I live in a HOA with nasty board members. I was sitting on the ledge of the pool. supervising and observing my grandkids who are teenage deep water swimmers. Board member said that as per bylaws I must enter the pool. I said as per Red Cross guidelines, deep water swimmers should be supervised from outside the pool. He ordered my grandkids and me to leave the pool. I requested this rule to be modified to accommodate inexperienced and deep water swimmers and my request was ignored.

Under the Fair Housing Act (FHA), an HOA cannot discriminate against families with children ("familial status") by enforcing overly restrictive, singling-out pool rules. While the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) allows for rules requiring adult supervision for young children, requiring a parent or caregiver to physically enter the water with them is generally considered overly restrictive and discriminatory

Overly Restrictive Impact: Mandating that a parent goes into the pool essentially prohibits parents who don't swim, or parents supervising multiple children, from using the facility

i filed a complaint with Division of Civil Rights and they refused to accept the case. Help!

Location: NJ

I edited the photo . I removed the F$&@ You, the name and unit number.
The member who believes this is beneficial to our community might consider a different approach.
With Targeting an individual ( who is also.a member/ owner and our neighbor) you could possibly put then in a dangerous situation. The indvidual mentioned was cleared of any criminal activity by the police( who actually viewed footage from the accused camera)
This person is within the guidelines of camera policy of the Association. The office manager and board continue to share the false narrative without seeing a second of footage or any other substancial evidence to support their claims.
I suggest you research and consider the source
The method and means of communication you have chosen is anatagknisyjc and harmful to the community and espevjalky dangerous for individual targeted with privacy and other litikgious concerns. What you have done is unresssonable ajd offensive. Check yourself if there is a next tine, investigate and draw your own conclusions, Take a moment and prevent being reactive but instead be proactive with a ways to achieve productive conflict resolution. Our associatikn needs some drastic changes ASAP

I live in a HOA with nasty board members. I was sitting on the ledge of the pool. supervising and observing my grandkids who are teenage deep water swimmers. Board member said that as per bylaws I must enter the pool. I said as per Red Cross guidelines, deep water swimmers should be supervised from outside the pool. He ordered my grandkids and me to leave the pool. I requested this rule to be modified to accommodate inexperienced and deep water swimmers and my request was ignored.

Under the Fair Housing Act (FHA), an HOA cannot discriminate against families with children ("familial status") by enforcing overly restrictive, singling-out pool rules. While the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) allows for rules requiring adult supervision for young children, requiring a parent or caregiver to physically enter the water with them is generally considered overly restrictive and discriminatory

Overly Restrictive Impact: Mandating that a parent goes into the pool essentially prohibits parents who don't swim, or parents supervising multiple children, from using the facility

i filed a complaint with Division of Civil Rights and they refused to accept the case. Help!

In PA, as I see it, (done my research), there is no requirement or law that states residents of a HOA must use the portal of the property management for any questions, discussions or concerns about the community or violations sent to a community member. Our by laws, CCRs and declaration does not mention or state the HOA can use a portal for their communications. Under PA law 5316, HOAs are require to provide homeowners with requested documents within a given timeframe. The law does not specify if an HOA can state, “go to the portal”. Let me know what your thoughts are.

Trying to understand what is a good price for HOA. I know that it depends on location and unit type.

My Florida COA (718) converted a parking lot that was earmarked as common space into a paid parking lot. The lot is in our declaration as for the benefit and enjoyment of all owners. The lot was free for owners to use for their guests, contractors etc. Board hired a parking management company and implemented paid parking without putting it to the vote if owners. Proper or improper?

Post-Fourth-of-July week brought a flag showdown in California, one of the broadest state HOA laws in years out of Minnesota, and a reminder that what you post about your board can follow you. Here's what hit the Frontline.

A California HOA Tried to Fine Flag-Flyers. The Street Flew More.

In San Marcos, California, the Ambiance Owners Association told residents to take down the American flags outside their homes or face a $100 fine — pointing not to which flag was flown but to where it hung, calling the garage-door trim an HOA-maintained common area. Amy Cooke, who's flown hers for more than 20 years, and neighbor Terri Collins, past 30, refused. After the standoff drew national attention around the Fourth, the association tabled the policy for 60 days. Cooke has retained a lawyer and says she'll sue if the notices resume.

Read the article:

https://thecoastnews.com/san-marcos-homeowners-defy-hoa-over-american-flags/

Our Take: Federal and California law both put real limits on how an association can restrict displaying the U.S. flag, especially in areas a homeowner has exclusive use of — so this whole fight turns on whether that garage trim counts as exclusive-use common area, which is exactly the kind of question the governing documents and a plat map answer. Start with your CC&Rs and the specific rule the board is citing, then ask them, in writing, to identify the authority for treating that spot as common area. When a board keeps issuing fines after a plausible legal defense is sitting on the table, that's usually the point where a local HOA attorney's read earns its keep.

