California’s Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act, at Civil Code sections 4000 through 6150, sets the rules of the road for every homeowners association in the state and defines what an HOA can and cannot enforce against you.{1California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 4000 – Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act} The HOA rules in California that actually bind you are the ones that survive this statute: any CC&R, bylaw, or board policy that conflicts with it is void, and a long list of homeowner protections cannot be written out of your governing documents no matter what your development recorded years ago.
Which Document Wins When They Conflict
Before you argue with your board, know the ranking. Civil Code section 4205 puts state and federal law at the top. If a governing document contradicts a statute, the statute controls.{2California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 4205 – Hierarchy of Governing Documents} Below the law, the order runs from the recorded declaration (the CC&Rs), to the articles of incorporation, to the bylaws, to the operating rules the board passes for day-to-day matters like parking or pool hours.
The practical use of that hierarchy: if the board passes an operating rule that conflicts with your CC&Rs, or if your CC&Rs conflict with California law, the higher authority wins. Boards frequently don’t realize this, and pointing it out in writing can end a dispute before it escalates.
What Your HOA Cannot Ban
California carves out property uses that survive any restriction in your governing documents. Your association can set reasonable aesthetic standards for most of them, but it cannot prohibit them outright.
Drought-Tolerant Landscaping and Artificial Turf
Civil Code section 4735 voids any governing document provision that prohibits or effectively blocks low-water plants, drought-tolerant landscaping, or artificial turf.{3California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 4735 – Landscaping Restrictions} During a state or local drought emergency, the association cannot fine you for reducing or eliminating lawn watering.
Solar Panels
Civil Code section 714 voids any deed restriction or HOA rule that effectively prohibits a solar energy system.{4California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 714 – Solar Energy Systems} Boards can impose reasonable restrictions, but “reasonable” has a statutory ceiling: a restriction cannot increase system cost by more than $1,000 or reduce efficiency by more than 10 percent. Anything beyond that crosses into an effective ban the statute does not allow.
EV Charging Stations
Civil Code section 4745 voids governing documents that effectively prohibit installing an EV charger in your unit or designated parking space.{5California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 4745 – Electric Vehicle Charging Stations} If the space is in a common area or exclusive-use common area, the association can require a licensed contractor, liability insurance, and that you cover installation and electricity costs. It must process your application like any architectural modification, and if it doesn’t deny the request in writing within 60 days, the request is deemed approved.
The U.S. Flag and Religious Items
Civil Code section 4705 prevents any governing document from prohibiting the display of the United States flag on your property or exclusive-use common area, so long as the flag is fabric, cloth, or paper on a staff, pole, or window.{6California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 4705 – Display of United States Flag} Federal law reinforces this at 4 U.S.C. section 5.{7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 4 USC 5 – Display and Use of Flag by Civilians} Section 4706 separately bars restrictions on religious items displayed on the entry door or door frame.{8California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 4706 – Display of Religious Items} If the association needs to work on your door, it can ask you to remove the item temporarily, but you can put it back once the work is finished.
Pets and Assistance Animals
Civil Code section 4715 guarantees every owner the right to keep at least one pet, subject to reasonable rules on noise, sanitation, and common-area behavior.{9California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 4715 – Pet Keeping} A blanket no-pets policy is not enforceable.
Assistance animals sit in a separate category. Under federal fair housing law, a service animal or emotional support animal is not a pet, and a disabled resident can request a reasonable accommodation to keep one even where governing documents impose pet restrictions or breed bans. The provider must allow the accommodation unless it would create an undue burden, a fundamental change in operations, or a direct threat that no other accommodation could address.{10U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Assistance Animals} Pet fees and deposits do not apply to assistance animals.
Satellite Dishes and Antennas
Federal law preempts the HOA here. The FCC’s Over-the-Air Reception Devices rule bars associations from enforcing restrictions that impair the installation or use of satellite antennas one meter (about 39 inches) or less, along with certain TV and wireless broadband antennas.{11Federal Communications Commission. Over-the-Air Reception Devices Rule} The protection covers property you own or have exclusive use of, including balconies and patios. It does not extend to shared common areas like a building roof.
Rental and Leasing Limits
California significantly limits how far an HOA can go in restricting rentals. Under Civil Code section 4741, an association cannot adopt or enforce a governing document provision that restricts rentals to less than 25 percent of the separate interests in the development.{12California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 4741 – Rental Restrictions} Associations can authorize a higher percentage but never a lower one. Outright bans and unreasonable leasing restrictions are void.
