We revisited neighbor disputes on the pod this week, and one thing that trips people up is how often a supposed neighbor problem is really an HOA enforcement problem. This comes up constantly, so here's the breakdown.

Is it a neighbor problem or an HOA problem?

Your CC&Rs don't just tell you what you can't do—they also govern how neighbors have to treat each other.

When a neighbor violates the CC&Rs, two things can be true at the same time:

• You may be able to enforce the CC&Rs against the neighbor directly (nuisance, trespass, encroachment, etc.).
• If the board knows about the violation and does nothing, the HOA may also be liable for failure to enforce, selective enforcement, or breach of fiduciary duty.

The key questions are:

1. Is there an actual violation of a specific CC&R provision?
2. Does it cause real harm—property damage or a genuine loss of the use and enjoyment of your home?

If the answer to both is yes, the board generally has a duty to act. If the governing documents are silent and it's just annoying, it's probably a neighbor-vs.-neighbor issue.

Damage vs. quality-of-life disputes

Damage cases are usually the cleanest.

Example: An upstairs unit's leaking tub floods the unit below. Often the water runs through common-area plumbing, which can bring the HOA into the picture as well.

Quality-of-life cases (noise, odors, etc.) are tougher.

The standard is usually reasonableness. Some noise in a condo is expected. Tap dancing at 3 a.m. is not.

The more objective your evidence, the better. Decibel limits in your CC&Rs or city code—and measurements from a professional—carry far more weight than "it's too loud."

The STRIKE method (handle it without torching your own case)

S — Stay calm

Assume a judge or opposing counsel will read every message you send.

That 3 a.m. all-caps email may feel great in the moment, but it will not age well. A good trick: write it with the "To" field blank so you can't send it, then edit it the next morning.

T — Track everything

If it's not in writing, it didn't happen.

A conversation at the community potluck is not formal notice. Put the HOA on written notice and memorialize phone or in-person conversations with a follow-up email:

>

R — Record and organize evidence

Keep:

• A timeline
• Photos
• Videos
• Copies of all notices and correspondence

Put everything in one folder.

I — Invest in knowledge

Actually read your governing documents.

The general hierarchy is:

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

Scan the documents, upload them to an AI tool, and ask questions.

K — Keep it precise

Specific citations get results.

"You're violating Section 3.2 on page 9" tends to be much more effective than "you're violating the rules."

E — Escalate only if needed

Work up the ladder before bringing in lawyers.

In California, that typically means trying IDR (Internal Dispute Resolution) under Davis-Stirling before litigation.

Mistakes that can sink a good case

Don't secretly record people

California is an all-party consent state (Penal Code § 632). Recording conversations without consent can turn you into the violator. Video of a visible nuisance from your own property is generally a different issue, but don't trespass to gather evidence.

Don't retaliate

Don't:

• Tear down the fence yourself
• Park in their assigned spot
• Blast music back at them

Retaliation gives the other side ammunition and can turn you from plaintiff into defendant.

When it's time to talk to a lawyer

Consider consulting counsel when:

• The HOA dismisses the issue as "just a neighbor dispute" despite a clear, documented violation it has a duty to enforce.
• IDR is ignored or stonewalled.
• The association brings in its own attorney (remember: that lawyer represents the association, not you).
• Ongoing damage—water intrusion, mold, structural concerns—is getting worse.
• The economics make sense. Nobody should spend $50,000 chasing a $5,000 claim.

That's the gist. Happy to answer questions in the comments.

Full episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVKkBtjwC7k

More detailed article: https://www.lscarlsonlaw.com/articles/neighbor-violates-hoa-rules-board-wont-act-california

Legal Disclaimer
The information in on this post is provided for general informational purposes only and should not be considered legal advice. Viewing this post does not create an attorney-client relationship with LS Carlson Law or any of its attorneys. Laws and regulations can change, and how they apply to your situation may vary depending on the facts and jurisdiction.

If you have specific questions about your rights or obligations under your HOA's governing documents, consult with a qualified attorney licensed in your state. LS Carlson Law practices in California and Florida and represents homeowners only.

