Four Pending Bills (as Currently Drafted) Would Help HOAs

By Kelly G. Richardson, Esq., HOA Homefront Column

The Legislature is more active this year regarding common interest developments than it has been in many years. There are presently at least 10 bills pending that would affect California HOAs, and two more “placeholder” bills mention HOAs but are presently empty of significant content but content might be added. Although February 20 was the deadline to introduce bills for consideration this year, placeholder bills or other filed bills could still be significantly changed at the last minute (such as Wahab’s AB 130 in June 2025). 

Four of the pending bills would help HOAs if passed, while six others would be troublesome for them. This week’s column will recap the four good proposals – we’ll save the six bad ones for next week.

Assembly Bill (AB) 1892 would help elections by acclamation. Civil Code 5103, enacted in 2022, allows HOAs to forego casting and counting of ballots if at the close of nominations the number of eligible candidates does not exceed the number of open seats. However, to use the acclamation process HOAs must start their election activities at least 150 days before the election date, and many HOAs find planning that far ahead to be difficult. AB 1892, by Orange County’s Assembly Member Davies, would shorten the acclamation process to the same length (90 days minimum) as normal board elections. The bill would also require that HOAs using electronic voting issue electronic ballot notices to members at least 30 days before the voting deadline.

AB 2035, by Newport Beach’s Member Dixon, proposes to help very large associations amend their CC&Rs. Voter participation regarding CC&R amendments is often low, and HOAs can petition a judge to approve CC&R amendments if at least more than 50% of all members voted for it. This bill would reduce that percentage to 37%. However, its application would be extremely narrow, applying only to senior housing HOAs of at least 6,000 homes in which at least 25% of the homes are occupied by tenants and if at least 25% of the owners live in the HOA less than six months each year. There are only a few HOAs that are large enough to benefit from this bill, including Third Laguna Hills Mutual and United Laguna Woods Mutual, both part of Laguna Woods Village in Laguna Woods, and possibly Sun City Lincoln Hills in Lincoln, California.

SB 1267, by Senator Allen of El Segundo, would help HOAs regarding electric vehicle charging stations. Installers would be required to indemnify or reimburse the HOA or its members for loss or damage caused by the installation, maintenance, or use of the system. HOAs would not be liable for problems caused by such systems unless the HOA was grossly negligent regarding them.

AB 2050, by Member Caloza of East and Northeast LA, proposes to add to reserve fund study requirements starting in 2032. The bill proposes to require HOA reserve studies to include calculating the minimum reserve savings level to prevent the account from falling below zero and allow boards to impose a special assessment once every three years to help reserve savings catch up to the minimum level required by the study. This special assessment would not be limited by the 5% cap of Civil Code 5605.

See pending bills at www.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov