Homeowner resource
Know your rights
California's Davis-Stirling Act gives owners in a common interest development a specific set of enforceable rights. Most owners never hear about them. These pages explain what they are, checked against the Jamacha Greens documents rather than written in the abstract.
Behind the title: a walk between two of the buildings, on the ground between Amistad Ct and Gustavo St, photographed by an owner at 6:26 on the evening of August 30, 2026 — six minutes before the entrance sign on the front page. Nothing in the frame says which walk, and it does not need to: every right on this page belongs to the owner of each home in it.
One thing to know first
Your rights come from the statute, not from our governing documents — and where the two disagree, the statute is the one that counts. Civil Code § 4205 puts state law above the CC&Rs, the CC&Rs above the Articles of Incorporation, the Articles above the Bylaws, and the Bylaws above operating rules.
That ordering does a lot of work here. Our Bylaws were adopted in 1971 and our Rules and Regulations were last revised in January 2011. Substantial parts of California HOA law have been rewritten since — including the rules on organizing, fines, elections, rentals and virtual meetings. More on which document controls.
The rights, one page each
- Your Right to Organize California law expressly protects your right to meet with neighbors, canvass, petition, and criticize the association online — without the board's permission. Civil Code § 4515
- Getting Association Records You have a statutory right to inspect the association's financial records, contracts, and minutes. You do not have to explain why — and there is a $500 penalty per request when access is wrongly denied. Civil Code § 4035 · Civil Code § 4050 · Civil Code § 5200 · Civil Code § 5205 · Civil Code § 5210 · Civil Code § 5235 · Civil Code § 5515
- How Directors Are Supposed to Be Chosen Secret ballot, an independent inspector of elections, and a real contest. When no one runs, seats get filled by appointment instead — which is how our board currently works. Civil Code § 5000 · Civil Code § 5100 · Civil Code § 5105 · Civil Code § 5115 · Civil Code § 5120 · Civil Code § 5135 · Civil Code § 5145 · Corporations Code § 7510 · Corporations Code § 7511 · Corporations Code § 7512
- Assessments: Why Dues Went Up 20%, and What to Ask Now Dues are $659.52 a month, up 20% for 2026 — the most a board may add without an owner vote. The 10% in the CC&Rs no longer governs, the increase was needed, and the reserve report says it is still not enough. The question worth pressing is where the money goes, and when. Civil Code § 5600 · Civil Code § 5605 · Civil Code § 5610 · Civil Code § 5650 · Civil Code § 4205 · Civil Code § 5658 · Civil Code § 5300 · Civil Code § 5500 · Civil Code § 5515 · Civil Code § 5550 · Civil Code § 5560 · Corporations Code § 7231
- Fines and Due Process As of June 2025, most HOA fines in California are capped at $100 — and if you fix the violation before the hearing, no fine may be imposed at all. Civil Code § 5850 · Civil Code § 5855 · Civil Code § 5658 · Civil Code § 5725
- Meetings, Agendas, and the Open Meeting Act Boards must act in noticed open meetings, on published agendas. Executive session is limited to five specific subjects — and virtual meetings carry extra requirements. Civil Code § 4045 · Civil Code § 4090 · Civil Code § 4900 · Civil Code § 4920 · Civil Code § 4923 · Civil Code § 4926 · Civil Code § 4930 · Civil Code § 4935 · Civil Code § 4950 · Civil Code § 4955 · Civil Code § 5000 · Civil Code § 5120 · Civil Code § 5145 · Civil Code § 5310 · Civil Code § 5930 · Civil Code § 5935 · Civil Code § 5950 · Corporations Code § 7510
- Internal Dispute Resolution The most underused tool available to a California homeowner: the association must meet with you, cannot charge you for it, and a written resolution is enforceable in court. Civil Code § 5900 · Civil Code § 5910 · Civil Code § 5915 · Civil Code § 5960
- How a Board Actually Changes Two routes: run candidates in a contested election, or petition for removal. The arithmetic is different for each, and cumulative voting changes what is possible. Corporations Code § 7222 · Corporations Code § 7510 · Corporations Code § 7511 · Corporations Code § 7512 · Civil Code § 5110 · Civil Code § 5115
- Renting Your Unit 107 of the 192 units at Jamacha Greens carry a tenant on the Association's own resident directory. California caps how far an association may restrict leasing, and our 1971-era documents do not reflect current law. Civil Code § 4740 · Civil Code § 4741 · Civil Code § 5300
- Balconies and the SB 326 Inspection Forty-eight balconies, one per building, all belonging to unit D. The 2022 inspection red-tagged 23 of them for immediate repair or shoring and found three failed guardrails. In October 2025 management told the board the high-priority work was resolved, and the board names the repairs as a reason a special assessment is coming. Civil Code § 5551 · Civil Code § 5550 · Civil Code § 5300 · Civil Code § 4775
- What Serving on the Board Actually Involves The job has a written description — five owners, a monthly reading assignment, one season of deadlines, and a legal standard built for volunteers. Here it is, derived from the documents that define it. Corporations Code § 7211 · Corporations Code § 7231 · Corporations Code § 8210 · Civil Code § 4041 · Civil Code § 4205 · Civil Code § 4910 · Civil Code § 4920 · Civil Code § 4930 · Civil Code § 4935 · Civil Code § 4950 · Civil Code § 5300 · Civil Code § 5305 · Civil Code § 5310 · Civil Code § 5405 · Civil Code § 5500 · Civil Code § 5501 · Civil Code § 5550 · Civil Code § 5551 · Civil Code § 5615