We recently interviewed attorney Edward Teyssier to discuss Arroyo v. Pacific Ridge, a California HOA election case that has now become published precedent.

The case arose from a recall election. A director facing recall wanted to submit a candidate statement for inclusion in the HOA's election mailing. While the HOA allowed statements from other participants in the election, it excluded the directors who were being recalled.

The HOA argued that the candidate statements mailed with the ballots were not "association media" and therefore were not subject to California's equal-access requirements. The Court of Appeal disagreed.

The court held that materials an HOA creates, pays for, and distributes as part of the election process qualify as association media. Once access is granted to one candidate, it cannot be selectively denied to another.

For homeowners, the takeaway is simple: an HOA cannot use its own election communications to give one side of an election a voice while excluding the other.

What makes Arroyo especially significant is what happened after the decision was issued.

When the opinion was first released, it was unpublished. While most people outside the legal profession rarely encounter the distinction, the difference is important. An unpublished opinion resolves the dispute between the parties but generally cannot be cited as precedent in future cases. A published opinion can.

Publication is what transforms a case from a victory for a single homeowner into legal guidance that can be relied upon across California.

Because the issues addressed in Arroyo are likely to arise again in HOA elections, a request was submitted asking the Court of Appeal to publish the opinion. LS Carlson Law participated in that effort, and the court agreed.

The ruling itself did not change. What changed was its reach.

Arroyo is now a published California appellate decision that homeowners, HOAs, attorneys, and courts can cite when similar election disputes arise in the future. That is particularly significant in the HOA world, where relatively few election disputes reach the appellate level and even fewer become published precedent.

We cover the case, its broader implications, and the strategy behind it in our conversation with Edward Teyssier, the attorney who represented the homeowner.

Full written breakdown of the case:
https://lscarlsonlaw.com/articles/california-hoa-election-rights-after-arroyo-v-pacific-ridge

Plenty of pushback this week — owners questioning vote counts, two states rewriting the rulebook, and one family’s fight for the right to sit in the shade.

One Resident’s Proxy Question Stalled a Dues Hike

In Killearn Lakes outside Tallahassee, the HOA board moved to nearly double annual dues — from $120 to $250 — pointing to 21 years without an increase. The fight that followed wasn’t really about the money. A resident publicly claimed the board was counting every proxy it collected as a “yes,” no matter how owners actually wanted to vote. On May 14 the board postponed the increase indefinitely, and its president stepped down.

Read the article

Our Take: Proxies are where a lot of HOA votes quietly get decided. If a number on a ballot doesn’t add up, the answer is usually in the governing documents — they spell out how proxies are supposed to be collected, assigned, and counted. Asking the board, in writing, to produce the proxy tally and the rule it’s leaning on tends to force clarity fast. When a board can’t show its math, or a contested vote gets pushed through anyway, that’s the point where professional guidance can be worth it — and in Florida, the statutes set real boundaries on how association votes are handled.

Arizona Moves to Protect the Right to Build Shade

Beatrice Charles spent four years with a backyard shade structure her family built to survive the Chandler, Arizona summer — until her HOA ordered it gone and a court sided with the association. The dismantling didn’t end the story. It pushed state legislators to act: the Arizona House just passed a bill that would let homeowners install backyard shade structures over HOA objections, while still letting associations set reasonable rules on size, placement, and appearance. It now awaits the governor’s signature.

Read the article

Our Take: This follows a familiar arc — one homeowner loses a fight, and the rules get rewritten so the next one doesn’t have to. If you’re staring down an architectural denial in the meantime, pull the exact CC&R provision the board is citing; sometimes the language is narrower than the “no” you got. A short, factual letter asking which rule prohibits the improvement, and on what authority, often surfaces whether the denial is actually grounded in the documents. If a real safety or livability need keeps hitting a flat refusal with no rule behind it, that’s usually where outside help earns its keep.

