, titled “California HOAs and Crime: What Your Board Is Required to Do,” which you can watch for a deeper, real-world breakdown of these issues.

Key Points

California law does not treat HOAs as insurers of safety, but it also does not allow boards to disclaim responsibility when foreseeable risks arise in areas they control. The following key points explain what HOAs are legally required to do, what limits apply, and how courts evaluate crime and safety obligations.

• HOAs have a duty to exercise reasonable care in common areas they control. When an HOA controls garages, walkways, entrances, stairwells, elevators, gates, or other shared spaces, it must maintain those areas in a condition that does not unreasonably expose residents to foreseeable harm, including harm arising from criminal activity that predictably exploits unsafe conditions.
• Crime-related duties arise from control and foreseeability, not from guaranteeing safety. An HOA is not required to prevent crime altogether, but once it is on notice of conditions or patterns that make harm foreseeable, it must take reasonable steps to reduce risk in the areas it controls.
• HOAs must maintain and repair safety and security features in common areas. Consistent with their duties under Civil Code 4775, HOAs must maintain and repair safety and security features such as lighting, gates, locks, access controls, doors, windows, elevators, handrails, and surveillance equipment located in the common areas. Ignoring broken or malfunctioning features after notice exposes HOAs to liability.
• HOA boards cannot wait for a crime to occur before acting if the crime was reasonably foreseeable. HOAs must act reasonably, even in the absence of any prior crimes, if they are put on notice of a defective or malfunctioning common area condition that they control, and a reasonable person would foresee that the condition increases the risk of harm.
• HOAs must respond reasonably to known patterns of criminal activity. Repeated crimes in the same location establish foreseeability. At that point, the board must evaluate whether reasonable, targeted measures are necessary to reduce risk, rather than dismissing incidents as isolated.
• HOAs may be required to spend money on safety and security when obligations exist. Boards cannot refuse to repair or maintain required safety features simply because the cost is inconvenient. When maintenance is required by law or the governing documents, cost alone is not a lawful excuse.
• HOAs must follow their governing documents regarding security measures. If the CC&Rs or Rules require specific security features or services, the board cannot abandon those obligations without properly amending the documents.
• In some circumstances, HOAs must notify homeowners of known safety risks. When the HOA is aware of recurring criminal activity or known hazards in common areas, board silence can increase both risk and liability by preventing homeowners from taking personal precautions.
• HOAs are not required to act as private police or guarantee crime prevention. The law does not require HOAs to patrol property, intervene in crimes, or eliminate all risk. The obligation is reasonable risk reduction, not perfect outcomes.
• HOAs are not automatically required to add new security measures, such as hiring private security or installing cameras where none previously existed. Unless required by the governing documents, these measures are discretionary and evaluated based on reasonableness, cost, and effectiveness under the circumstances. [Regardless of what might be in the governing documents, when security measures already exist in the common areas, however, an HOA may have a duty to maintain or repair them once it is on notice that they are non-operational and a reasonable person would foresee an increased risk of harm.]
• The legal line turns on notice, foreseeability, and reasonable response. HOA boards that investigate, document, and act proportionately stand on far stronger legal ground than boards that ignore known risks or refuse to engage.
• Homeowners can take specific steps to force HOA action when the HOA is ignoring crime and safety obligations in the common areas it controls. The goal is to put the HOA on notice, build a record, and escalate in a structured way that compels action without making demands that go beyond what the law requires.
  • Document the unsafe condition and preserve proof over time. Take photos and short videos of broken lighting, malfunctioning gates, unsecured doors, and other common area safety failures, and preserve dates and repetition to show persistence.
  • Give the HOA written notice that identifies the condition, location, and risk. Written notice creates duty and establishes foreseeability. Your notice should state the specific defect, where it exists, how long it has existed, and why it increases safety risk.
  • Use Civil Code 5200 if you need records to prove what the HOA knew and what it did (or failed to do). Request board minutes, agendas, maintenance records, vendor proposals, invoices, and reports tied to the condition or incident pattern to show whether the HOA discussed the issue, deferred it, or ignored it entirely. I’ve written an article on the power of your 5200 rights, and Chapter 4 of my book, HOA HELL | California Homeowners’ Definitive Guide to Beating Bad HOAs is dedicated to how to write a proper 5200 demand.
  • Force the issue into an open board meeting and demand a documented plan. Ask that the item be placed on the agenda and attend the meeting so the HOA board has to address the issue on the record.
  • Coordinate with other homeowners to amplify the demand. Multiple homeowners raising the same safety failure makes it harder for the HOA to dismiss the problem as isolated fear and strengthens the record that risk is foreseeable.
  • Report criminal activity to law enforcement and preserve report numbers. Police reports create an independent record of recurring incidents that can reinforce foreseeability.
  • If you think it will be worth your time, demand IDR. Once a homeowner properly demands IDR, the Davis-Stirling Act obligates the HOA to participate (Civil Code 5910), which forces the board to engage directly, articulate its position, and commit to a response in a formal setting. By the time a matter reaches IDR, a homeowner who has documented conditions, given written notice, obtained records, and raised the issue openly has typically assembled significant leverage.
  • Call MBK Chapman before initiating ADR or litigation. ADR is a separate stage, may be mandatory depending on the relief sought, and should not be handled without experienced HOA counsel. If you’d like to learn more about the mediation requirement (i.e., ADR in the context of the Davis-Stirling Act), you can read my Fact Sheet, “California HOA Mediation: When ADR Is Mandatory Under Civil Code 5930.”

Understanding these principles allows homeowners to focus on actions the law actually requires, rather than demanding measures that exceed legal obligations.

FAQs

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.

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