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[PeaceWave]

This message was self-deleted by its author (PeaceWave) on Tue Aug 5, 2025, 12:23 PM. When the original post in a discussion thread is self-deleted, the entire discussion thread is automatically locked so new replies cannot be posted.

[Pisces]

1. Great news!

[Scrivener7]

2. That's like telling a homeowner how much he or she can spend on a new boiler when the old one breaks.

Overreach.

[customerserviceguy]

10. While I'm inclined to agree with you

HOA "Nazis" brought this all upon themselves. There are some HOA's that are reasonable to work with, and others that get taken over by people whose sole pleasure in life is making somebody else unhappy. This law just limits how much unhappiness they can cause.

[LogDog75]

18. HOAs are peculiar

The problem with HOAs has more to do with the size of an HOA. The larger the size the more problems there are. From my experience, most HOAs in California are run by a board of volunteers who are usually older folks. A large HOA may have a HOA management helping and guiding them but it's the board that tell the management company what they want to do. Smaller HOAs, under 15 units, tend to have less problems because everyone knows each other and they get along.

I live in a 10-unit complex which is 50% owner occupied. I was the president of our HOA board for 17 years before "retiring" from the position two years ago. I have friends who are or have been board presidents of much larger units and it's almost impossible for their HOA members to show up to meetings or to serve on their HOA board. What happens is people on those boards acquire more power and too often it goes to their heads. In a smaller HOA, the other owners take more interest in the HOA and its board so board members don't have the opportunity to acquire more powers.

[Escurumbele]

34. It depends on the people who make up the HOA. We used to have a beach apartment, the person who run the HOA

when we bought was a fantastic lady who kept things working, the complex was well kept and the rules were fair. She left because she wanted to retire, and a crazy guy came to run the HOA, we sold then for many reasons, but one was because we did not want to deal with the crazy guy, we knew he would be trouble, and so it was.

After a couple of years of the mess he made, he was kicked out, but things have never been the same since, we keep up with friends we made when we had the unit.

Some people suddenly find themselves in a position of "power" and they become tyrannical, and for some reason, HOAs seem to attract those kind of people. I am not saying all HOAs are bad, but it is more those that are bad than those that are good.

We have a friend who lives in an HOA ruled community, she decided to paint her house, it was beautiful, but the HOA did not like it, so they made her paint it to look like all the other houses. I don't agree with that, it is rare that you will find people who have such bad taste they will paint their house like a clown house, it happens, but as long as you do a good job and your house looks great, no one should dictate how you must paint it.

In our neighbourhood we have a family who decided to paint their house blue and pink, in my opinion it is very ugly but, they seem to love it, it is their house and the fact that I don't like it doesn't mean I need to exercise my "power" to force them to change it. Luckily, we have a very nice HOA that doesn't get into any of that power-grab stuff, the fee is on a volunteer basis, we pay it because it is only $50.00/year, and they take care of calling the electric company when there are problems, and other stuff. It is a very nice neighbourhood, and yes the blue-pink house stands out, but hey, the family is happy with their choice, good for them.

[niyad]

12. Does the "overreach" refer to the greedy, tyranncal hoa's or the bill?

Your post was not clear.

[Scrivener7]

21. The bill.

[niyad]

23. Why?

[FadedMullet]

26. Would a HOA tell someone that they can't put in a new boiler, too cheap or too expensive, if it met code and the....

......building dept was happy with your choice??

[Scrivener7]

35. The HOA is part of the agreement the homeowners

make when the community is formed. Subsequent people who move into the neighborhood sign forms agreeing to the HOA rules. The HOA is a democratically elected body whose function is to enforce the agreed-upon rules.

This ruling amounts to the governor saying, "No, you can't live the way you have democratically agreed you want to live."

I couldn't live according to the rules of many HOAs, so I wouldn't move into a neighborhood where I feel the rules are draconian. But I CERTAINLY wouldn't move into a neighborhood and say, "I don't like the rules you have democratically agreed upon, so you must change them for me, and you cannot live the way you have all agreed you want to live."

If a resident wants changes, there are democratic mechanisms built into every HOA agreement to change the board and change the rules or the way the rules are enforced.

[IbogaProject]

36. These "fines" arent an expense

So barring late fees and esclations isn't unreasonable. The actual building code will still be in force. This just limits a tennant getting into a hole they can't escape and will enable someone in crisis an ability to stay in their home. And any ongoing offense will still have a financial effect once the property sells. The other important part is for there to be an internal dispute process, some HOAs try and not have one.