A Fair-Housing Audit Found Disability Bias Hiding in HOA Rules

Secret shoppers contacted 62 properties across greater Cincinnati, and nearly half turned up problems — including HOAs and landlords denying accessible parking and refusing accommodations tied to disability. One homeowner spent months fighting her association’s refusal to let her install a medical generator to power breathing equipment during outages. After the local fair-housing watchdog and the state attorney general got involved, the HOA approved it and covered more than $5,000 in costs.

Read the article

Our Take: Boards too often treat a medical need like an aesthetic preference. Federal fair-housing protections generally apply regardless of what state you’re in, which is why a written request that names the disability-related need and the specific accommodation you’re asking for matters so much — it creates a record and starts a clock. If a board stalls, demands medical details it isn’t entitled to, or denies a documented need outright, that’s typically when a fair-housing complaint or a conversation with a local attorney becomes the realistic next step. There’s a fuller breakdown of how these requests are supposed to work under fair-housing rules here.

North Carolina Weighs Banning Foreclosure Over Unpaid Fines

Can an HOA take your house over unpaid fines? In North Carolina, lawmakers are weighing reforms that would make that much harder. Proposals moving through the General Assembly would cap certain fines and bar associations from foreclosing on a home solely over unpaid penalties — the kind of escalation that has cost homeowners elsewhere their equity over relatively small balances. Supporters frame it as proportionality: a fine shouldn’t be able to snowball into the loss of a home.

Read the article

Our Take: We’ve seen how fast a small unpaid fine can snowball into a lien — and then into something a lot worse. Wherever you live, it’s worth knowing how your own state handles this, because many state HOA statutes treat foreclosure over fines very differently than foreclosure over unpaid assessments, and that distinction matters. If you’re being fined, get the board’s reasoning on paper and confirm which charges are penalties versus assessments before anything compounds. Once a lien or a foreclosure notice actually lands, that’s not a DIY moment — that’s when a local attorney needs eyes on it quickly.

When Your HOA Owns the Sewer Plant, Its Fines Can Land on You

Up on Lookout Mountain in Georgia, state environmental regulators hit the wastewater system serving the McLemore resort community with a three-year building moratorium and a penalty north of $110,000 after the system blew past its permitted flow limits. The wrinkle: the sewer company is owned by the homeowners association, not the developer. The board says it’s already funding repairs and an expansion, and that money spent on the upgrade may offset the penalty.

Read the article

Our Take: Here’s the part that’s easy to miss: when an association owns critical infrastructure — a sewer plant, a water system, private roads — its regulatory bills and deferred maintenance eventually reach owners as assessments. If you’re in a community like that, the reserve study and the latest budget are worth actually reading; they tell you whether the association is funding these systems or quietly kicking the cost down the road. A sudden moratorium or a six-figure penalty rarely appears out of nowhere — there’s usually a paper trail of warnings first. If the numbers don’t reconcile, or a special assessment shows up with no clear explanation, that’s worth a closer look before you write the check.

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That’s the Frontline for this week — drop your own HOA standoffs in the comments.

If you’d rather get Frontline in your inbox, you can subscribe on Substack — same roundup, once a week.

As always: Frontline is general information and community discussion, not legal advice. Every HOA dispute turns on its own governing documents and the law of the state it’s in, and reading about someone else’s situation doesn’t create an attorney-client relationship or tell you how your own would shake out. If something is escalating, talk to a licensed attorney in your state.

We revisited failure to repair on the pod this week as part of the dispute series, and the breakdown was tight enough to be worth sharing here. Posting because this is probably the single most common HOA problem we hear about, and most homeowners don't realize how much leverage they actually have once a board has been put on notice.

What the HOA actually owes you

Boards have an affirmative duty to inspect, maintain, and repair — not just respond when something gets reported. "We didn't know" is generally not a defense if a reasonable inspection would have caught it.

