California Law
California HOA law is built on the Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act, the part of the Civil Code that governs residential community associations in the state.
In this section
Ten guides in two groups:
Davis-Stirling Act overview
California rules covered in other sections
The basics
The act is amended often, so read the current text of a section before you rely on any summary, including ours.
It regulates how a board meets, runs elections, sets and collects assessments, disciplines members and reports to owners, often step by step, and where it conflicts with your governing documents the statute wins.
This section is for directors and managers of California associations and for owners who want to know what their association is required to do. The rest of this site explains principles that hold in most states. Here we collect the California rules and point to the articles that cover each one.
The act is Civil Code sections 4000 to 6150. It applies to a “common interest development,” which section 4100 defines as a condominium project, a planned development, a community apartment project or a stock cooperative. Under section 4175, a planned development is a development other than those three that has common area owned by the association or by the owners in common, or common area that an association maintains with the power to levy assessments that can become liens. Associations of detached homes and townhomes usually fall here.
The act applies once a lot or unit has been conveyed with an interest in the common area or membership in the association, and the declaration, any condominium plan and any required subdivision map are recorded (section 4200). A development with no common area is outside it (section 4201). So are commercial and industrial developments (section 4202), which fall under the separate Commercial and Industrial Common Interest Development Act, beginning at section 6500.
Your own documents sit beneath the statute. Section 4205 sets the order: the law prevails over the governing documents, the declaration (your CC&Rs) over the articles of incorporation, the articles and declaration over the bylaws, and all three over the operating rules. Some sections apply whatever your documents say, such as the secret ballot rules in section 5100. Others set a floor your documents can raise, such as the monthly financial review in section 5500.
The Corporations Code matters too. An association can be a nonprofit corporation or an unincorporated association (section 4080). One incorporated as a nonprofit mutual benefit corporation is also governed by the Nonprofit Mutual Benefit Corporation Law. Section 4805 gives every association, incorporated or not, the corporate powers listed in Corporations Code section 7140 unless its governing documents say otherwise, and section 5100 says the act’s election procedures prevail where the two laws conflict on elections.
The act’s chapters show what it regulates:
1 guide
A detailed walk-through of the Davis-Stirling Act for California HOA boards.
9 guides
Sets out the formal enforcement steps, with a California section on the fine schedule and fine cap in Civil Code section 5850 and the notice and hearing required by section 5855.
Covers how to justify and adopt an increase, with a California section on how far a board can raise regular assessments or levy special assessments without a member vote (section 5605).
Explains each statement in the monthly packet, with a California section on the board’s monthly review duty under section 5500.
Describes the association’s core policies, with a California section on the act’s insurance provisions, including the fidelity coverage required by section 5806.
Gives general guidance on running a board election, from checking the bylaws to confirming a quorum and counting votes; in California, the secret ballot procedures in Civil Code sections 5100 to 5145 generally govern director elections.
Describes the usual steps for recording an assessment lien; California’s own requirements, including a certified-mail notice at least 30 days before recording (section 5660), are in Civil Code sections 5650 to 5740.
Explains whom each kind of manager works for, with a California section on licensing, the “certified common interest development manager” title (Business and Professions Code section 11502) and the written disclosure a prospective managing agent must give the board under Civil Code section 5375.
Written for sellers, with a California section on the documents section 4525 requires an owner to give a prospective buyer.
Shows buyers which association documents to read and what to look for, with the California list of what the seller must hand over.
Keep going
How CC&Rs, bylaws and rules work in any state.
Running board meetings, member meetings and votes.
Budgets, reserves, assessments and collections.
Working with a management company.
City and neighborhood rules, starting with Placer County.
Start here
A detailed walk-through of the Davis-Stirling Act for California HOA boards.
This page is general educational information, not legal, financial or insurance advice. Laws vary by state and your association's governing documents control many of these questions, so check with your association's attorney or another qualified professional about your situation.