The Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act, codified at California Civil Code §§ 4000–6150, is the state law that governs almost every homeowners association, condominium project, and stock cooperative in California. It sets the rules your board has to follow and the rights you have as an owner, covering meetings, elections, assessments, liens, record requests, and disputes. If your community has shared property and an association that can bill you for its upkeep, the act applies.
Which Communities the Act Covers
The act reaches four types of housing: community apartment projects, condominium projects, planned developments, and stock cooperatives.1California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 4100 – Common Interest Development What ties them together is two features: some form of common area that owners share, and an association with the power to levy enforceable charges against individual owners.
A planned development, for example, is a residential project that either includes common area managed by an association with assessment authority, or separately owned lots combined with shared ownership of common property.2California Legislative Information. California Code, Civil Code CIV 4175 – Planned Development A neighborhood that lacks either the shared property or the assessment power falls outside the act.
Which Document Wins When They Conflict
Every HOA runs on a stack of documents, and the act defines them: the declaration (the CC&Rs), the articles of incorporation or association, the bylaws, and the operating rules.3California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 4150 – Governing Documents Section 4205 sets the order of authority when they say different things:4California Legislative Information. California Code, Civil Code CIV 4205 – Hierarchy of Document Authority
- State law overrides everything. No association document can contradict the Davis-Stirling Act.
- The CC&Rs are the highest-ranking association document. They are recorded against the property and bind every buyer.
- The articles of incorporation rank below the CC&Rs.
- The bylaws, which govern board procedures, yield to the articles and the CC&Rs.
- Operating rules sit at the bottom. A board-adopted rule that clashes with any higher document is unenforceable.
If a board cites an operating rule to override a recorded CC&R provision, the CC&R controls. This matters most in fights over architectural standards, use restrictions, and fine schedules.
Operating rules themselves have a required adoption process. The board must give members at least 28 days’ notice of a proposed rule change, vote on it at an open meeting, and notify all members within 15 days of adoption. Members holding at least 5% of the separate interests can call a special meeting to reverse the change if they act within 30 days of the notice. Emergency rules addressing an imminent safety threat or substantial financial risk can skip the 28-day waiting period but expire after 120 days.
What Boards Have to Do in the Open
Sections 4900 through 4955, called the Common Interest Development Open Meeting Act, require boards to conduct business where owners can see it.5California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 4900-4955 – Board Meeting The association must give at least four days’ notice for a regular board meeting and at least two days’ notice for a meeting held solely in executive session. Any owner can attend any open meeting, and the board must set aside a reasonable time for members to speak.
Executive sessions are limited to a defined list of topics: pending or anticipated litigation, contract negotiations, personnel matters, member discipline, foreclosure decisions, and payment plan discussions with individual owners.6California Legislative Information. California Code, Civil Code CIV 4935 – Executive Session If the board is considering disciplining a member, that member can request the discussion be held in executive session and is entitled to attend. Payment plan discussions must happen in executive session. Anything outside these categories belongs in an open meeting.
How Elections Have to Work
Elections for directors, assessment increases that require a vote, amendments to the governing documents, and grants of exclusive use of common area all have to use a secret ballot process.7California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 5100 – Member Election
The system uses a double envelope modeled on county vote-by-mail procedures. The voter seals an unsigned ballot inside an inner envelope, then places that envelope inside a second one on which the voter signs and identifies the unit. That separates identity from vote. Ballots must reach every member at least 30 days before the voting deadline, and an independent inspector of elections verifies eligibility and tallies results.8California Legislative Information. California Code, Civil Code CIV 5115 – Election Procedures A court can invalidate the entire election if the association skips a step.
As of January 1, 2025, Assembly Bill 2159 allows associations to run elections electronically, by mail, or both. Votes on regular or special assessments still require written secret ballots. To use electronic voting, the association must amend its election rules, let members opt in or out in writing, and use a system that authenticates voter identity, keeps ballots secret, and issues each voter a receipt. Members must be able to test their device compatibility at least 30 days before the voting deadline.
Limits on Assessments
Associations fund themselves through regular assessments (monthly or quarterly dues) and special assessments (one-time charges). Section 5600 requires every association to levy enough to meet its obligations.9California Legislative Information. California Code, Civil Code CIV 5600 – Levy of Regular and Special Assessments But the board’s power to raise them has ceilings.
