Overview When a California homeowner opens an HOA account statement and finds that the HOA has charged its legal fees to that account, the threshold question is whether the HOA had any authority to put them there. After all, it should go without saying that an HOA...
Overview Based on the volume of comments I’ve received from our Reddit account and listeners to my podcast, HOA HELL, who bluntly write things like “Fuck HOAs,” “You’re stupid to buy into an HOA,” “Who would ever live in an HOA community,” and “HOAs should be banned,”...
Overview Effective January 1, 2026, the Legislature made it clear that California HOA members were entitled to receive a copy of the inspection reports mandated by SB 326, California’s “Balcony Law.” That entitlement reached a category of documents many bad HOAs would...
Overview HOA fees (i.e., dues) move in two directions, and both can signal trouble. Some HOAs raise dues year after year, and homeowners want to know why and whether the increases are even legal. Other HOAs do the opposite, freezing dues for years to look like heroes,...
Overview Bad HOA boards across California routinely tell parents that their kids can’t play on the common area grass, can’t ride their bicycles anywhere in the common area, or tell residents that they can’t gather a group for recreation in the community...
Overview E-bikes and e-scooters have exploded in popularity across California’s HOA communities. And with that explosion, the Legislature has passed a variety of laws, many of which are scattered across California’s Vehicle Code, governing how these devices, and the...
