California’s Davis-Stirling Act, codified at Civil Code sections 4000 through 6150, is the statute that governs homeowners associations in the state. It sets the rules boards must follow and the rights owners can enforce, covering meetings, records, budgets, elections, assessments, fines, foreclosure, and dispute resolution. If you live in a condominium project, planned development, stock cooperative, or community apartment project created by a recorded declaration, this is the law that runs your association.1California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 4000 – Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act2California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 4100 – Common Interest Development Defined
Which Document Controls When They Disagree
Every association has a stack of governing documents, and they contradict each other more often than people expect. The Act creates a strict hierarchy so you always know which one wins.3California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 4205 – Governing Document Hierarchy State law sits at the top and beats everything below it. Then the recorded CC&Rs. Then the Articles of Incorporation. Then the bylaws. Operating rules adopted by the board sit at the bottom.
When you receive a notice from your HOA that feels off, the first question is which document it rests on and whether something higher in the stack contradicts it. If the CC&Rs set quorum at 33% and the bylaws say 25%, the CC&Rs govern. If a rule the board just adopted collides with state law, the rule loses.
How Operating Rules Get Changed
The board can adopt or amend an operating rule without a vote of the members, but it cannot do so quietly. Civil Code section 4360 requires at least 28 days’ notice of a proposed rule change, including the full text and the purpose. The board then decides at a meeting after considering member comments, and it must notify all members within 15 days of the final rule.
Emergency rules skip the 28-day notice when the board finds the rule is immediately necessary to address a threat to health, safety, or substantial economic loss. Those emergency rules automatically expire after 120 days and cannot be re-adopted through the same emergency process.
Attending and Watching Board Meetings
The Common Interest Development Open Meeting Act (Civil Code sections 4900 through 4955) gives you the right to see your board decide things.4California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 4900-4955 – Common Interest Development Open Meeting Act Boards must post notice of regular meetings at least four days in advance, and that notice has to include the agenda. Action on items not on the agenda is not allowed, which stops boards from slipping controversial votes past homeowners who read the agenda and decided not to attend.
You can attend any open session, and the board must give members a reasonable amount of time to speak.
Executive Sessions
Boards can close the doors only for a narrow list of topics: litigation, contract negotiations, personnel matters, and member discipline. Executive session is also where the board decides whether to foreclose on a lien and where it discusses individual payment plans. If the board is discussing disciplinary action against you, you can require that the discussion happen in executive session rather than in front of neighbors, and the board must honor the request. The fact that an executive session occurred must be noted in the minutes of the next open meeting.
Emergency Meetings
When something arises that could not have been reasonably foreseen and requires immediate action (fire damage, flooding, urgent legal advice), the four-day notice requirement is waived. The board still has to document the emergency in the meeting minutes.
Getting Access to Association Records
Civil Code sections 5200 through 5240 give you the right to inspect a wide range of records, including tax returns, financial statements, meeting minutes, and membership lists.5California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 5200-5240 – Association Records Your request has to be in writing, and the association can charge reasonable copying costs. The response deadline depends on how old the records are. Records from the current fiscal year must be made available within 10 business days. Records from the previous two fiscal years must be made available within 30 calendar days.
If the association stalls or refuses, Civil Code section 5235 lets you take it to court. A judge can order a penalty of up to $500 per violation plus your attorney fees.
The Annual Budget Report
Every association has to distribute an annual budget report to members 30 to 90 days before the end of its fiscal year.6California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 5300 – Annual Budget Report It is one of the most important documents you get as an owner, and it must include:
- An operating budget with estimated revenue and expenses for the coming year.
- A reserve summary showing the current state of the reserve fund.
- A reserve funding plan for future repairs and replacements of major components.
- A statement about any deferred maintenance on components with a remaining life of 30 years or less, and why.
- An outlook on any anticipated special assessments.
- A summary of property, liability, earthquake, flood, and fidelity insurance policies.
