Does My HOA Need Member Approval to Give Exclusive Use of Common Area?
Overview When an HOA board allows one homeowner to fence off a strip of land, enclose a patio, control a portion of the roof, or otherwise receive exclusive rights over common area, the first question most homeowners ask is simple: Did the members approve this? Civil...
Can My California HOA Give One Homeowner Exclusive Use of Common Area?
Overview In most California HOAs, common area belongs to the association as a whole and is intended for the benefit of the membership at large. That is why homeowners often react strongly when they see an HOA board allow one owner to fence off a strip of land, extend...
What Is IDR in a California HOA? Does It Stop Fines, Lawsuits, or Enforcement?
Overview Internal Dispute Resolution, commonly called “IDR,” is a formal meet-and-confer process required by Civil Code 5900–5915 and built into the Davis-Stirling Act. It applies when you and your HOA are in a dispute about your rights or obligations under the...
Can My HOA Stop Me from Living in an RV While I Rebuild After the Palisades Fire or Other Disasters?
Overview After a declared disaster, Government Code 65914.202 provides powerful protection against local government interference with temporary housing during reconstruction. The statute renders unenforceable any local ordinance that precludes the placement and use of...
Can My California HOA Block Me from Rebuilding After the Palisades Fire or Other Disasters?
Overview California’s SB 625, which took effect on January 1, 2026, represents a significant shift in the balance of power between Homeowners Associations and homeowners when disaster strikes. For years, some HOA boards used discretionary architectural review...
Do I Have the Right to See My Neighbor’s HOA Architectural Plans in California?
Overview Homeowners frequently ask whether they have the legal right to see architectural applications submitted by their neighbors, especially when those applications affect exterior paint schemes, fencing, landscaping, or other visible improvements. The question...
What Is Delegate Voting in a California HOA and How Does It Work?
Overview Most California HOAs operate on a simple model: each homeowner receives one vote, ballots go directly to the membership, and members vote in elections, recalls, and other major decisions without intermediaries. That is how most homeowners experience HOA...
Will an HOA Collapse If You Recall the Board?
Overview Recall elections almost always occur because something has already gone very wrong in that HOA’s governance. Members do not wake up one morning and remove an entire board for sport. Recalls typically follow sustained misconduct, lack of transparency,...
HOA Solar Panel Restrictions in California
Overview Even though California public policy strongly supports homeowner efforts to take advantage of renewable energy options, like installing solar panels on their roofs, California law does allow HOAs to regulate solar panel installation. Their ability to do so,...
Can a California HOA Deny Solar Panels on a Condo Roof?
Overview Condominium owners in California often hear the same objection when they propose installing solar panels: “The roof is common area. You don’t own it.” In most HOA contexts, that statement would end the discussion. HOA boards almost always have the final say...
Can a California HOA Stop You from Installing Solar Panels?
Overview More and more California homeowners are choosing to install solar panels, and for good reason. With rising utility rates and long-term savings that often make financial sense, solar has become as much an economic decision as an environmental one. Yet many...
Can a California HOA Board Censure a Director?
Overview In California HOAs, the term “censure” is often used to describe a formal reprimand of a director by the rest of the HOA board. Unlike removal from office (such as in a formal recall), which may require member action or compliance with specific statutory...
Can Your California HOA Start Charging Members to Use the Pool or Clubhouse?
Overview When you bought into your community, you did not just buy walls and a roof. You bought into a bundle of recorded rights set forth in the CC&Rs, including the right to use and enjoy the common area amenities provided in your development. In most California...
How California HOAs Abuse the Business Judgment Rule
Overview In California HOAs, the Business Judgment Rule, often called the BJR, is a statutory presumption that can protect corporate directors, including HOA board members, from personal liability for decisions they make on behalf of the HOA. But that presumption can...
Can a California HOA Ban Pets?
Overview California law sets clear limits on how HOAs may regulate pets. Under the Davis-Stirling Act, HOAs may adopt reasonable pet-related rules, but they may not impose restrictions that function as an outright ban. Civil Code 4715 anchors that framework and draws...
When a Neighbor Pepper Sprays Your Dog Without Legal Justification
Overview If one of your neighbors pepper sprays your dog and then claims “self-defense,” the question you are likely to ask is whether the neighbor had any legal justification for his or her conduct. Unfortunately, given the number of California homeowners who have...
Are HOA Boards Required to Keep Member Complaints Confidential?
Overview Some homeowners assume that when they contact their HOA board or manager with a complaint, concern, or allegation, the HOA or its directors are legally required to keep that communication confidential. That assumption becomes even more common when the...
When the Business Judgment Rule Does Not Protect an HOA Board
Overview The Business Judgment Rule (sometimes referred to as the “BJR”) is often treated by bad HOA boards and managers as a sort of universal shield against scrutiny or negligent/bad faith actions. So, for example, when homeowners living in such associations...
HOA Water Intrusion Terms Defined & Why “Rules” Can’t Override Civil Code 4775
Overview Water intrusion (i.e., water leak) disputes in California HOAs rarely go off the rails because the law is unclear. They often go off the rails because bad HOAs skip the required analysis and rely on oversimplified shortcuts that the law simply doesn’t...
HOA Water Damage: What the HOA Pays, What You Pay, and Why
Overview After a water intrusion, California HOA members are often given quick answers that obscure rather than resolve the real issues. In a lot of HOAs, the board or management responds by opening an insurance claim and promising that coverage questions will be...
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