California HOAs and Fiduciary Duty: What It Means and Why It Matters
Overview When you buy a home in a California HOA, you’re putting trust in the people elected to run your community. These HOA board members are volunteers. But they’re not just volunteers. They are also fiduciaries, which means that the law holds them to the highest...
Grounds for Suing Your California HOA: Legal Reasons Homeowners Can Sue
Overview California homeowners living in HOA-governed communities have legal rights that boards cannot ignore. When an HOA from HELL (i.e., a bad HOA) fails to follow the law or its own governing documents, or engages in conduct that causes homeowners’ harm, you have...
Why Celebrating AB 130 Is a Mistake: The Still Obvious Risks of California’s $100 HOA Fine Cap
Overview AB 130 has been hyped by some as a homeowner victory. Some newspapers, like the San Francisco Chronicle, spoke with opponents and supporters from both sides of the HOA debate (homeowner and HOA alike) and then published balanced stories on the subject,...
California HOA ADU Approval Timelines: How Long Your HOA Can Take
Overview California law makes it clear that HOAs cannot unreasonably restrict or delay the construction of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) or Junior ADUs (JADUs). Knowing that California public policy strongly protects the right of HOA members to build ADUs on their...
How to Choose the Right HOA Lawyer in California: Experience, Costs, and Davis-Stirling Expertise
Overview Choosing the right HOA attorney is one of the most consequential decisions a homeowner can make when a dispute escalates. The wrong lawyer wastes money, loses leverage, and can permanently weaken your case. This Fact Sheet gives the practical questions to...
When to Contact a California HOA Attorney: Fees, Fines, Records, and Homeowner Rights Explained
Overview California’s Davis-Stirling Act governs over 50,000 HOAs across California, but enforcement disputes and board overreach are all too common. Unfortunately, homeowners often wait too long to involve legal counsel, not realizing that early intervention can...
California Neighbor Tree Disputes: Your Rights on Encroaching Branches and Roots
Overview Tree disputes are among the most common, and costly, sources of conflict between neighbors in California HOAs. Branches hanging over property lines or roots spreading underground often cause messes, increased maintenance, and sometimes extensive property...
California HOAs and Assistance Animals: Access, Enforcement, and Protecting Your Rights
Overview Under both federal and California fair housing laws, assistance animals include both service animals and emotional support animals. Neither are considered pets, and both carry broad legal protections inside HOA-governed communities. Boards cannot apply pet...
California HOAs and Emotional Support Animals: Paperwork and Illegal Board Demands
Overview In California HOAs, emotional support animals (sometimes referred to as ESAs) are not pets. Even though they are not trained service animals, the law classifies them as assistance animals that must be accommodated when basic requirements are met. This Fact...
California HOAs and Service Animals: What Boards Can and Cannot Require
Overview In the eyes of both federal and California law, service animals are not pets. Those laws apply to California HOAs, and in all California HOAs, service animals may only be viewed as assistive devices, like wheelchairs or canes. Consequently, HOA boards have...
HOA Board Recall Challenges in California: How Homeowners Can Respond When Boards Resist
Overview Even after a valid recall petition has been delivered, bad HOA boards will try to block the process. These “HOA boards from Hell” often rely on delay, technical objections, or outright manipulation to protect themselves from removal. Under the Davis-Stirling...
How California HOAs Manipulate Reserve Studies and What Homeowners Can Do to Protect Themselves
Overview Reserve studies are supposed to give homeowners an honest picture of whether their HOA has enough money saved for the future repairs and replacements of their HOA’s major common area assets (or components). Under the Davis-Stirling Act, HOAs must conduct...
California HOA Reserve Study Requirements: How Often They’re Required and What Must Be Included
Overview Under the Davis-Stirling Act, every California HOA must prepare a reserve study at least once every three years (Civil Code 5550). These studies are required to make sure the association sets aside enough money for major repairs and replacements of the HOA’s...
HOA Recall Election in California: Step-by-Step Guide for Homeowners
Overview Once a valid recall petition is submitted, California law requires the HOA to schedule and conduct a recall election. This election must follow strict procedures under Civil Code 5100 and related sections. Boards often try to control the process, but when...
HOA Recall Petition in California: Signature Rules and Requirements
Overview In California, the recall petition is the document that forces an HOA board to schedule a recall election. It is not an informal letter of complaint. Rather, it is a legally binding demand under both the Davis-Stirling Act and the California Corporations...
AB 130 in California: Table of Statutory Changes Affecting HOAs and Homeowners
Overview AB 130 made several important changes to California law that affect property owners, and more particularly, HOA members and boards. In this Fact Sheet, I provide a table that summarizes the statutes amended or added by AB 130 and the nature of those changes....
How to Prove Selective Enforcement in California HOAs
UPDATED ON NOVEMBER 5, 2025 TO INCLUDE ADDITIONAL SELECTIVE ENFORCEMENT-RELATED Q&As Overview Selective enforcement occurs when HOA boards apply rules inconsistently, punishing some homeowners while overlooking identical violations by others. California law...
Examples of Selective Enforcement in California HOAs: Uneven Rule Enforcement
Overview Selective enforcement occurs when an HOA board applies rules inconsistently, penalizing some homeowners while ignoring identical violations by others. This practice isn’t just unfair, it is illegal under the Davis-Stirling Act (Civil Code 4350). Homeowners...
Selective Enforcement in California HOAs: What It Is and Why It’s Illegal
Overview Selective enforcement occurs when an HOA board applies rules inconsistently, penalizing some homeowners while ignoring identical violations by others. This practice isn’t just unfair. It's illegal under the Davis-Stirling Act (Civil Code 4350). When boards...
HOA Reserve Studies in California: Understanding the “Percent Funded” Number
Overview Every HOA in California must prepare a reserve study every three years and disclose a written summary of reserve funding every year. These requirements exist to ensure long-term maintenance and repairs of the HOA’s major components are planned and funded, and...
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