The California HOA Open Meeting Act, contained in the Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act at Civil Code sections 4900 through 4955, requires your homeowners association board to conduct its business in meetings that are open to members, noticed in writing with an agenda, and closed to the public only for specific topics the statute allows. A board that ignores these rules can be sued within one year, and a prevailing member recovers attorney’s fees along with civil penalties of up to $500 per violation.
What Counts as a Board Meeting
Civil Code section 4090 defines a board meeting as any gathering of a quorum of directors where they hear, discuss, or deliberate on association business.1Davis-Stirling.com. California Civil Code 4090 The setting does not matter. A living room, a clubhouse, a Zoom call, a group text thread. If a quorum is talking association business, the open meeting rules attach.
That broad definition is what makes serial email meetings illegal. Section 4910 prohibits the board from conducting business through a series of electronic transmissions, so a president who emails three directors individually to line up votes on a landscaping contract has conducted a secret meeting and any resulting action is open to challenge.2FindHOALaw. California Civil Code 4910 – No Board Action Outside of Meeting The same statute bars the board from acting on any item outside a properly noticed meeting. No hallway agreements, no parking-lot votes, no informal polls.
Notice and Agenda
Written notice of the time and place of every board meeting must go out at least four days before the meeting.3California Legislative Information. California Civil Code CIV 4920 For a nonemergency meeting held entirely in executive session, the floor drops to two days. Emergency meetings require no advance notice. If your governing documents demand longer notice than the statute, the longer period wins.
Every notice must include the agenda. That is not a formality. The agenda tells members what the board intends to discuss and limits what the board can vote on. A board that routinely slips decisions into meetings under “new business” is undermining the notice requirement, and those decisions can be challenged.
Your Rights at an Open Meeting
You have the right to attend any board meeting that is not in executive session, and the board must let any member speak at any open meeting.4FindHOALaw. California Civil Code 4925 – Rights to Attend Open Meetings The statute says “shall permit.” A board cannot refuse public comment.
The board can set reasonable, uniform time limits (three to five minutes per speaker is common, though the statute names no number). What it cannot do is cut the open forum entirely or silence particular members.
Members may generally audio- or video-record open meetings, subject to reasonable, nondisruptive rules the board adopts. Recording of executive sessions is prohibited.
Access to Minutes
The board must make minutes, draft minutes, or a summary available to members within 30 days of an open meeting.5Davis-Stirling.com. California Civil Code 4950 If you send a formal written request to inspect minutes from the current fiscal year, the association has 10 business days to respond; for the prior two fiscal years, 30 calendar days. Minutes are permanently subject to inspection; unlike some records, they are not purged on a schedule.6FindHOALaw. California Civil Code 5210 – Time Periods for Production of Association Records
When the Board Can Close the Doors
Executive session is not a general-purpose way to escape member scrutiny. Civil Code section 4935 limits closed sessions to specific categories.7California Legislative Information. California Civil Code CIV 4935 The board may adjourn to executive session to discuss:
- Pending or anticipated litigation involving the association.
- Formation of contracts with vendors, management companies, or other third parties.
- Member discipline for rule violations. If the member being disciplined requests a closed session, the board must grant it, and that member has the right to attend.
- Personnel matters, including hiring, firing, and performance.
- Payment plans for delinquent assessments, which must be handled in executive session.
Foreclosure decisions must also be made in executive session, by majority vote of the board.7California Legislative Information. California Civil Code CIV 4935 The difference between “may” and “must” matters. Litigation and contract talks can be held in open session if the board chooses. Member discipline at the member’s request, payment plans, and foreclosure votes go behind closed doors regardless of what the board prefers.
Virtual, Teleconference, and Emergency Meetings
Since January 1, 2024, Civil Code section 4926 lets a board meet entirely by teleconference or videoconference with no physical location, provided it meets a list of conditions.8FindHOALaw. California Civil Code 4926 – Meetings Entirely by Teleconference The notice must include clear instructions for joining, along with a phone number and email for technical support before and during the meeting. The notice must also remind members they can request individual delivery of future notices and tell them how. Every director and every member must have the same ability to participate they would have in person, every director vote must be taken by roll call, and anyone entitled to participate must be given a telephone option.
Fully virtual meetings cannot be used to count or tabulate ballots, so director elections and assessment votes still require at least one physical location.8FindHOALaw. California Civil Code 4926 – Meetings Entirely by Teleconference A board that holds a teleconference meeting without using the section 4926 option must still name a physical location in the notice and have at least one director or designee present there.1Davis-Stirling.com. California Civil Code 4090
Emergency meetings are a narrow exception. Section 4923 limits them to circumstances that could not have been reasonably foreseen and that make normal notice impracticable: burst pipes, sudden structural failures, urgent insurance deadlines. The president or any two other directors can call one, and the four-day notice and agenda rules do not apply.3California Legislative Information. California Civil Code CIV 4920 The meeting can happen in person, by teleconference, or by unanimous written consent through email, with those consents filed in the minutes.2FindHOALaw. California Civil Code 4910 – No Board Action Outside of Meeting A vendor price increase that has been pending for weeks is not an emergency, and a court that finds the situation was foreseeable will treat the resulting action as an open meeting violation.
What to Do When the Board Violates the Rules
Before filing suit, California law requires both sides to attempt alternative dispute resolution. Civil Code section 5930 bars a member or an association from filing an enforcement action for declaratory, injunctive, or writ relief without first trying ADR.9California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 5930 Small claims actions are exempt, and so are assessment disputes. Many associations also offer an internal dispute resolution process, which tends to be faster and cheaper than formal mediation. For most open meeting disputes headed to superior court, ADR is not optional.
Once ADR is complete, a member can file a civil action for declaratory or equitable relief, including injunctive relief and restitution, within one year of the violation. That one-year window is firm. A member who prevails recovers reasonable attorney’s fees and court costs, and the court can impose a civil penalty of up to $500 per violation. When a single violation affects every member equally, the court imposes one penalty rather than multiplying it across the membership.10California Legislative Information. California Civil Code CIV 4955 The fee-shifting runs one direction: a winning association cannot recover costs from the member unless the court finds the lawsuit was frivolous.