Three buckets of responsibility:

• Common areas — roofs in condos, pools, hallways, elevators, drainage systems, security gates, exterior walls, landscaping. Board's responsibility.
• Exclusive use common areas — patios, balconies, assigned parking. You have exclusive use, but structural maintenance generally falls on the association. The CC&Rs may split surface vs. structure (homeowner does surface, association does structure).
• Separate interests — interior of your unit. Your responsibility. Important condo carveout: pipes inside the walls are generally common area, even though they run through your unit.

Where Davis-Stirling fills the gaps (California)

If your CC&Rs are silent or ambiguous on a maintenance question, the Davis-Stirling Act (Cal. Civ. Code §§ 4000–6150) fills in. CC&Rs that conflict with Davis-Stirling are unenforceable on those points. Same logic applies when state law changes — ADUs, drought-tolerant landscaping, solar — older CC&R provisions covering those areas may be void.

Fiduciary duty is the heavy hammer

Board members owe homeowners a fiduciary duty, which is a heightened standard of care above ordinary negligence. Common patterns that may breach it:

• Deferred maintenance with reserves sitting unused. If the reserve study identifies the repair and the money is there, doing nothing is hard to defend.
• Selective repair. Clubhouse roof gets fixed day one, building three waits two years. Or the landscaping around the president's home looks pristine while everything else falls apart. Preferential treatment is typically a fiduciary problem.
• The "we hired a contractor" dodge. Under agency theory, a negligent contractor's failure generally flows back to the board. Real example from the pod: roofers opened a hole, didn't tarp it before an atmospheric river hit, and 20 units got destroyed. The board does not get to hide behind "the roofer messed up."

The STRIKE method

A framework for pushing this forward, ideally without a lawyer:

• S — Stay calm. Every email may be read as evidence later. Justified rage in all caps still optically hurts you.
• T — Track everything. Dates, photos, video, written notices. Memorialize verbal conversations: "This confirms our conversation on [date]. If anything is inaccurate, please respond in writing."
• R — Record and organize. Build a damage timeline. Get independent repair estimates — don't rely on the board's contractor. Photograph areas the board did repair. That's how you build the case for selective treatment.
• I — Invest in knowledge. Read your CC&Rs. Find the maintenance responsibility section or matrix. Check the reserve study. If your CC&Rs are silent, Davis-Stirling is your fallback.
• K — Keep it precise. Don't write "you're letting my house fall apart." Write: "Per CC&R § 7.2, the association is responsible for [element]. I provided written notice on [date]. As of today no repair has been initiated. This may constitute breach of the governing documents and a violation of fiduciary duty."
• E — Escalate only if necessary. In California that often means IDR (Informal Dispute Resolution under Davis-Stirling) before bringing in counsel. IDR works well when there's an information gap. Skip it if you already know the board is going to rage-bait you instead of negotiate.

The independent professional report is the multiplier

A homeowner saying "the water is coming from a common area pipe" generally carries little weight. A licensed water intrusion or plumbing professional saying the same thing in a written report carries real weight. You don't need destructive testing on day one — even a preliminary written opinion based on observation moves the conversation. Bonus: a qualified professional can also quantify the damages, which strengthens the claim later.

When it's time to talk to a lawyer

• Active property damage getting worse (water intrusion, mold, structural)
• Board denying responsibility despite clear CC&R language
• Written notice + repeated follow-ups + still no action
• Health/safety risk (mold, electrical, structural instability) — get out first, deal with it after
• Reserves earmarked for the repair, board still won't act
• The HOA's attorney sent you a letter — at minimum consult one of your own
• A special assessment that looks like deferred maintenance being passed back to homeowners

Six stories hit the Frontline this week — fraud, a dues revolt, an appellate ruling, a 44% fee jump, and two collisions between HOA rules and constitutional rights.

A 20-Year Sentence for the HOA Manager Who Funded Her Europe Trips Out of Reserve Accounts

In Harford County, Maryland, 44-year-old Sarah Chester was sentenced to 20 years (with 15 suspended) after pleading guilty to running a years-long Ponzi-style scheme through her management company, Magnolia Properties. Between 2021 and 2025, she siphoned roughly $600,000 from multiple HOAs — funding country club memberships, luxury items, and European vacations — and papered over the theft with forged bank statements and money shuffled between association accounts. Roughly 1,500 residents across more than 250 households were affected. She owes more than $600,000 in restitution.

