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...
What Is the Business Judgment Rule in California HOAs?
Overview The Business Judgment Rule (sometimes referred to as the “BJR”) is one of the most frequently cited legal doctrines in California HOAs, and one of the most commonly misunderstood. HOA boards frequently invoke the BJR as a blanket defense whenever homeowners...
California HOA Manager Misconduct: What Homeowners Need to Know
Overview In many California HOAs, the most serious problems homeowners face do not come from hostile neighbors or rogue boards. They come from HOA managers who quietly, but perniciously, overstep their role inside weak or disengaged HOAs. When weak HOA boards fail to...
California HOA Crime and Security Duties: What HOAs Are Required to Do
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...
California HOA Special Assessments: What They Are, When They’re Legal, and How Homeowners Can Challenge Them
Overview Few financial events hit California homeowners harder than a special assessment from their HOA. These assessments can cost YOU tens of thousands of dollars, often arrive with tight payment deadlines creating immediate financial pressure, and apply even when...
Can My California HOA Stop Me From Renting Out My Home or ADU?
Overview California homeowners frequently ask whether their HOA can prevent them from renting out their home, their ADU, or both. And before just a few years ago, the answer to that question was yes. But amendments to the Davis-Stirling Act changed that, and now the...
How to Handle California HOA Disputes Before Hiring a Lawyer
Overview When a dispute begins with your HOA, how you handle the early stages can determine everything that comes after. Most homeowners understandably feel angry, anxious, or overwhelmed when a board acts unfairly, ignores concerns, or issues questionable violations....
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