The same statute protects accessory dwelling units. An HOA cannot prohibit renting an ADU or JADU. An ADU is not counted as a separate interest for the 25 percent calculation, and a unit is not treated as renter-occupied if the owner lives in either the main unit or the ADU.
Short-term rentals get less protection. An HOA can prohibit or restrict stays shorter than 30 days, so Airbnb-style use may be off-limits depending on your governing documents. Civil Code section 4739 separately protects owner-occupants: if you live in the home, the association cannot stop you from renting out a portion of it, such as a spare room, for periods longer than 30 days.
Assessments, Liens, and Foreclosure
The financial powers of an HOA are real, but capped. Under Civil Code section 5605, the board cannot raise the regular assessment by more than 20 percent over the prior year without approval from a majority of a quorum of members.{13California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 5605 – Assessment Increase Limits} Total special assessments in a fiscal year cannot exceed 5 percent of budgeted gross expenses without the same member approval. If your CC&Rs are stricter, those stricter limits apply.
When you fall behind, the association can eventually record a lien, but only after sending written notice at least 30 days in advance with an itemized statement of what you owe, a description of collection procedures, and a warning that your property could be sold without court action. You can request a meeting with the board and use the association’s dispute resolution process before a lien is recorded. The board itself must vote to record the lien in an open meeting; it cannot delegate that decision to a manager or attorney.
Foreclosure has its own floor. The association cannot foreclose on an assessment lien until the delinquent assessment amount, excluding late charges, attorney fees, and interest, reaches at least $1,800 or the debt is more than 12 months past due.{14California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 5720 – Assessment Lien Limitations} That $1,800 threshold exists specifically to stop associations from seizing homes over small balances.
Fines and the Discipline Process
California requires a specific due-process sequence before any fine can stand. Skip a step and the penalty is void.
First, the board must have adopted and distributed a fine schedule to every member as part of the annual policy statement required by Civil Code section 5850.{15California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 5850 – Discipline and Cost Reimbursement} No published schedule means no enforceable fine, and the schedule cannot invent amounts the CC&Rs don’t authorize.
Second, when the board decides to consider discipline, it must give the homeowner written notice at least 10 days before the hearing, by personal delivery or first-class mail, identifying the date, time, and location.{16California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 5855 – Discipline and Cost Reimbursement} A vague letter that does not specify which rule was violated or when the hearing will occur does not satisfy the statute.
Third, the hearing is typically held in executive session to protect your privacy. You can attend, bring photos, written statements, or witnesses, and present your side. The board must then deliver a written decision within 14 days of the hearing by personal delivery or first-class mail. Miss that window and the discipline is void. This deadline catches more boards than you would expect, so a late notice is a strong basis to challenge the penalty.
Meetings, Records, and Dispute Resolution
Boards operate under open-meeting rules. Under Civil Code section 4925, any member can attend board meetings, and the board must allow members to speak within a reasonable time limit.{17California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 4925 – Board Meetings and Member Attendance} General association business — budgets, rule changes, maintenance decisions — must happen in the open. Executive session is limited to litigation, third-party contracts, personnel matters, and member disciplinary hearings.
Each year the association must send every member an annual policy statement. Civil Code section 5310 requires it to include the assessment collection policies, the discipline policy and fine schedule, a summary of dispute resolution procedures, and any requirements for approval of physical modifications to your property.{18California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 5310 – Annual Policy Statement} If you never received one, the board has a compliance problem that can undermine its ability to enforce fines.
When a dispute arises, either side can invoke Internal Dispute Resolution under Civil Code section 5910, an informal meeting between the homeowner and a board representative.{19California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 5910 – Internal Dispute Resolution} If you invoke it, the association must participate; if the association invokes it, you can decline. If IDR fails, Alternative Dispute Resolution (mediation or arbitration) is the next step. An association cannot sue a member without first going through IDR in good faith after the member invoked it.{20California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 5910.1}
One thing to weigh before litigating: Civil Code section 5975 entitles the prevailing party in an action to enforce the governing documents to reasonable attorney fees and costs. Win and you can recover your legal expenses. Lose and you may be paying the association’s lawyers too. That risk is worth remembering when a reasonable settlement is on the table at the ADR stage.