The government can and does regulate contracts after the fact. When the Housing Mortgage thing got set up by FDR the Dixiecrats put in redlining and enforced a whites only deed restriction. By your reasoning any buyer who agreed to by with that must honor that. But the civil rights act banned them.

[Scrivener7]

38. So then how does the board incentivize people to pay

if they aren't feeling like paying? The board now has few teeth to do that, and now a larger burden for upkeep drops onto the rest of the homeowners' shoulders.

We're not talking about building code. We're talking about fair distribution of the costs of upkeep for the physical aspects of those homes and their surroundings.

Look to Florida to see what happens when a few decide they won't or can't pay their share, and simply opt out without significant ramifications.

[IbogaProject]

39. This is about we dont like your paint color

HOA fines are now capped at $100 per violation unless there are health or safety impacts. The bill also bans interest and late fees on violations and prohibits HOAs from disciplining homeowners as long as they address violations before the hearing. It allows homeowners to request internal dispute resolution if they don't agree with the board's findings at hearings.

This doesn't ban interest on unpaid maintenance, nor on costs to fix safety hazards.

[Scrivener7]

41. Ok. So when my neighbor refuses to move his truck from

blocking another neighbor's driveway, and the towing fee costs $200, why should the other residents be on the hook for the balance of the fee?

And when you live in a development where the houses have grey siding and you paint yours pink, thus reducing the property value for the people around you, I guess people should be happy to pick up that tab. And when a neighbor decides to put in a prohibited above ground pool where water is communally paid for and where it's expensive, everyone else needs to just suck it up.

And if a neighbor simply doesn't pay the common charges and freeloads off everyone else, and others notice this and say, 'Fuck it, I'm not paying either" it would be just terrible to take steps to reverse that trend with fines for non-payment. Better to let everyone's home deteriorate and rename the development after a WV holler.

[quakerboy]

54. Cant speak to your local

But here, a tow fee is not an HOA fee, thats between the vehicle owner and the tow company.

[IbogaProject]

65. And it would still face an additional $100 penality

These penalties will accumulate and be a lien on the property. And if the balance gets over a threshold the HOA can notify the unit's mortgage holder of being in arrears and the mortgage holder can foreclose to avoid depreciating their collateral. These won't be a blank check this will just slow things down and prevent a tenant from getting ganged up on and into a hole they can't get out of with daily fines, escalations with extreme late fees followed by obscene interest charges.

[IbogaProject]

64. This won't cover all edge cases, but it might allow for $100 a week or even a day after a time to cure

I believe this is for gotchas with no ability to remediate the issue. Blocking a driveway is a safety hazard so that shouldn't be covered by this limit. And I am sure actual increased costs can and will get resolved.

[reACTIONary]

49. In my state, HOAs are chartered by the state under strict...

.... regulations. The "agreement" must comport with and is constrained by, the state's rules and regulations. Not any old agreement will qualify as an HOA, and not any old behavior will be compliment.

And while HOAs are not necessarily a bad thing, such regulations on their actions are a good thing.

[FadedMullet]

63. I know this. My question was can HOA rules be so draconian that they limit one's choices when a member needs......

.....a new boiler. On further reflection, of course they can. They can dictate the color of the flower pots on your window ledge, if, indeed, they allow flower pots at all.

[Random Boomer]

48. The HOA abuses were significantly worse than your example implies

The cap on fines and -- more importantly -- the interest on those fines was intended to block actual foreclosures of homes for minor transgressions.

[Scrivener7]

52. In a few states, HOAs CAN foreclose, if state law and the HOA charter allow it.

But you know that going in, and I would never join an HOA that has that in its agreement. Would you?

In the rest of the states, it's the bank and not the HOA that's foreclosing.

And this law leaves people holding the financial bag for bad neighbors in EVERY condo development. Not just the few where this is a thing.

[Buddyzbuddy]

3. Awsome news!

[OldBaldy1701E]

4. An influx of new residents starting in 5... 4... 3... (n/t)

[Shipwack]

62. Housing will need to come down first. nt

[OldBaldy1701E]

68. Like anything, there will always be those who have the money and the desire to use it.

It is why said housing will not be coming down anytime soon. Heh.

(There is also the more predatory housing loans entities. As long as someone can put the right thing on the application, they will get the loan. Ask freaking Wells Fargo.)

[Shipwack]

69. I hate Wells Fargo with the passion of a 1000 suns.

They foreclosed on my house while I was away at sea for the Navy, which is actually illegal (Soldier/Sailor Relief Act).

WF had refused to take advanced payments, or schedule a withdrawal from my bank. This was pre-internet days (1990?).

In their defense, I was behind in my payments, but only because the woman I trusted with mailing in all my bills for three months forgot to send in A. Single. One.

