Internal Dispute Resolution

Internal Dispute Resolution — “IDR,” sometimes called meet-and-confer — is a formal process every California association must offer. It costs nothing and is available for essentially any dispute over the governing documents or the Davis-Stirling Act.

Why it is asymmetric in your favor🔗

Three features make IDR unusually useful to an individual member:

1. Participation is mandatory for the association. Under Civil Code § 5910(b), when a member invokes IDR in writing, the association must participate. A board cannot simply decline.
2. The association cannot charge you. Section 5910(d) prohibits the association from charging a fee to participate — including when the board chooses to bring its own attorney.
3. You may bring someone with you. Section 5910(c) gives the member the right to be assisted by an attorney or another person, at the member’s own expense.

The board must designate a director to meet and confer. That director’s time, and any attorney time the board elects to spend, comes out of the association’s budget.

The process🔗

• Submit the request in writing, describing the dispute and the resolution you are seeking. There is a template letter for this.
• The parties meet promptly at a mutually convenient time and place, explain their positions, and confer in good faith.
• If a resolution is reached, it is put in writing and signed by both parties.

Under Civil Code § 5915(c), a written IDR agreement signed by both parties is binding and judicially enforceable, provided the agreement is not in conflict with law or the governing documents and the board member had authority to bind the association.

Why it matters before litigation🔗

Civil Code § 5960 allows a court, in an enforcement action, to consider whether a party refused to participate in alternative dispute resolution before filing. A board that ignores a properly submitted IDR demand and then tries to enforce against that same member is starting from a poor position.

IDR is also a documentation engine. It puts the board on the record, in writing, explaining its reasoning — which is valuable whether or not the dispute resolves.

Practical uses at Jamacha Greens🔗

IDR is well suited to:

• A fine or violation notice you believe was procedurally defective or selectively enforced
• An architectural application denied without the written explanation § 4765 requires
• A records request that went unanswered past the statutory deadline
• Maintenance of common area elements the CC&Rs assign to the association

A related but distinct process🔗

Do not confuse IDR with Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) under Civil Code §§ 5925–5965. ADR is external mediation or arbitration, and it is a prerequisite to filing most lawsuits for declaratory or injunctive relief to enforce the governing documents. IDR is internal, free, and available at any time.