Under Section 5605, a regular assessment cannot increase by more than 20% over the prior year without a majority vote of a quorum of the membership. A special assessment cannot exceed 5% of the association’s budgeted gross expenses for the fiscal year without the same approval.10California Legislative Information. California Code, Civil Code CIV 5605 – Assessment Limitations Even below those thresholds, the board can only impose annual increases after distributing the required annual budget report. That report must go out 30 to 90 days before the fiscal year ends and must address reserves, the funding plan, expected special assessments, and any deferred repairs on major components with 30 years or less of remaining useful life.11California Legislative Information. California Code, Civil Code CIV 5300 – Annual Budget Report
For associations whose original declaration was recorded on or after January 1, 2025, owners of deed-restricted affordable housing units get an additional cap: regular assessments against those owners cannot increase by more than 5% plus the regional cost-of-living change, with a hard cap of 10%.10California Legislative Information. California Code, Civil Code CIV 5605 – Assessment Limitations
What Happens If You Fall Behind on Dues
An assessment becomes delinquent 15 days after the due date unless the CC&Rs give a longer grace period. Once delinquent, the association can add a late charge of 10% of the overdue amount or $10, whichever is greater, and interest of up to 12% annually, starting 30 days after the original due date.12California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 5650 – Assessment Payment and Delinquency
Before recording a lien, the association must send you a written notice by certified mail at least 30 days in advance. The notice has to itemize what you owe, describe the lien and foreclosure procedures, warn you the property could be sold without court action, and inform you of your right to request a payment plan meeting and to pursue dispute resolution.13California Legislative Information. California Code, Civil Code CIV 5660 – Pre-Lien Notice After the 30-day period, a majority of the board must approve recording the lien at an open meeting. The board cannot delegate the decision to a management company or attorney, and the vote has to appear in the minutes.
Foreclosure has a floor. The association cannot foreclose unless the delinquent assessments, not counting late charges, attorney fees, or interest, equal at least $1,800 or have been overdue more than 12 months. Below that, the association can record a lien but cannot force a sale.
If you cannot pay the full amount, you have 15 days from the pre-lien notice to submit a written request for a payment plan meeting. The board must meet with you in executive session within 45 days.14California Legislative Information. California Code, Civil Code CIV 5665 – Payment Plan While you stay current on the agreed plan, the association cannot add more late fees, though it can still record a lien during the plan period. Default on the plan and collection resumes as if the plan never existed.
What Records You Can See
Section 5200 defines two categories of records members can access. “Association records” include financial statements, tax returns, and meeting minutes. “Enhanced association records” cover invoices, canceled checks, bank and credit card statements, and reimbursement requests.15California Legislative Information. California Code, Civil Code CIV 5200 – Definitions You submit a written request to the board or management company.
Production timelines depend on the record’s age. Documents from the current fiscal year must be made available within 10 business days. Records from the previous two fiscal years must be provided within 30 calendar days.16California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 5210 – Record Inspection Timeframe Meeting minutes stay subject to inspection permanently.
If the association refuses, you can sue to enforce access, including in small claims court when the amount at stake fits. If a court finds the association unreasonably withheld records, it must award your reasonable costs and attorney fees and may impose a civil penalty of up to $500 for each separate written request the association denied.17California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 5235 – Record Inspection Enforcement
Limits on Rental Restrictions
Civil Code § 4741 bars an association from restricting rentals to fewer than 25% of the units in the development. Any rule attempting a lower cap is void. Associations can still ban short-term rentals of 30 days or less. Accessory dwelling units and junior accessory dwelling units do not count as separate interests for purposes of these rental caps. A willful violation exposes the association to actual damages plus a civil penalty of up to $1,000. Boards had to strip out noncompliant rental restrictions by July 1, 2022, without needing a membership vote.
Resolving Disputes Before Court
The act pushes disputes toward resolution outside court through two tracks. Internal dispute resolution, often called “meet and confer,” is an informal sit-down between an owner and one or more board members. Either side can request it. It is voluntary for the owner, so you can skip it, but it often clears up fine disputes, architectural decisions, or assessment disagreements fastest.
Alternative dispute resolution involves a neutral third party, usually through mediation or arbitration, and either party can request it before filing a lawsuit. The pre-lien notice to a delinquent owner must specifically mention this right.13California Legislative Information. California Code, Civil Code CIV 5660 – Pre-Lien Notice Binding arbitration is not available when the association intends to pursue judicial foreclosure. If you file suit without first requesting ADR in writing, a court can stay the case and send the parties to attempt resolution, and the side that refused ADR can lose its claim to attorney fees even if it wins.