- Any outstanding loans with a term longer than one year, including interest rate and repayment schedule.
Associations must also perform a visual inspection of major components at least every three years as part of the reserve study, with annual review of the funding plan. Underfunded reserves are the biggest financial risk in HOA communities, and special assessments to cover deferred maintenance can run into tens of thousands of dollars per unit.
Elections and Removing Directors
Association elections run under Civil Code sections 5100 through 5145, which require secret ballots and a double-envelope system so that no board member or manager can see how any individual voted before the count. Ballots have to reach every member at least 30 days before the voting deadline.7California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 5105 – Election Rules Members can verify the candidate and voter lists at least 30 days before ballots go out, and independent inspectors (not sitting directors) oversee the count.
The same rules cover director elections, votes on assessment increases above the statutory caps, amendments to governing documents, and grants of exclusive use of common area. When the number of candidates equals the number of open seats and the association has followed notice requirements, candidates can be seated without a ballot vote.
Owners can remove a director before their term ends, and California law does not require cause. In associations with fewer than 50 members, removal takes a majority vote of all members, not just those who show up. Associations with 50 or more members use the vote threshold in Corporations Code section 7222.8California Legislative Information. California Corporations Code 7222 – Removal of Directors If your association uses cumulative voting, a single director cannot be removed if the votes cast against removal would have been enough to elect that director in a regular election. The full board can always be removed by a straight majority regardless of voting method.
Assessment Caps
Civil Code section 5605 sets two ceilings the board cannot exceed without member approval.9California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 5605 – Regular and Special Assessments Regular assessments cannot rise more than 20% over the prior fiscal year’s amount without a majority vote of a quorum of members. Special assessments in a fiscal year cannot exceed, in the aggregate, 5% of that year’s budgeted gross expenses without the same approval.
A board charging $400 per month can raise dues to $480 the next year on its own; going to $500 requires a vote. On a $500,000 annual budget, the board can levy up to $25,000 in special assessments without a vote, but anything above that needs member approval.
Late Assessments, Liens, and Foreclosure
Assessments become delinquent 15 days after they come due, unless the CC&Rs allow a longer grace period. Once delinquent, the association can charge a late fee of up to 10% of the delinquent amount or $10, whichever is greater. Interest is capped at 12% per year, starting 30 days after the assessment was due. If the CC&Rs specify a lower late fee or interest rate, that lower figure controls.
Before recording a lien for unpaid assessments, the association must send written notice by certified mail at least 30 days in advance.10California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 5660 – Notice Prior to Recording a Lien That pre-lien notice is your window to pay, dispute, or negotiate before anything hits property records.
The $1,800 Foreclosure Floor
An association cannot foreclose on an assessment lien if the delinquent assessment balance is under $1,800, excluding late charges, collection costs, attorney fees, and interest.11California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 5720 – Limitations on Foreclosure of Assessment Liens The association can still record a lien and pursue other collection methods, but it cannot take the home for a small balance. Two exceptions apply: foreclosure is allowed regardless of the amount if the debt is more than 12 months old, or if the debtor is a developer or timeshare estate owner.
Even when the amount qualifies, the board has additional steps. The decision to foreclose has to be approved by a majority of the board in executive session, and that vote must occur at least 30 days before any public sale. Before starting foreclosure at all, the association must offer the homeowner a chance to participate in dispute resolution.
Payment Plans
Under Civil Code section 5665, the board must meet in executive session with any owner who requests a discussion about a payment plan for delinquent assessments. The board has to consider the request, though it is not required to grant one. The association must also tell members its standards for payment plan options.
Fines and the Enforcement Process
The board cannot simply impose a fine when it believes you have violated the CC&Rs or a rule. Civil Code section 5855 lays out the process. You get a chance to fix the problem first. If you need more time, you can offer a written commitment to cure the violation. Only if the issue is unresolved does the board hold a hearing, which must take place in executive session if you request it.
