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...
HOA Liens and Short Sales: What Must be Paid to Clear Title
Overview When a short sale stalls because of an HOA demand, the dispute almost always comes down to what the HOA can lawfully require to release its assessment lien and allow escrow to close. Homeowners are often told that every amount on the HOA ledger must be paid,...
HOA Water Damage: Who Is Responsible When Water Invades Your Unit?
Overview Water intrusions are among the most frequent and contentious issues facing homeowners in California HOAs. When water enters a unit, homeowners often assume the HOA is automatically responsible, especially if the water appears to have come from a roof,...
Can Your HOA Stop Your Short Sale?
Overview Homeowners attempting a short sale often encounter resistance from their homeowners association over unpaid assessments or a recorded HOA lien. That resistance feels real because, under Civil Code 5675 (which is part of the Davis-Stirling Act), an HOA has the...
California HOA Balcony Law: Correcting Misinformation About SB 326
Overview More than a year has passed since the initial compliance deadline for California’s “Balcony Law,” yet misinformation about what SB 326 required of HOAs continues to circulate. Unfortunately, that confusion does not come from obscure internet posts or outdated...
California HOAs and Short-Term Rentals: Coastal Commission Overrides Davis-Stirling Act
Overview For California HOAs located in designated coastal zones, authority over short-term rentals does not begin with the Davis-Stirling Act. It begins with the California Coastal Act. When an HOA adopts or enforces short-term rental (“STR”) bans, minimum-stay...
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