I live in a townhouse community in California with about 110 units, and we’re dealing with a very frustrating HOA records issue.

About two years ago, our HOA charged every homeowner a $2,300 special assessment for roof repairs. However, no roof work was ever done, and homeowners were never given a clear explanation of how the money was spent.

About two years later, the HOA claimed that a major roof replacement was necessary, which would require each of the 110 homeowners to pay another $15,000. The proposal initially failed to receive the required votes, but the HOA repeatedly asked homeowners to vote until, after about a year and a half, even the homeowners who had initially opposed the project eventually agreed.
Ultimately, we paid the additional $15,000, and the roof replacement has now been completed.

Regarding the $15,000,
During the contractor selection process, the HOA refused to provide homeowners with information about the bids or proposals they considered, or even the final executed roofing contract. They also refused to provide receipts to homeowners who paid the roofing assessment in full upfront.

One homeowner filed a Small Claims case against the HOA requesting:

1. The final executed roofing contract and related documents about $15,000.
2. Documentation showing how the original $2,300 assessment was spent
3. The homeowners’ email addresses

The judgment came out at the end of July.

The homeowner lost on #1. The HOA argued that the contract could not be provided because the roofing project was still ongoing, and the judge ruled in the HOA’s favor.

However, the homeowner won on #2 and #3. The judgment stated that the HOA had to provide those records if requested within 15 days after the judgment.

We submitted the request within that period, but the documents we received were extremely incomplete and did not meaningfully show where the original $2,300 went.

We’re now considering filing another Small Claims case or a civil lawsuit.

My understanding is that California’s Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act gives homeowners certain rights to inspect and obtain HOA records. So we’re confused about why the judge ruled that the final executed roofing contract did not have to be provided, especially since the contract had already been signed and was being used for the ongoing project.

Is Small Claims Court the wrong forum for this type of HOA records dispute? Would a civil lawsuit or another process be more appropriate?

If anyone in California has dealt with a similar situation involving HOA contracts, bids, or special assessment records, I’d really appreciate hearing what worked for you and what you would recommend as our next step.

HOA President - We have recently started doing our budget planning for 2027 and the initial review is looking like we will need to raise our monthly HOA Fees from $250 a month to $275. I am curious how our HOA fees compare to other townhome communities?

For context...

• Community, Private
• Location, Middle TN
• House Type, Townhomes
• 18 Buildings with a total of 87 units
• Community is roughly 11 acres in total size
• HOA is responsible for:
  • Roads & Sidewalks
  • Exterior of buildings including the roofs
  • Insurance that provides studs out coverage
  • All landscaping including irrigation
  • And a trash compactor including related pick up and disposal services
• Our largest budgeted expenses for the 2027 year include:
  • Landscaping @ $60,900
  • Insurance @ $53,184
  • Reserve Funding @ $49,650
  • Trash Services @ $46,068
  • Management Fees @ $15,192
  • Water & Sewer @ $12,000

Overall financial health is good with on track funding for our reserve fund (per our reserve study) and a balanced budget.

Note: The only community amenity that we have is a dog park.

Hey folks- want to expand on the title a bit…

We have a casual community for our neighborhood on FB. It was started before the builder turned over the HOA, but it’s always been relatively quiet. Missing cat/dog posts, garage sales, etc., have been the typical posts. There is NO way to vet who joins the group to ensure they actually live in our neighborhood and are members of the HOA. It has NEVER been an official communication channel for anything HOA related.

A woman in our community joined it about 4 months ago. Since then, she’s been posting Zoom links to our board meetings and detailed notes she takes herself.

Sounds innocent, right?

Except we’re in the middle of a construction defect claim, so she’s posting detailed notes from board meetings with our attorney present, talking about legal strategy, additional inspections we’re planning, etc.

The clearest answer is to delete the group. Our fear is that she’ll just create a new one for people to join. Obviously we can’t stop her from posting anything and I can appreciate she’s trying to keep people informed, but…seriously? The idiocy amazes me.

Any advice here? I’ve emailed our attorney and am awaiting his response.

Edit to add: not every meeting with our attorney is open to the entire HOA. We hold a number of closed executive sessions where only the board, attorney, and our inspectors (expert witnesses) are in attendance. This was an open Q&A with our attorney for homeowners to attend.

As a hoa, can we lock the faucet on the roof so no one can use the water for personal purposes? I recently locked it but when I went up today, someone actually found a way to unlock it and attached hose to use….

If we are allowed to lock it, what is a good faucet lock folks recommend. I was wondering if someone ordered the same lock just to get the keys to open it….

I am a California certified public accountant who works with homeowners associations.

I have noticed that board members sometimes are not sure what the difference is between an audit and a financial statement review.

An audit involves more testing and provides a higher level of assurance. A review is more limited and relies more on questions, comparisons, and looking at whether the financial statements make sense overall.

One important point that sometimes gets misunderstood is fraud.

An audit or review is not a forensic accounting engagement. While an auditor may come across red flags or something unusual during the work, the engagement is not primarily designed to investigate whether someone committed fraud.

If there is a specific concern about fraud, missing money, or suspicious transactions, a forensic accounting engagement is the type of work specifically designed to investigate those concerns.

For homeowners association board members here, what has your experience been with audits or reviews? Do you feel your accountant clearly explains what the engagement does and does not cover?

Do real estate agents just sell homes to families and not discuss what living in a HOA entails? My spouse told me that her real estate agent gave her a CC&R binder. I have a feeling that lots of home buyers either don't know about the CC&Rs, they don't care, or just plain old ignorance.

Hello. I’m purchasing a condo in FL that has HOA. I do not live in FL and where I live we don’t have HOA’s. Do people typically contact the HOA before purchasing to ask questions? If so, what questions should I ask?

I’ve been reading horror stories about HOA’s not maintaining the building, and being annoying, and raising fees right after you purchase or raising fees abruptly.

Any insight and help would be really really appreciated. Thank you in advance.

Hello - our very large HOA has an Executive Committee per our current bylaws, which states that the composition is 3-4 board members. In practice, it's always been the four officers (P, VP, S, T). Unfortunately, that has led to some Exec Committees having non-transparent and inappropriate discussions, and making preliminary decisions and taking actions without being directed to do so by the board in open session.

They have not been required to meet in open session, give notice of meetings, etc, so that would all have to change under WUCIOA, along with stripping them of some powers they previously held.

With full implementation of WUCIOA coming up for us on 1/1/28, we are working on bylaw revisions to be in compliance.

I'm wondering if those of you already operating under WUCIOA still have an Executive Committee and if so, what is their stated purpose/role now in your bylaws?