Read the article:

https://dailyvoice.com/md/dundalk/baltimore-county-hoa-boss-looted-neighbors-for-luxe-life-euro-vacays-in-600k-ponzi-scam/

Our Take:

We've seen this pattern more times than we'd like. The mechanics are almost always the same — a single person controlling the books, no independent review, board members who trust the manager and never ask for raw bank statements. If you're on a board, or you're an owner who asks polite questions and never gets straight answers, that's the red flag.

Pull bank statements directly from the bank — not summaries the manager prepares — and reconcile them against the ledger. When the books "balance" only because someone is moving money between accounts, that's the moment you want a forensic accountant and a lawyer who handles fiduciary cases in your state.

HOA Dues Just Jumped 44% in a Single Year — And the Real Story Is the Reserves

New data from HOA management software company Vantaca shows median annual HOA dues climbed to $757 in 2025 — a 44% jump from the roughly $500 figure that had held steady for years. The driver is mostly reserves. After decades of underfunding, boards across the country are catching up at the same time insurance, repair, and disaster-recovery costs are spiking. Special assessments are climbing too — nearly 10% of HOAs imposed one last year (up from 7.8% in 2021), with a median bill of $1,100. Roughly 20 million Americans live in association-governed homes.

Read the article:

https://www.indexbox.io/blog/hidden-costs-of-homeownership-hoa-fees-surge-44-in-2025/

Our Take:

A jump like this is rarely a board "deciding" to raise dues. What usually happens here is that the reserve study has been quietly screaming for years and someone finally read it.

Start with your governing documents and your reserve study — both should be available to owners. Look at the funding percentage and the planned contribution schedule. If your board is rolling out a sharp increase, ask for the underlying calculations in writing and compare them to the last study.

There's a fuller breakdown of how special assessments actually work and what owners can push back on here:

https://www.lscarlsonlaw.com/articles/florida-hoa-special-assessments-homeowner-rights

When self-help has run its course — when the numbers don't add up, when the board refuses to share the analysis, when the vote was procedurally suspect — that's when counsel earns their keep.

Killearn Lakes Tried to More Than Double Dues — Then Pulled the Vote Five Days Early

Killearn Lakes, a sprawling Tallahassee community, proposed raising annual dues from $120 to $250 (or $268 for lakefront lots). It would have been only the second increase in 42 years.

A vote was scheduled for May 19. Then, on May 14, the board officially voted to postpone, citing the need for a "revised implementation timeline." Proxy-voting confusion and resident pushback dominated the lead-up. The new effective date has not been announced.

Read the article:

https://www.tallahassee.com/videos/news/local/2026/05/18/residents-revolt-over-killearn-lakes-dues/90147114007/

Our Take:

Boards pulling a big number like this typically count on homeowners not having time to read the bylaws on quorum and proxy procedure before the vote.

Whether an increase like this is even procedurally valid usually comes down to the governing documents — what notice was required, how proxies have to be issued and revoked, what percentage of owners need to vote, whether dues caps apply.

A short letter from a group of owners asking the board to explain the math (reserve study, recent capital needs, why this number) and the procedural authority for the vote often changes the dynamic.

If a rescheduled vote comes back with the same number and the same procedural problems, that's when it's worth talking to a local HOA attorney — particularly in Florida, where Chapter 720 sets specific notice and meeting requirements.

Arizona Appellate Court Draws a Bright Line: Boards Can't Vote in Executive Session

The Arizona Court of Appeals (Division 1) issued a ruling in A Z N H Revocable Trust v. Sunland Springs Village HOA, interpreting A.R.S. § 33-1804 — the state's HOA open meeting statute.

The court read "consideration" in the statute to cover discussion and deliberation only, not voting. Translation: boards can deliberate in executive session on narrow enumerated topics (legal advice, pending litigation, sensitive personal information), but votes and formal action have to happen in open meetings where members can speak first.

