So I have been thinking about a way to curb the nearly unlimited power of HOAs (home owners associations), but I haven’t found exactly how I want to do it. Well California, of all places, may have taken the first step towards curbing HOA tyranny.
(AI) AB 130 is a California law passed in June 2025 that caps HOA fines at $100 per violation. It took effect immediately on July 1, 2025, amending the Davis-Stirling Act to protect homeowners from excessive penalties.
Fine Limits
HOAs cannot exceed $100 for most violations of governing documents, taking the lesser of that cap or the amount in HOA rules. No late fees or interest can be added to unpaid fines, preventing escalating costs. Health and safety violations allow higher fines only after a board’s written finding in an open meeting.
Due Process Rules
HOAs must give written notice of violations, including meeting details, before any fine. Homeowners get a chance to cure the issue and attend a hearing to address the board. Post-hearing agreements must be written and are legally binding if they align with laws and HOA documents.
Yeah for real. Although I am hearing HOA’s are planning to get around this law by just making everything a health and safety concern.
What I was considering doing for my constitution part was something along the lines of banning non-official governance agencies, because in certain cases, you can’t choose not to join one. There’s areas in California where nearly everything for sale is part of an HOA, so if you want to live in that area, you are forced to join an agency that gets to govern over you.
But it’s never quite 100% of properties that have an HOA, and that is what tripped me up in my planning. If you are 99% forced into subservience to a system you don’t believe in, are you “forced”? But the largest thing I wanted to get rid of was the HOA taking someone’s house because they put up an unauthorized garden gnome outside, and at least the CA rule accomplishes that.
Here’s the situation though, not everything can be labeled “health and safety” and if I am not mistaken they also introduced the element of due process hearings for the accused, so this could possibly get pushed into the actual courts in the future if their due process rights are violated.
That’s true. I hope it does go thru that process, because these HOAs are incredibly arrogant, and there’s no moving on to a better world when such un-empathetic arrogance is allowed to persist.