She thought it was hilarious.

[Cha]

5. TY Kick for Gov Newsom & California HOA.

[MLWR]

6. We too have HOAs here in Albuquerque.

I had never heard of them before we moved here. I have no idea when or how they came into being. I most definitely have mixed feelings about them and I most certainly agree that they need to be regulated, so it's good to hear that Gov. Newsom has stepped up.

[localroger]

20. NM is one of a number of states where HOA's are mandatory

...via state level legislation. It is just about impossible to create a new residential subdivision unless there is a HOA for it. The idea is that the HOA will perform duties such as street maintenance and upkeep of common areas which are normally done by municipal governments, so the municipal governments don't have to bother. The problem is that this makes the HOA's quasi governmental actors, and some HOA boards think that gives them government level enforcement powers over their rules, even though their rules are fluid and not subject to the checks and balances of government legislation. It also gives their boards government level powers of harassment without government style constraints on that kind of behavior. And the old advice, "don't buy in a HOA if you don't like HOA's," is impossible to follow if the state requires nearly all new construction to be in HOA's.

[Dem2theMax]

7. I'm going to have to reactivate my Nextdoor account.

Just so I can post this news.
The board members are going to do this -


Thank you to my Governor.

[Iggo]

14. My SIL has Nextdoor.

We live in Whittier, which has some super aggressive HOA’s.

I’ll ask her to post it and see who squawks.

Should be fun.

[Richard_GB]

8. I once served on my HOA in Arizona

I put my hand up at a HOA meeting when the board asked for volunteers to sit on the board. I lived on the ( lower cost) side of our neighborhood. Apparently I was elected by a landslide for that reason. It quickly became apparent that I was the liberal on the HOA. Most votes were 4 to 1. I was always the one. While most board members worked to manage the neighborhood from finances well, when it came to enforcing the rules (particularly the architectural rules) there was no leeway. Minor infringements were immediately punished with fines. Although it is not just the board. I saw how neighbors treated each other, inconsideration, intolerance or complaints of perceived infractions were common. If you live in a neighborhood with a HOA, put up your hand and get on the board, being willing to serve is often enough to get elected, otherwise it is the conservatives that will run your neighborhood.

[peggysue2]

9. Good on the Governor!

Some of these HOAs are way out of line with the demands and restrictions on homeowners. The usual complaint is: who's paying the mortgage, me or the HOA?

There are reasonable rules to maintain the value of a community's real estate properties, and then there's overreach

Prospective buyers need to grab a copy of the local HOA's property requirements before agreeing to sign. Otherwise, you could be in for a nasty shock.

[twodogsbarking]

11. DelBocaVista Forever.

[twodogsbarking]

31. He apologized for being a racist. He may not qualify.

[twodogsbarking]

67. I was referencing his acceptance into the "club" not forgiving him.

[Xolodno]

13. They brought on themselves.

Granted there are some good HOA's that just say hey we need to resurface ABC and that's all they do. Some are even neighborly and help with people getting things up to par with the by-laws.

Then you have the other kind who violate your privacy by looking in your back yard for "violations" while you aren't home, some even looking through your windows. I suspect a lot of angry Fox news viewers are going to be very angry about not punishing others for their enjoyment.

[OC375]

15. Minnesota

Minnesota is finally beginning to get serious about rogue HOAs as well. There's no state level reporting or enforcement of existing, and honestly, very little in the relavent statues that allow homeowners much recourse if their HOAs break the law or declarations. Courts view it as a "your little world, your little problem to solve, quit bothering us", so little ever gets addressed. If that changes in 2026, I believe there will be a sea chnage in how HOAs behave.

[AllaN01Bear]

16. hoas needed to be reformed a long time ago. many got to big for their britches . this is a start.

[paleotn]

17. That's good news. Not familiar with them other than the horror stories.

There are some HOA's up here. Mainly the greater Burlington VT area and the 2nd home / condo communities around ski resorts. For the rest of us it's maybe 5 or 10 families pitching in the maintain and snowplow private dirt roads and nothing more. Paint your house whatever color you want. Just don't come over and paint my house the same color.

[COL Mustard]

43. The larger ones, IMO, are the problem.

In the 1980s I lived in a couple of large communities with pretty aggressive HOAs. They never bothered us, because we kept to the rules. Other people though had problems because they didn't keep their yards clean and mowed, or had a lot of junk around outside. These were townhouse communities with shared yards and a lot of people in close quarters, so the HOA taking care of those neighbors was fine, unless you were one of the people they were after.