The court also pushed back on vague closed-session agendas, saying members are entitled to enough detail to know what's actually being discussed.

Read the article:

https://www.swlaw.com/publication/arizona-court-of-appeals-clarifies-homeowners-association-open-meeting-requirements/

Our Take:

There's a common arc to disputes like this. A board "discusses" something behind closed doors, emerges, and announces a decision with no recorded vote — and members find out when the invoice arrives or the rule changes.

The fix is procedural. Document your position in a brief, direct letter to the board asking how and where a specific action was authorized, request the minutes, and watch the next meeting agenda for any required ratification.

Signs this may need a lawyer's eye:

• The board refuses to produce minutes

• Executive-session agendas are stuffed with generic items

• Spending and rule changes keep materializing without a recorded open-meeting vote

For the California version of this exact problem:

https://www.lscarlsonlaw.com/articles/when-the-lights-go-off-california-hoa-open-meeting-laws

Can an HOA Force You to Take Down a Flag Honoring a Fallen Officer? Ohio's Senate Just Answered.

Ohio's SB 202 — named the Chief Steven DiSario Act after a Kirkersville officer killed in the line of duty in 2017 — passed the Ohio Senate unanimously this week.

The bill would prohibit HOAs, condominium associations, landlords, mobile home parks, and neighborhood groups from banning the thin blue line flag displayed via flagpole, window, or bracket.

Steven DiSario's father Tom drove the legislation after their HOA demanded in 2022 that he take down the flag he had flown since his son's funeral.

The bill is narrow: it covers the thin blue line flag specifically, alongside existing Ohio protections for the U.S., state, POW/MIA, and military flags. Other first-responder flags aren't included.

SB 202 heads to the Ohio House next, then to Governor DeWine's desk.

Read the article:

https://fox8.com/news/ohio-senate-passes-bill-banning-hoas-from-prohibiting-thin-blue-line-flags/amp/

Our Take:

This shows up more often than people realize — boards or management companies sending takedown letters over flags, signs, or yard displays owners feel strongly about.

The pattern is almost always the same: a single complaint, a board member who reads the CC&Rs broadly, and a citation to a rule that doesn't quite say what the letter implies.

Check what the bylaws and CC&Rs actually say about flags before assuming the rule applies — and check state law, because many state HOA statutes already protect at least the U.S. and state flags.

If a written request asking the board to identify the specific governing-document provision goes unanswered, or if fines begin piling up while owners wait on legislation, that may be the moment outside help makes sense.

A New Firearms Ban in Port St. Lucie Is Testing How Far an HOA's Authority Reaches

The Tradition Community Association in Port St. Lucie, Florida, banned firearms and weapons across all common areas — Town Hall, Tradition Square, the gazebo, splash pad, tot lot, dog park, trails, and stormwater areas.

The policy applies to all residents, including those with valid concealed carry permits.

Exceptions:

• Private rights-of-way

• Sidewalks

• Vehicles

• Law enforcement

Port St. Lucie Councilman Anthony Bonna called the policy an infringement on Second Amendment rights and said he plans to challenge it.

Police Chief Leo Niemczyk noted that violations of the HOA rule aren't criminal — city officers enforce state law, not association rules.

Read the article:

https://www.wflx.com/2026/05/18/tradition-hoa-bans-firearms-common-areas-sparking-debate-pushback-port-st-lucie-official/

Our Take:

This is textbook tension between private association authority and state-law rights — and Florida is a particularly interesting venue, where preemption questions around firearm regulation tend to draw careful scrutiny.

Read the section of the bylaws the board is citing; sometimes the actual rule is narrower than the press release or the violation letter makes it sound.

The practical reality is the one the police chief flagged: an HOA rule isn't a criminal statute, so enforcement against owners would generally run through fines, suspension of common-area privileges, or civil action — not arrest.

When fines start stacking, common-area access is suspended, or the association moves toward foreclosure-style remedies, that's the moment to talk to a local attorney about state preemption specifically.

