Davis Stirling HOA Violation – Lubin Pham + Caplin LLP

Is Your HOA Violating the Davis-Stirling Act?

Aggressive attorneys representing California homeowners

The Davis-Stirling Act is a comprehensive statutory scheme that governs all HOAs in California. It not only enables them to exist, it regulates them, and protects homeowners. Unfortunately, HOAs regularly abuse their power and fail to abide by their statutory obligations. If you think your HOA isn’t following the law, such as:

Failing to hold proper elections,
Failing to give you access to records,
Failing to hold sufficient reserves, or
Failing to giving proper notice of its meetings,

It may be up to you to enforce the law. We can help you do that.

Our aggressive and effective attorneys have fought countless HOAs over Davis-Stirling Act violations in California. We’ll help you understand and, more importantly, enforce the Davis-Stirling Act to protect your community and your home.

Whether you are ready to engage with us or not, here are 5 things you should know about the Davis-Stirling Act and your rights as a homeowner.

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1. What Is the Davis-Stirling Act?

The Davis-Stirling Act is a statutory scheme that governs all types of residential common-interest developments in California. Common interest developments are typically governed by nonprofit mutual benefit corporations, like a homeowners association, aka an HOA. The Davis-Stirling Act not only creates the framework for the existence of HOAs, it details their rights and responsibilities, as well as your rights as a homeowner.

The Davis-Stirling Act became law in 1985 and gets amended regularly. For example, on January 1, 2020, the California legislature modified the Act to change the way that the governing boards of common-interest developments must conduct elections. These changes require homeowners to remain vigilant in evaluating their rights and obligations under the law.

We’ve made it our job to know the Davis-Stirling Act. So if you have questions about your HOA’s rights and obligations, we can help guide you through the nuances of the Davis-Stirling Act and ensure that your HOA is legally compliant.

2. When Does the Davis-Stirling Act Apply?

There are four types of common-interest developments that the Davis-Stirling Act applies to:

Community apartment housing
Planned developments
Condominium projects
Stock cooperatives

In addition to being one of these four types of developments, the development must have “common area,” which is some property that all of the owners own together. “Common area” is what makes the development a “common-interest” development. Common area might consist of shared walls, parks, roads, roofs, walkways, or utility lines. So even if you live in a planned development, if your community lacks “common area” the Davis Stirling Act may not apply.

Regardless of which category your residential property falls under, all types of common-interest developments are governed by an HOA and the HOA is governed by the Davis-Stirling Act.

We’ve helped hundreds of homeowners navigate the Davis-Stirling Act. If you need assistance understanding whether or not the Davis-Stirling Act applies to your community, we can help you too.

3. What Qualifies as A Davis-Stirling Act Violation?

The Davis-Stirling Act lays out the rights and responsibilities of both the HOA and its homeowners. It also provides a mechanism for resolving disputes between homeowners and their HOAs as well as between homeowners and other homeowners. Because the Davis-Stirling Act is comprehensive, it regulates almost every aspect of how an HOA operates, from meetings to maintenance, reserve requirements to rules and regulations, and elections to landscaping. Some aspects of the Davis-Stirling Act are easy for HOAs to comply with. Some seem more difficult. The following are some examples of Davis-Stirling violations we see every day:

Failure to conduct a proper investigation
Failure to comply with notice and hearing requirements
Excessive fines (including late fees, and attorney’s fees)
Selective Enforcement of CC&Rs or Rules & Regulations
Failure to follow proper election procedures
Failure to maintain common areasFailure to enforce CC&Rs

We help homeowners keep their HOAs honest. Regardless of what type of Davis-Stirling violation you’re fighting, we’re here to fight for your rights. If you think your rights have been violated, they probably have. But it’s up to you to do something about it.

4. What Are Your Rights In The Event of a Davis-Stirling Act Violation?

Depending on your specific circumstances, you may have different legal options.

For example, under the Davis- Stirling Act, your HOA must provide a mechanism for Informal Dispute Resolution, or “IDR.” The law requires HOAs to provide a “fair, reasonable, expeditious procedure” for resolving disputes between itself and its members. Essentially, both you and the HOA can ask each other for an informal meeting to discuss and try to resolve your disputes. You’re allowed to have your attorney there. The HOA can have its attorney there too. While you can refuse the HOA’s request, the HOA cannot refuse your request. If you settle, the settlement has to be in writing and signed by both you and your HOA. Because IDR is, by definition, informal, it is not always the most effective course of action.

In addition to IDR, the Davis-Stirling Act provides for Alternative Dispute Resolution or “ADR”. In many cases, the law requires you and the HOA to try ADR before filing a lawsuit in court to enforce the CC&Rs or the Davis-Stirling Act. And failing to engage in ADR may mean an automatic loss.

Mediation is one type of ADR in California, and the one provided for in the Davis-Stirling Act. In mediation, there is no judge and no jury. Instead, it is a formal meeting at which the parties share their side of the story and try to reach a settlement. It is typically more effective than IDR because a neutral third-party helps the parties evaluate their positions and aids them in coming to a resolution. Most importantly, participating in ADR creates the opportunity to recover your attorneys’ fees against the HOA if you have to proceed to litigation.

Unlike IDR, the law has special requirements on how to start the ADR process. If you don’t do it right, the HOA has no obligation to go to ADR, and you may lose your right to recover attorneys’ fees or, even worse, automatically lose your case in court.

Finally, the Davis-Stirling Act allows you to initiate a lawsuit against your HOA. The process of prosecuting or defending a lawsuit is called litigation, and it’s what you see on T.V. and in movies. It involves depositions, written discovery, motions, oral argument, and may ultimately culminate in a trial with a judge and jury. It’s expensive and it’s time-consuming. But sometimes you have to. Your HOA leaves you with no other option.

If you have to file or defend a lawsuit. Don’t do it yourself. No reasonable lawyer would ever tell you to do so. In fact, most lawyers wouldn’t even represent themselves. Litigation is complicated and time-consuming. And the failure to precisely follow the rules and deadlines can have dire consequences. In other words, it’s a full-time job. It’s our job.

If you need help determining what legal option is right for you, we can help you decide. We’ll explain the costs and benefits of each option and guide you to an educated decision.

5. Choose The Right Attorney To Protect Your Rights

There are many lawyers that claim to know California HOA law. But very few are dedicated to representing homeowners. Most lawyers that practice HOA law work for the HOA. You’ve probably heard of them: Tinnelly Law, Swedelson Gottleib, Wolf Rifkin, Beaumont Tashjian, Whitney Petchul, Berding Weil, etc. We know them. We’ve gone against them. We know their tactics.

We’ve protected countless homeowners from HOAs in _________. Contact us today to find out how we can protect you.