California HOA laws are consolidated in the Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act, Civil Code sections 4000 through 6150, which governs condominiums, planned developments, community apartment projects, and any residential community with a recorded declaration and shared common area. The act sets the floor every association must meet, caps how far the board can push owners on money and rules, and protects specific property uses the HOA cannot touch no matter what the CC&Rs say. A five-unit townhome project and a 500-unit condominium complex answer to the same statute.
If you want to know whether something your board is doing is actually allowed, the answer almost always starts in Davis-Stirling.
Which Document Wins When They Conflict
HOA paperwork contradicts itself more often than people expect, so California Civil Code section 4205 fixes a strict order of priority.1California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 4205 – General Provisions Federal and state law sit at the top. No private HOA document can override them. Below that:
- The declaration, usually called the CC&Rs, is the recorded document that created the community and defines its restrictions. It beats every other private document.
- The articles of incorporation come next. The declaration overrides them if they clash.
- The bylaws govern internal board operations and lose to both the declaration and the articles.
- Operating rules — the board-adopted rules on things like pool hours and parking — carry the least weight and must be consistent with everything above them.
This matters in practice. If your CC&Rs permit rentals and the board later adopts an operating rule banning them, that rule is unenforceable. Anything in any HOA document that directly conflicts with Davis-Stirling is void.1California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 4205 – General Provisions
What Your HOA Cannot Prohibit
Civil Code sections 4700 through 4753 strip associations of the power to block certain uses of private property, regardless of what the governing documents say.2California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 4700 – Protected Uses
Solar Energy Systems
Any HOA provision that effectively prohibits or unreasonably restricts a solar energy system is void. The association can impose reasonable aesthetic requirements, but not ones that would raise the system’s cost by more than $1,000 or cut its efficiency by more than 10 percent.
Electric Vehicle Chargers
Rules that prohibit or unreasonably restrict installing an EV charger in your deeded parking space, exclusive-use common area parking space, or unit are unenforceable. You still need the association’s approval, but it cannot be unreasonably withheld, and if the HOA does not respond in writing within 60 days, the application is automatically approved. Owners who install a charger have to use a licensed contractor, carry insurance naming the association as an additional insured, and pay all installation and electricity costs.3California Legislative Information. California Civil Code CIV 4745
Low-Water and Artificial Turf Landscaping
Civil Code section 4735 voids any rule that prohibits low-water-use plants, artificial turf, or other synthetic grass surfaces. The HOA cannot impose conditions that effectively block them either. It can set reasonable appearance standards for artificial turf — color, pile height, quality — and require architectural approval, but it cannot deny an application just because the material is synthetic or insist on natural grass.
Accessory Dwelling Units
On lots zoned for single-family residential use, Civil Code section 4751 voids any provision that effectively prohibits or unreasonably restricts an ADU or junior ADU. The HOA can set reasonable restrictions, but they cannot unreasonably increase construction costs, effectively prevent you from building, or stop you from constructing an ADU that complies with state law.
Rentals
Civil Code section 4741 bars an outright ban on rentals. The association can cap the percentage of units rented at any one time, but the cap cannot be set below 25 percent of the separate interests in the development. Short-term rentals of 30 days or less are the exception and can still be prohibited. An HOA that willfully violates these rental protections can be liable for actual damages plus a civil penalty of up to $1,000.4California Legislative Information. California Civil Code CIV 4741
Flags and Noncommercial Signs
You have the right to display the American flag and post noncommercial signs on your property within reasonable size limits, no matter what the CC&Rs or architectural guidelines say.
How Much Your HOA Can Charge You
Every association must send members an annual budget report between 30 and 90 days before the end of its fiscal year. The report has to include a pro forma operating budget, a summary of reserves, the board’s reserve funding plan, insurance information, outstanding loans with original terms over one year, and whether the board expects to need a special assessment.5California Legislative Information. California Civil Code CIV 5300 The reserve funding plan is where surprise special assessments usually show their roots, because underfunded reserves eventually have to be paid.