I live in a much smaller community now and we all know each other, and we all work together to solve problems when they come up. Size matters and sometimes smaller is better.

[LogDog75]

19. For those in California

One of the most useful resources I found was the Sterling-Davis Act which can be found at https://www.davis-stirling.com/H/historyofdavisstirlingact#axzz22EbH687j.

I recently told a friend of mine about it and he hadn't heard anything about it and he's been a board president for the last six years.
The website has a lot of useful information and it's easy to navigate. The thing I like about it is it's in plain English and they also give summaries of case law on the topic you're looking at.

Anyone living in a HOA in California should become familiar with the Sterling-Davis Act.

[dickthegrouch]

25. And many residents thumb their noses at pathetic fines

Degrading the whole value of the property for the rest of us

This is NOT a good thing.

My only recourse now is to sue for quiet enjoyment.

[Mike Nelson]

27. People don't follow rules...

... here, in my condo community. The $100 fine sounds reasonable. I've heard people don't pay, get lawyers, and the HOA loses money trying to enforce the fines... Our biggest rule-breakers are parking. Residents park in front of my garage! In an emergency, I could not use my car. We have a two-pet limit, and one unit has at least six. They are let out, so everyone sees... you report, but nothing is done. People do construction and loud noises go on after the quiet hours. People smoke in the community areas...leave the gates open... on and on... I ask friends in condo units and they say most are like mine. People don't follow rules and HOAs seem unable to do anything.

[Norrrm]

28. Many horror stories about HOA Karens.

Retiree board members who have nothing better to do than control the lives of others.

Board leaders who have discovered ways to enrich themselves with money under their control.

[Scrivener7]

45. Do you live in a HOA development?

Do you have experience of them or are you going on "horror stories?"

[Norrrm]

51. Tales from those who have lived it have convinced me to avoid it.

[Scrivener7]

53. So no. I do. It's fine. I was careful going in to make sure I knew what I was getting into.

[cab67]

55. I've lived one of these horror stories.

I have no use for HOAs.

[Scrivener7]

56. Did you know the HOA rules when you bought? Or did the board change and become power

hungry and change how the rules were being applied? If the latter, I think post #8 is the answer to that. Change the board, change how the rules are applied. But in that case, people have to be willing to do the work to make the change.

I HATE being on my board. But I take my turn because I feel like it's everyone's responsibility to participate in the upkeep of our home.

[cab67]

57. A management company took control of the HOA.

This wasn't done by vote. In fact, to this day I'm not entirely sure how it happened. But it happened.

The management company changed many of the rules overnight. Suddenly, the landscaping I'd spent years on was unacceptable. So we sold and moved.

I will never live in a neighborhood controlled by an HOA again. I don't feel like having to reconfigure my back yard every time there's a change in management.

[Scrivener7]

58. That's weird. Sounds like something underhanded going on. The MC is supposed to work for you.

MCs scare me a lot more than HOAs. My cousin lived in a building where the MC took the money for 6 months, paid none of the bills and then the guy absconded to somewhere in South America leaving them almost bankrupt.

[akbacchus_BC]

29. I wish he will run for President next election. It is clear that Americans are not ready for a female President! NT

[Shrek]

30. I'm not in CA but I like my HOA

Mostly it just maintains the common areas and takes care of managing our 4 neighborhood swimming pools.

It doesn't pester the homeowners unless there's a collapsed fence or a yard overflowing with weeds (or an obvious violation like a chicken coop in the back yard or something).

[Ruby the Liberal]

32. May the rest of the nation follow suit

[Escurumbele]

33. HOAs are too aggressive everywhere, they have the ability to foreclose a home, and the owner has very little recourse.

HOAs EVERYWHERE are out of control, they have too much power, and in some places they do very little. Also, the cost of HOA fees are creating a huge problem for the sale of real estate. You can see apartments with 2 bedrooms and 1 bath, 987 sq/ft which is a tiny place, having to pay $500+ per month on HOA, when in an apartment complex the benefits of an HOA are limited, its a rip-off and people do not want to buy in places like that, they don't want to pay outrageous HOA monthly fees.

HOAs need to be reigned in, they are out of control.

[Scrivener7]

46. Then they are free NOT to buy in those places.

Last edited Mon Aug 4, 2025, 12:09 PM - Edit history (1)

My common charges are high in part because my building is 100 years old and needs a lot of upkeep. In part the fees are high because we pay our building employees very well and make sure they have good benefits.

Our fee is a lot higher than $500, but some things are worth paying for.

[SpankMe]

37. If you think CA HOA's are aggressive, you should look into Florida HOA's

Florida has set the standard for HOA oppression. Some of the stories coming out of there are truly harrowing.