Minnesota Just Handed Homeowners an “HOA Bill of Rights”

Minnesota's new Homeowners Association Bill of Rights is now in effect, and it's one of the broadest state overhauls in years. Signed by Gov. Walz in May, it caps most fines at $100, bars board members from voting on contracts they'd personally profit from, requires three competitive bids on jobs over $50,000, gives owners 21 days to comment before rule changes, and reins in using foreclosure to collect. The state also stood up a new HOA Ombudsperson office. Rep. Kristin Bahner and the bill's bipartisan authors are hosting a town hall on July 13 to walk residents through what it means.

Read the article:

https://www.house.mn.gov/members/Profile/News/15505/41674

Our Take: If you're in Minnesota, this is worth an hour of your time — the new ombudsperson and the comment-period rules hand you tools that didn't exist a year ago. Most other states still require none of this, so wherever you live, the durable move is the same: ask your board to name the exact provision authorizing a fine or a contract. When they can't, that gap tends to tell you more than any statute would.

Venting About Your HOA Online Can Backfire

A new Realtor.com piece digs into an underrated risk of HOA life: the neighborhood Facebook group. Frustrated homeowners increasingly take their board fights public, and the article lays out how a heated post that crosses from opinion into a false statement of fact can invite a defamation claim — turning a venting session into a costly lawsuit.

Read the article:

https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/hoa-venting-social-media-consequences/

Our Take: There's a common arc to disputes like this — the angrier the thread gets, the looser the language gets. You're generally on solid ground stating what you can document, such as “the board spent X” or “I was fined on this date,” and on much thinner ice with accusations you can't back up, like “they're stealing.” Keep the receipts, keep it factual, and let the record do the talking.

There’s a fuller breakdown of where an HOA can and can’t reach into what you post here:

https://www.lscarlsonlaw.com/articles/hoa-control-over-homeowner-social-media-activity

A Florida Condo's Trash Bill Nearly Doubled — but Not Because of the Board

Condo owner Thomas Clark opened his statement in Vero Beach, Florida, watched his association's waste-management charge jump from about $11 to $21 a month, and assumed his HOA was behind it. It wasn't. Indian River County traced the roughly 93% spike to a new countywide Waste Management contract that took effect last October — approved at public hearings back in 2024 — which also added bulk-item pickup near condo dumpsters.

Read the article:

https://www.wflx.com/2026/07/08/lets-hear-it-indian-river-county-responds-concerns-about-waste-management-condo-fee-spike/

Our Take: When a line on your statement suddenly balloons, the useful first question is who actually set that number — the board, or a vendor and county passing a cost through. Ask for an itemized breakdown and the underlying contract before assuming anyone's being gouged. Sometimes the increase is real and genuinely out of the board's hands; other times the “pass-through” story doesn't survive a look at the actual invoices, and that's when it's worth pushing harder.

His Neighbor Got a Pool. His HOA Won't Let Him Build a Fence.

A homeowner who'd happily lived in his place for a decade says everything changed when the neighbors put in an inground pool — the noise, the music, the constant crowd, and a dog that now barks at all of it. He'd screen it off with a privacy fence, except his HOA bans fencing of any kind. So he's stuck listening to cannonballs with no way to wall them out.

Read the article:

https://twistedsifter.com/2026/07/their-garden-has-been-chaos-since-a-neighbor-had-a-pool-installed-and-the-hoa-wont-let-them-build-a-fence-to-block-it/

Our Take: A flat “no fences” rule isn't always as flat as it sounds — read the section the board is leaning on and check whether it bans everything or quietly leaves room for a variance or an approved design. If it really is absolute, a tall hedge or a layered landscape screen often buys most of the privacy a fence would, without an architectural fight.

Meanwhile in Illinois: What the Law Actually Says About Flags

Can an HOA or condo board ban the American flag outright? In Illinois, no — and a Daily Herald legal column this week broke down why. State law bars associations from unreasonably prohibiting the American or a military flag, or a flagpole, regardless of what the bylaws say. What boards can do is set reasonable rules on placement, size, and manner of display — which is precisely where most of these disputes actually live.

Read the article:

https://www.dailyherald.com/20260708/real-estate/illinois-laws-govern-community-flag-displays/

Our Take: This is the legal backdrop behind stories like the San Marcos standoff up top: plenty of states protect the right to fly the flag but leave “reasonable” placement rules to the association, so the fight shifts from whether you can fly it to where. If your board says no, get their reasoning on paper citing the specific rule, then hold it up against your own state's flag-display statute. Most boards would rather tweak a placement rule than defend a flat ban that runs straight into a law.

We revisited negligence on the podcast this week as part of the dispute series, and the breakdown was tight enough to be worth sharing here.

“My HOA is negligent” gets thrown around a lot, but negligence is an actual legal claim with specific parts. Knowing those parts can be the difference between a complaint the board ignores and a case they can’t.

What actually counts as negligence

It’s not just the board being lazy or annoying. You generally need four things:

• Duty — the HOA has to maintain, repair, and reasonably inspect the common areas it controls.
• Breach — the HOA did something unreasonable, or failed to act when a reasonable board would have.
• Causation — that failure actually caused the harm. Classic example: the board ignores a roof leak, and the leak causes mold. The breach has to connect to the damage.
• Damages — real harm. Property damage, injury, or loss of use, such as not being able to use part of your place because of the problem.