After the hearing, the board has to deliver its written decision within 14 days. If no agreement is reached, you can invoke internal dispute resolution. Any agreement that does come out of the process has to be in writing and signed by both sides to be enforceable. Higher fines are permitted only when the violation poses a genuine health or safety risk, and the board must make a written finding in an open meeting to justify the elevated amount.
Uses Your HOA Cannot Restrict
Several California statutes override HOA restrictions on specific uses, regardless of what your CC&Rs say.
Solar Energy Systems
Civil Code section 714 voids any HOA restriction that effectively prohibits or unreasonably restricts a solar energy system. Restrictions are allowed only if they do not increase the system’s cost by more than 10% (capped at $1,000) or reduce its efficiency by more than 10%. If the association does not deny your solar application in writing within 45 days, it is deemed approved.
Electric Vehicle Charging Stations
Civil Code section 4745 voids provisions that prohibit or unreasonably restrict EV charging stations in your designated parking space or unit.12California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 4745 – Electric Vehicle Charging Stations The association can require a licensed contractor, proof of insurance within 14 days of approval, and payment by the owner for both installation and electricity. If the application is not denied in writing within 60 days, it is deemed approved.
Flags and Signs
Section 4705 prevents your HOA from banning display of the United States flag. Section 4710 protects noncommercial signs, posters, flags, and banners displayed on or in your unit, yard, window, door, balcony, or exterior wall. The association can restrict noncommercial flags or banners larger than 15 square feet, and it can prohibit materials made from lights, roofing, siding, paving materials, or similar building components.
Rentals
Civil Code section 4741 bars associations from adopting or enforcing provisions that outright prohibit rentals, restrict rentals to fewer than 25% of the units, or prohibit short-term rentals of 30 days or less. Owners who bought before a rental restriction was adopted are grandfathered under section 4740. An association that willfully violates these protections faces a civil penalty of up to $1,000.
Dispute Resolution Before Court
California builds a two-tier resolution system into the Act, and skipping the required steps can cost you the lawsuit.
Internal Dispute Resolution
Internal dispute resolution runs under Civil Code sections 5900 through 5920. Either the owner or the association can invoke it in writing.13California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 5900 – Internal Dispute Resolution When the owner invokes it, the association must participate. When the association invokes it, the owner can decline. The process is a meeting between you and a designated board member. You can bring an attorney or another person at your own cost, and the association cannot charge you a fee. Any agreement has to be written and signed by both parties, including the board designee on behalf of the association. If the association has no IDR procedure of its own, a default statutory procedure applies under section 5915.
Alternative Dispute Resolution
Before filing a governing-documents enforcement action in superior court, both associations and members have to first try alternative dispute resolution: mediation, arbitration, or a similar process with a neutral third party.14California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 5925-5965 – Alternative Dispute Resolution Prerequisite to Civil Action When you file, you have to include a certificate stating that ADR was completed, that the other party refused, or that you need emergency injunctive relief.
Filing without that certificate gives the other side grounds to have your case dismissed. Even if the case moves forward, the court can weigh whether your refusal to participate in ADR was reasonable when it decides attorney fees. Homeowners often trip on this step by skipping the formal ADR offer as pointless, then losing the ability to recover legal costs after winning on the merits. One useful protection: filing a formal ADR request tolls the statute of limitations on your enforcement action, so you will not lose the right to sue while the process plays out.
What Board Members Owe the Association
Directors in California HOAs are fiduciaries, owing duties of care and loyalty. The duty of care means making informed decisions: reading financials before voting on a budget, getting professional advice before approving major contracts, showing up prepared. The duty of loyalty means putting the association’s interests ahead of the director’s own. A director with a financial interest in a vendor under consideration must disclose the conflict, leave the room during discussion, and abstain from the vote.
These duties are enforceable. A board member who steers a landscaping contract to their own company, or who uses association funds to improve their own unit, is breaching fiduciary duty and can face personal liability.