[Scrivener7]

40. Do you mean this new spate of astronomical assessments?

If so, those came out of laws like the ones Newsom is proposing.

For many years the law encoded the ability not to pay sufficient common charges for regular upkeep. Once that apartment building collapsed and killed dozens, the state rightfully reversed those laws and said the buildings had to be brought up to code in 2 years, resulting in assessments of hundreds of thousands of dollars. But the magnitude of the assessment on a particular building shows just how dangerous that building had been allowed to become because residents opted out of regular upkeep.

[SpankMe]

70. Not sure what you're saying

The law says nothing about capping HOA fees or capping "charges for regular upkeep," as you put it. Rather it caps fines at $100...unless there are health or safety impacts. The intent appears to be to prevent someone for being charged a $500/day fine for changing a door header that is entirely interior to a home or condo that they own.

There is nothing in this new law, or in existing Cali HOA law, that allows people not to pay common charges for regular upkeep. HOA's can charge any monthly fee necessary that is commensurate with the needs of common area maintenance. Non-payment of fees can result in foreclosure if it's in the CC&R's. This law doesn't change that.

The residents of the Champlain Towers in Florida refused to provide necessary funding to repair ongoing structural decay of their building. This lack of funding came from a stubborn refusal to believe engineering reports about the building's structure, and from residents just not wanting to part with the cash necessary to fix it up. The lack of funding did not come from their inability to fine old ladies $50/day for having the wrong color petunias on their balconies.

I know the HOA's need a deterrent for repeat or non-compliant violators. But the HOA's brought this on themselves with notorious cases of excessive fines - up to and including seizure of homes - for petty violations like patio umbrellas that are the wrong color or a car being parked wrong.

This new law might need a tweak. But I wholly agree with the intent.

[David__77]

42. I think a nuanced approach is appropriate.

Repeat egregious offenders should not be covered by this. That said, it’s entirely reasonable to ensure limits on scope of HOA purview are appropriate.

HOAs often don’t enforce their own rules.

[Scrivener7]

44. Seems like those of us who have HOAs are either not happy or have mixed feelings

about this, whereas those who have "just heard the horror stories" and have no experience with HOAs think this is just peachy.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

47. I have no issues with our HOA

Fee was $580/year for 2025; it goes up a bit each year, but has an upper limit on how much it can increase...increases have never reached the limit, and we've not had any big assessments.

Fees go towards keeping up the blacktop paths that run through the neighborhood behind people's houses, as well as for garbage and recycle collection. Anything done on the exterior (siding, roof, garage doors, additions, etc.) have to go to the architectural review board, but in our experience, it's literally an email with plans/pics of what you want to do, and you hear back within a day or two. For example, when we were replacing our garage doors, we sent a picture of the existing doors and told them they would be the same exact door, just white instead of cream; heard back within a couple of hours.

When we were looking for homes, we saw a number of HOAs (in the newer neighborhoods, ours was built 1978-80) that cost $300-$500/month, and they even dictated what color curtain linings could be. No thanks.

[Scrivener7]

50. Me neither. I'm in a co-op so my fees include the real estate taxes, so they are higher.

But the purchase price of the home tends to be lower than with a Condo, and we have really lovely people working for us that we like to pay well and give good benefits.

So you're going to pay for that. I do it happily. Most are the same. Some are not. I have no respect for that.

[LogDog75]

61. I've lived in my condo for 21 years

When I bought my condo the HOA fee was $175 a month back in 2002. Since then, we've gradually raised the fee to $500 a month. That's not bad considering where I live in California housing prices are through the roof and where the HOA fees are high. Five years ago, we were paying $15,000 for our general, earthquake, and liability insurance coverage for our 10-unit complex. That's now $25,000 and continues to go up.The thing is we're in neither a flood or wildfire zone but we're paying for those who are.

One of the things HOA fees does, besides the monthly bills, is to fund our reserves. In the 21 year's I've lived here, we've never had a problem when it comes to raising our HOA fees. Increases to HOA fees or assessments are presented to the HOA owners at our annual meetings, discussed, and voted on by the owners. So far, we've always approved the increases. That's one of the advantages belonging to a small HOA.

[Scrivener7]

66. Our insurance has DOUBLED in the last 5 years. And we're not in a flood plain or

earthquake area, or anything like that. It's nuts.

[MayReasonRule]

59. Newsom Gained Substantive Political Capital By Capping These Onorous And Counterproductive HOA Penalties

Extra Bonus Political Capital for providing additional venue outside of HOA as well as regulating what may and may not occur within the HOA hearings.

This was a smart move.