Fines and Due Process

Selective enforcement is a standard tool for pressuring inconvenient members. California tightened the rules substantially in 2025.

The $100 cap (AB 130)🔗

AB 130, effective June 30, 2025, amended Civil Code §§ 5850 and 5855. The core changes:

• Monetary penalties are capped at $100 per violation.
• No late charges or interest may be applied to a monetary penalty.
• A fine above $100 is permitted only where the violation has an adverse health or safety impact on the common area or another member’s property — and the board must first adopt a written finding in an open meeting identifying the specific health or safety risk.

The opportunity to cure🔗

This is the provision most likely to matter day to day. Under AB 130, a member must be given an opportunity to correct the violation before the disciplinary hearing. If the violation is remedied before the hearing — or the member demonstrates a commitment to remedy it, such as by producing a signed contract or a paid deposit — no fine or other discipline may be imposed.

Our board was briefed on this. From the July 17, 2025 minutes:

“The Board was updated on the AB 130 change that affects fines for violations. Moving forward a unit can only be fined a maximum of $100 per issue, if the violation is remedied prior to the hearing date with proof of resolution the HOA cannot assess fines.”

Note that the board’s own fine policy update, discussed at the May 22, 2025 meeting, contemplated “a $1,000.00 fine for dumping in the common areas” and raising hearing notice fines from $50 to $100. The $1,000 figure would now require the board to make and document a specific health-or-safety finding in open session.

The procedural requirements🔗

Civil Code § 5855 sets out the process a board must follow before imposing discipline:

1. At least 10 days’ written notice before the hearing, stating the date, time, and place of the meeting, the nature of the alleged violation, and that the member has a right to attend and address the board.
2. The hearing is held in executive session if the member requests it.
3. Written notice of the decision within 14 days of the board’s action (shortened and clarified by AB 130).

A board that misses these steps has not validly imposed discipline. Procedural defects are the most common reason fines fail when challenged.

If you receive a fine you believe is invalid🔗

The sequence that protects you:

1. Request the hearing and attend it. Bring documentation.
2. Cure the violation if you can, and document that you did, before the hearing date.
3. If a fine is imposed anyway, pay it under protest under Civil Code § 5658 rather than withholding — this removes any lien exposure while preserving your right to contest.
4. Request Internal Dispute Resolution under Civil Code § 5910. The association must participate, and cannot charge you for it — template letter.
5. If it remains unresolved, small claims court is available, and the burden falls on the association to prove the charge was validly imposed.

Also worth knowing: under Civil Code § 4765, if the board denies an architectural application, it must provide a written decision explaining the specific reason for the denial. A denial based on an unwritten policy exceeds the board’s authority.