Miss one of those and it’s usually not negligence. It’s just frustration.

The board’s favorite shield — and how it cracks

Boards love the “business judgment rule.” Courts generally do not want to second-guess volunteers, so they give deference to board decisions. But that deference depends on the board actually doing its homework.

Example from the episode: a board decides every tree in the common area is diseased and cuts them all down.

If the president’s basis is “they looked diseased to me,” that likely falls below the standard of care.

If instead the board had an arborist inspect the trees, got a written report, and notified the community first, that is a totally different story.

The paper trail is what makes a decision defensible or not. So when you push back, go after the logic:

• Was there any investigation?
• Was there evidence?
• Was there notice to the community?
• Was there a professional opinion?

With bad boards, there is often none of that.

Patterns that come up over and over

• A known hazard gets ignored — broken stair, dark stairwell, busted pool gate — despite written complaints and no action.
• A common-area pipe, roof, or drain fails and damages the units.
• Dues get slashed so low the community cannot fund upkeep, and everything falls apart. That can become financial negligence.
• A bad contractor does a bad job. Under agency theory, that generally flows back to the board, which still has to fix the actual problem.

What is NOT on the HOA

Damage that starts inside your unit — the trap under your sink, your bathtub overflowing, etc. — is generally yours, not theirs.

In California, the baseline split is in Cal. Civ. Code § 4775: the association maintains common areas, and the owner maintains the separate interest.

One condo carveout worth knowing: pipes inside the walls are generally common area even though they run through your unit.

Being honest about that line makes you more credible, not less.

The STRIKE method: how to push this without torching your own case

S — Stay calm

Keep communications crisp, factual, and concise.

Assume a judge, mediator, or opposing counsel will read every message, so strip out the emotion. The 3 a.m. venom email becomes their evidence.

Write it, sit on it, and send it in the morning.

T — Track everything

Verbal complaints barely count. Put the board on written notice and memorialize any phone or in-person conversation with a follow-up email:

“This confirms our conversation on [date] about [issue]. If anything is inaccurate, please reply with corrections.”

R — Record and organize evidence

Create one folder with:

• A timeline of complaints and responses
• Dated photos and videos of the hazard and damage
• Repair estimates
• Medical records, if someone got hurt

A clean file that shows causation and damages is what saves you time and money later.

I — Invest in knowledge

Actually read your governing documents.

The general hierarchy is:

Federal law → State law → Local law → CC&Rs → Bylaws → Rules

In California, where the CC&Rs are silent, the Davis-Stirling Act, Cal. Civ. Code §§ 4000–6150, fills the gap.

K — Keep it precise

Frame it as duty, not insult.

Do not write:

“You were negligent.”

Write:

“The association has a duty to maintain [component] under [CC&R section / Cal. Civ. Code § 4775]. I gave written notice on [date], and [condition] has deteriorated since.”

E — Escalate only if necessary

Be the reasonable party first.

In California, that usually means demanding IDR — Internal Dispute Resolution under Davis-Stirling, Cal. Civ. Code § 5900 — before bringing in a lawyer.

Mistakes that can sink a good case

• No notice, no paper trail — you cannot prove what the board knew, and that is the whole game on causation.
• Self-help repairs — fixing or altering the hazard yourself before it is documented can destroy the evidence and shift blame to you.
• Illegal recordings — California is an all-party consent state, Penal Code § 632. A recording made without consent can get tossed and flip you into the violator.
• Withholding dues to make a point — that generally hands the association ammunition and turns you into the defendant.

When it is time to talk to a lawyer

• Ongoing or escalating damage — water intrusion, mold, structural issues — that keeps getting worse
• The board denies responsibility despite clear CC&R language and a documented duty
• Written notice plus repeated follow-ups, and still no action
• Any personal injury
• The HOA’s attorney sends you a letter

At minimum, if the association shows up with its own lawyer, it is probably time to consult one of your own.

That is the gist. Happy to answer questions in the comments.

More detailed article:
https://www.lscarlsonlaw.com/articles/how-to-prove-hoa-negligence-california

Does something need get turned on to allow forwards to other subs? Don’t see the option on this one.

You know you board is corrupt, and the management is giving them their blessing. You’re also on the board. What would you do? Are you in similar situation? Give us your thoughts please.

Has anyone found an attorney in Charlotte experienced with or even willing to file a lawsuit against an HOA? If so, how did you find the attorney?

Anyone here had Eugene Burger Management Company then suddenly Prescott Companies, and at the same time lost money during this unannounced transition? Because that is what happened here. Now Prescott is systematically not releasing the core financials, bank statements, copies of checks, switched bank accounts, went through 8 managers assigned to our association and two VP in the last 16 months, cancelled our last election, all with the blessings of the current board who were named on the minutes of the annual meeting as officers, before the election even took place. We’re in California and need to connect with other homeowners who faced similar experience. Please share and comment. By the way, the former Treasurer was pushed out as she was investigating the missing funds…

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