HOA law in California is set by the Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act, Civil Code §§ 4000–6150. It governs almost every planned development, condominium, and stock cooperative in the state, and it gives owners a strong floor of protections: caps on how fast assessments can rise, hard limits on when an HOA can foreclose, a right to inspect the association's records, secret-ballot elections, and (since 2025) a cap on most fines. Your CC&Rs can be stricter than the statute in some areas, but they cannot drop below it, and both give way to federal law and to specific state protections for solar, flags, and accessory dwelling units. Here is how the framework actually works, with the section numbers so you can verify each point.
What the Davis-Stirling Act governs
The Act applies to common interest developments, meaning planned unit developments, condominium projects, stock cooperatives, and community apartment projects. An HOA is created when a developer records a declaration (the CC&Rs) against the land, and it is almost always organized as a nonprofit mutual benefit corporation, so the Corporations Code applies alongside Davis-Stirling. There is no single state agency that supervises existing HOAs. The Department of Real Estate reviews and issues a public report for a new development before units are sold, but after that, enforcement of the rules is a private matter handled through the association, ADR, and the courts.
Three layers of documents bind you, and they change at different speeds. The recorded CC&Rs require a member vote to amend. The bylaws govern how the HOA runs itself. The board-adopted operating rules cover day-to-day details and can change with notice. When they conflict, the recorded CC&Rs generally control over the rules, and the statute controls over all of them.
What a California HOA can and cannot do
A California HOA can levy assessments, adopt and enforce reasonable rules, fine owners for violations, and place a lien on a unit for unpaid dues. What it cannot do is act outside the procedures the statute requires. An operating rule must be reasonable and adopted with proper notice, discipline requires a hearing, and several categories of owner conduct are protected by law no matter what the CC&Rs say. The most litigated limit is even-handed enforcement: an HOA that enforces a rule against one owner but ignores the same violation next door risks a selective enforcement defense.
Assessments, liens, and foreclosure
This is where California owners have the most to lose, and the most protection. Under Civ. Code § 5605, a board can raise regular assessments by up to 20% over the prior fiscal year, and impose special assessments up to 5% of the budgeted gross expenses, without a member vote. To go higher, it needs approval from a majority of a quorum of the membership. Either way, owners are entitled to at least 30 days written notice before an increased assessment is due.
If you fall behind, the HOA must send a statutory pre-lien notice (Civ. Code § 5660) and offer to meet, and it must offer a payment plan and internal dispute resolution before recording a lien. The important protection is on foreclosure. Under Civ. Code § 5720, an HOA cannot foreclose on an assessment lien unless the delinquent regular assessments are at least $1,800 (not counting late charges, interest, collection costs, or attorney fees) or are more than 12 months past due. Below that line the HOA can still record a lien and take you to small claims court, but it cannot take the home. If a foreclosure does happen, you keep a 90-day right of redemption after the sale under Civ. Code § 5715. For the full timeline, see our guide on when an HOA can foreclose.
Owner rights: records, meetings, and elections
Records. You have a statutory right to inspect and copy association records. Under Civ. Code § 5210, the HOA must produce current-year records within 10 business days of a written request and records from the previous two fiscal years within 30 calendar days. Budgets, financial statements, executed contracts, and open-session minutes are all included; executive-session minutes are not.
Meetings. The Open Meeting Act requires board meetings to be noticed and open to members, with narrow exceptions for executive session (litigation, personnel, contracts, and member discipline). Members have a right to attend and to speak.
Elections. Since SB 323 (effective January 1, 2020), director elections must use a secret double-envelope ballot tallied by an independent inspector of elections, and a management company can no longer serve as that inspector (Civ. Code § 5100). As of AB 2159 (effective January 1, 2025), associations may also conduct director elections and certain votes by secure electronic voting, though not for imposing special assessments.
Architectural control, and what an HOA cannot ban
California HOAs can run an architectural review process, but state law carves out several protections that override the CC&Rs:
- Solar. The Solar Rights Act (Civ. Code § 714) voids any rule that effectively prohibits a solar energy system, or that adds more than $1,000 to its cost or reduces its efficiency by more than 10%. Applications must be approved or denied in writing within 45 days or they are deemed approved. Rooftop solar on common-area roofs is addressed by Civ. Code § 4746. See California HOA solar rules.
- EV charging. Under Civ. Code § 4745, an HOA cannot ban an electric-vehicle charging station in an owner's space or unreasonably restrict it.
- Rentals. Since AB 3182, Civ. Code § 4741 bars restricting rentals below 25% of the units and bans outright rental prohibitions, though the HOA may still forbid short-term rentals of 30 days or less. See rental restrictions in California.
- ADUs. Civ. Code § 4751 voids CC&R provisions that effectively prohibit an accessory dwelling unit on a single-family lot.
- Flags and signs. An HOA cannot ban the US flag (Civ. Code § 4705) or noncommercial signs, posters, flags, and banners (Civ. Code § 4710), though it may limit signs over 9 square feet and flags over 15 square feet. See flags and political signs.
- Satellite dishes and antennas. The federal FCC OTARD rule protects dishes and antennas under about one meter, and it overrides a conflicting CC&R. See satellite dish rules.
Fines, violations, and how disputes work
Before an HOA can fine you, Civ. Code § 5855 requires written notice of the alleged violation, at least 10 days notice of a disciplinary hearing, a chance to be heard, and written notice of the board's decision within 15 days. The HOA must have adopted a published schedule of fines (Civ. Code § 5850) to charge them at all.
The 2025 fine cap. This is the biggest recent change for owners. Under AB 130, signed June 30, 2025, most fines are now capped at the lesser of $100 or the amount stated in the governing documents, and late fees and interest on unpaid fines are banned. A board can exceed $100 only for a violation with a health or safety impact on the common area or another owner, and only after making a written finding at an open meeting. Owners must also be given an opportunity to cure the violation before any fine is imposed. AB 130 amended Civil Code §§ 5850, 5855, and 714.3. Fines imposed before June 30, 2025 are not affected.
Disputes. California funnels most HOA disputes away from court first. Any owner can request internal dispute resolution (Civ. Code § 5900), an informal meeting the HOA must attend. For most actions to enforce the governing documents, the parties must first offer alternative dispute resolution, usually mediation, under Civ. Code § 5925; refusing a reasonable ADR request can cost a party its attorney fees later. Our guide on disputing an HOA violation walks through the steps and includes a response-letter template.
Recent changes California owners should know (2025 to 2026)
- AB 130 (2025): the $100 fine cap, ban on late fees and interest on fines, and mandatory cure opportunity described above. Effective June 30, 2025.
- AB 2159 (2025): secure electronic voting allowed for director elections, recalls, and certain votes, but not for special assessments.
- SB 326: the deadline for the first inspection of exterior elevated elements such as balconies, decks, and walkways in condominium projects fell on January 1, 2026 (Civ. Code § 5551). Buyers should confirm the inspection was done and reserves fund any repairs.
- SB 770 (2026): an HOA can no longer require an owner installing an EV charger to name the association as an additional insured on their liability policy.
How to check your own California HOA
The statute is the floor. Your CC&Rs, bylaws, and operating rules set the actual ceiling, and they are where the surprises live: a 25% rental cap, a fine schedule, an architectural approval process, or a special-assessment history buried in the minutes. Rather than read the whole packet, upload your governing documents and let AskHOA pull out the operative rules, flag the restrictions, and answer questions grounded in your association's own text with the clause cited. If you are still buying, pair this with our guide on reading CC&Rs before you buy.