Before You Buy Is the HOA In Good Financial Shape? An HOA that is well run charges dues that sufficiently cover shared spaces and maintaining amenities, including saving up for future maintenance and issues (a reserve). We encourage potential buyers to review the association’s reserve accounts and financial statements. A reserve account will give a…
Before Buying, Discover Do Members of the HOA Get Along? No one wants to be fighting with their neighbors, but disagreements can get particularly nasty in a neighborhood governed by an HOA. After all, it’s not just a she-said, he-said situation, but there are actual rules and regulations homeowners must follow, with there being financial…
The HOA Law The HOA Law: HOA conflicts are so common, and the cases have gotten so costly and entangled that there are precisely hundreds of laws in each state meant to cover the rights of both the HOAs and the individuals. Sadly, this is where the interpretation of the law can emerge primarily. For…
Bill Ab3182 Would Restrict Homeowners in an HOA to Vote to Prohibit or Limit Rentals. This Bill Ab3182 Has Passed in the House and the Senate. It is Waiting on Governor Newsom’s Approval. Assemblyman from San Francisco, Phil Ting, authored the Bill. In his original proposal was a heinous bill, later amendments improved it from…
Reversing or Repealing An HOA Rule – Because members do not “vote” on rule changes, there is no mechanism to stop a rule change before it takes effect. However, the law allows members to reverse a recent rule change. As long as members act promptly – within 30 days of the association’s delivery of the…
Changes to the HOA Election Process HOA Election Process – Senate Bill 323 introduces significant changes to the election process for residential common interest developments (HOAs). The critical changes include qualifications that must be placed on all the candidates seeking election for the HOA Board. This new legislation imposes one mandatory candidate qualification on all…
Senate Bill 652 Adds a new Civil Code Section 4706 to the Davis-Stirling Act and prohibits HOAs from banning religious items on entry doors or door frames, as long as the items do not exceed certain dimensions, does not interfere with the door function, and is not obscene or threatening public safety. The association may…
New HOA Law New HOA Law – Gov. Gavin Newsom signed many bills into law affecting California HOAs in 2020. Here’s what associations need to know, and below, you’ll find one of them. Assembly Bill 5 is a significant new law that changes the legal definition of an employee. The law created Labor Code Section…
HOA Board All too often, boards spend large amounts of time focused on relatively unimportant matters, so as a result, weightier matters get ignored. It can be easy to get caught arguing about an endless number of minor issues and lose sight of their responsibilities. They might skimp on items like reserves or insurance to…
Homeowner Association Serving on your homeowner association (HOA) board can be a thankless, challenging, and lonely job. It might seem like no one wanted it, and somehow I got stuck with it kind of a position. Usually, the job description comes with late-night maintenance phone calls, long-winded alcohol-induced suggestions, and the expectations that it is…