On raising what you pay, the limits are specific. The board cannot increase regular assessments by more than 20 percent above the prior fiscal year without approval from a majority of a quorum of members. Special assessments are tighter: the total for a given year cannot exceed 5 percent of the association’s budgeted gross expenses without a member vote.6California Legislative Information. California Civil Code CIV 5605
Three situations let the board exceed those caps without a vote: expenses required by a court order, extraordinary expenses needed to address a threat to personal safety or a hazardous condition, and extraordinary expenses the board could not have reasonably foreseen while budgeting. For that last category, the board has to pass a resolution explaining why the expense was unforeseeable and send it to members with the assessment notice.
Liens and Foreclosure for Unpaid Dues
Before the association can record a lien for unpaid assessments, it has to send a pre-lien letter by certified mail at least 30 days in advance and offer internal dispute resolution. If you request dispute resolution before the lien is recorded, the association has to participate before moving forward.
Foreclosure has a separate floor. Even after a lien is recorded, the association cannot foreclose until the delinquent assessment amount reaches $1,800 (excluding late charges, attorney fees, interest, and collection costs) or the debt is more than 12 months old. The threshold is there specifically to stop homeowners from losing their property over small debts. Below that line, the association can still pursue collection through other legal means, but foreclosure is off the table.7California Legislative Information. California Civil Code CIV 5720
Your Right to See Records and Attend Meetings
The Common Interest Development Open Meeting Act, Civil Code sections 4900 through 4955, requires the board to do business in the open. Regular board meetings need at least four days’ notice. Nonemergency meetings held solely in executive session need two.8California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 4900-4955 – Common Interest Development Open Meeting Act True emergency meetings can be called without notice. Members have the right to attend open meetings and speak during the designated comment period. Executive sessions are limited to sensitive topics — pending or threatened litigation, contract negotiations, member discipline, personnel matters — and the board has to describe them generally in the next open meeting’s minutes.
Under Civil Code section 5210, you have the right to inspect association records, and the HOA cannot require board approval first. Records from the current fiscal year must be produced within 10 business days of a written request. Records from the prior two fiscal years must be produced within 30 calendar days. Meeting minutes are open to inspection permanently.
If you suspect financial mismanagement or deferred maintenance, requesting the financials and minutes is the practical first move.
Board Elections
Elections for board directors, assessment increases requiring a member vote, amendments to governing documents, and grants of exclusive use of common area all have to be conducted by secret ballot.9California Legislative Information. California Civil Code CIV 5100 The board must hold an election for each director seat when the term expires, and in no case less often than every four years. The only exception is developments where every owner automatically serves as a director under the governing documents. A board that tries to run an election by show of hands or voice vote is violating the statute.
How Disputes Have to Be Handled
Internal Dispute Resolution
Civil Code sections 5900 through 5920 require every HOA to offer a fair and expeditious internal dispute resolution process. When no custom procedure exists, the default is a meet-and-confer: either party sends a written request to meet, the board designates a director to attend, and the parties try to work it out. Any resolution has to be in writing and signed by both sides. You cannot be charged a fee to participate. If the association refuses after you submit a proper written request, that refusal strengthens your position later.
Alternative Dispute Resolution Before Court
If internal resolution fails, Civil Code sections 5925 through 5965 require alternative dispute resolution — mediation or arbitration — before either side can file certain lawsuits. Neither the association nor a homeowner can file an enforcement action for declaratory, injunctive, or writ relief without first attempting ADR. A homeowner who skips this step risks losing the right to sue the association over enforcement of the governing documents at all.10California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 5925-5965 – Alternative Dispute Resolution Prerequisite to Civil Action
Attorney Fees in Court
Civil Code section 5975 gives the prevailing party in an action to enforce the governing documents reasonable attorney fees and costs. It cuts both ways: homeowners can recover when the association is in the wrong, and associations can recover against frivolous challenges. The practical effect is pressure to settle genuine disputes rather than litigate them.