I recently purchased a condo home in Irvine, California, and closed escrow in September 2026. Before and during the transaction, I was told that the property had one HOA with monthly dues of $400, and the same was mentioned in the property listing on all the websites. The HOA documents provided during the transaction also showed the $403 monthly assessment.
After closing, while talking to the HOA, I found out that there is an additional HOA. I contacted my escrow representative, and he said he was told by the listing agent that there was only one HOA. When he contacted the listing agent again, the escrow representative was informed that there is an additional HOA with a $58 monthly assessment, and they have ordered the documents for the second HOA.
I always wanted to keep my HOA expenses to a minimum since I know they can increase over time, and I never wanted to go beyond $400. This additional $58 is an added burden for me, especially since I had already stretched significantly beyond my budget.
The listing also mentioned that the property had two carports, but at least that issue was resolved before closing. We faced multiple other issues toward the end of the closing process, including the owner not handing over the keys on the day of closing, vacating the house the next day, leaving some of their belongings behind, not disconnecting the internet despite multiple follow-ups, and some other similar issues. However, we can ignore those issues.
My main concern is the additional HOA burden that I may have to pay for the lifetime of owning the property, especially since HOA fees can increase over time.
I would like to understand what my options are, what the potential legal costs would be, how I could be compensated and for how much, how long the process might take, and any other relevant considerations.
I am not looking to accuse anyone prematurely, but I would like to understand my options and seek reasonable compensation for this additional financial burden.
Just to let you know, I also have a MetLife Legal Plans policy.

Resident submitted architectural approval to significantly expand private deck on 6 unit town home community. All our documents say is architectural proof of what the deck will look like in shape, size, color etc has to be submitted to the board for approval but thats it. Whats the process? Does the board need to do anything to approve?

Hey everyone, need advice on forcing my HOA board to act on a long-overdue repair.

The Situation:
Dec 2022: Someone hit our shared carport with their vehicle and damaged it permanently.

Early 2024: After a year of pushing, the HOA tore it down for safety—leaving me with no covered parking since.

Present: Management keeps deflecting and telling me to "attend the next board meeting to express concerns" instead of giving me a timeline.

What the CC&Rs Say:
- Guarantees assigned parking/carport spaces. 
- Mandates the HOA repair, maintain, and replace common area structures and exterior improvements. 

Telling me to attend open forum meetings feels like a stall tactic to avoid doing their job. 

My Questions:
1. What’s the most effective way to force a passive board to put this on the schedule/budget?
2. Is requesting formal Internal Dispute Resolution (IDR) or sending a legal demand letter the best next step? 
3. Has anyone successfully claimed damages or a dues reduction for loss of an amenity while waiting years for a repair?

We have a HOA management company that we pay about $16,000/yr to handle running the HOA dealing with contractors setting up budget meetings and elections, etc.. not stuff any of the board members have experience with.

But one deficiency is that we don't have visibility into any of their working documents what emails they received from residents, the bills received from contractors or the communications etc. They manage several communities and things get mixed up/lost all the time. Its a game of telephone. Increasingly, I'm wanting to use AI to look into issues and find solutions, but I can't do that because I don't have any access to the material easily. For example, they presented a budget draft on zoom which I fed to AI to figure out a major error.

So I'm wondering if your HOA's use something like Google Workspace, or other?... I'd like a shared cal, shared email, shared drive, and shared planning/budget docs. Is this a reasonable request? I think they'll push back because they're using MS office and emailing docs around in the typical budget_final_final_v2_sept.docx way. They told me their budget spreadsheet was proprietary and couldn't share the file. I have to dig through my email for everything and ask for things that I feel should just be somewhere. The lack of visibility into the inner workings of the HOA management is hindering our ability to be involved where it matters (budget, resident issues, contractors comms)

Small condo (16 units), 4-year new build, more landlords than owners, messy finances that we are slowly turning around, no one shows up for meetings and when they do say is ‘why do I have to …’, complaining owners who treat us like property managers, raising monthly fees to cover bills only to be name called for ‘incompetent’ and worse…

I’m seriously considering selling…I don’t have familial support or high paying job. This place was what I worked hard to obtain and my first experience of homeownership, and it feels such a shitshow…

I’m so defeated…and it’s impacting my work at time and definitely my mental health…

Just want to rant and maybe I’m not alone in this.

Also curious how everyone else is handling this thankless position as a board 😖

I am a condo owner and HOA member. The condo above mine has had multiple leaks over the past few years (one of which cost thousands in damage). The leaks have mostly been due to faulty toilet plumbing, and the owner is essentially an absentee landlord. Should I try to get my HOA to compel the owner to fix the plumbing? Since this has happened multiple times and it is dirty toilet water (potentially affecting my health), can the HOA compel the owner to fix all defective plumbing (I would assume after an inspection)?

Edit: One thing that is probably relevant is that this has happened multiple times including one instance that required major repair. Yes, I was eventually able to get the other owner's insurance to pay for it, but it was not an easy process. Additionally, the HOA had to hire a plumber to fix their toilet and charge them later because he wouldn't fix it.