Worth watching how the city's challenge plays out; cases like this often turn on whether the rule is being enforced uniformly and consistently.

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We’ve had quite a few people ask if there was a way to get our weekly HOA Frontline articles delivered directly to their inbox. So, we finally did something about it.

We just launched a Substack for anyone who wants a weekly dose of HOA Frontline without having to go looking for it each week.

If you’d like to subscribe, here’s the link:
https://open.substack.com/pub/lscarlsonlaw/p/hoa-frontline-weekly-fraud-fee-hikes

Frontline is our regular look at HOA news stories making headlines—curated for homeowners who want to understand what’s actually happening beyond the drama.

Every week, we review dozens of articles about HOA disputes, board overreach, policy changes, and homeowner conflicts. We pull out the ones that matter most—not because they’re the most sensational, but because they illustrate patterns that show up in real cases.

For each story, we break down:

- What happened (in plain language)

- How we’d approach it as a homeowner before calling a lawyer

- What warning signs would suggest it’s time for legal help

This isn’t legal advice. These are practical observations from a law firm that’s seen hundreds of these disputes play out. We’re showing you how to think through common HOA problems—so you can recognize when self-help makes sense and when it doesn’t.

Frontline exists because most HOA conflicts follow predictable scripts. The details change, but the structure stays the same. Understanding those patterns helps you make better decisions when your own board starts acting out of line.

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Tennessee Now Requires HOAs to Carry Fidelity Bonds

Governor Bill Lee signed SB 2326 into law, requiring Tennessee homeowners associations to maintain a blanket fidelity bond covering board members, officers, and anyone with access to association funds. The law is a direct response to a string of theft and embezzlement cases that left homeowners on the hook when board members or managers raided reserves. Lawmakers framed it as a baseline financial protection — if someone steals from the association, the bond is supposed to make the community whole instead of forcing a special assessment.

Realtor.com — Homeowners Gain Protection From HOA Fraud Under New Tennessee Law

Our take: This is one of those rare HOA stories where the news is broadly good for homeowners — but the work doesn't end the day the law takes effect. Without legal intervention, the first move for a homeowner in any state is to confirm whether your association already carries a fidelity bond and, if so, what the policy limit is. Associations holding millions in reserves and operating accounts sometimes carry token bonds that wouldn't cover a serious loss. Ask the board, in writing, for a copy of the bond declarations page. If they push back or stall, request it formally through whatever records-inspection process your governing documents and state statute allow.

Signs this may need a lawyer's eye: the board refuses to produce the bond, can't account for where reserve funds are sitting, or insists you have no right to ask. Add to that any pattern of unexplained vendor payments, sole-signature checks, or financial reports that "aren't ready yet" for months on end. When the basic financial transparency obligations start breaking down, you're often looking at a fiduciary duty problem rather than a paperwork problem.

Denver HOA Says Its Property Manager Drained $55K and Left It Broke

Speaking of why fidelity bonds exist: the 29th Drive Row Homes Community Association in Denver's Central Park neighborhood has sued its former property manager, Brett Hardt, and his company Avenue One Properties, alleging he diverted roughly $55,000 in association funds and left the community without enough money to cover basic operations. The lawsuit lays out a familiar pattern — a small community, a trusted manager, limited board oversight, and a slow-motion realization that the numbers didn't add up.

BusinessDen — Denver HOA says its property manager stole $55K, left it broke

Our take: If you had no legal team involved and just wanted to protect yourself as an individual homeowner, the practical move is to make sure the board is actually monitoring the management company — not the other way around. The board has a fiduciary obligation to oversee its vendors, and "we trusted the manager" generally doesn't excuse that duty. Ask, in writing, for the most recent bank reconciliations, the reserve account statements, and the list of vendor payments above a threshold (say, $1,000). A healthy board produces those without drama. A board that gives you the runaround, sends you to the management company, and then never circles back — that's worth paying attention to.

When self-help has run its course: you've requested basic financial documents through the proper channel, you've followed up, and you're either getting silence or vague reassurances. At that point, the issue isn't really the manager — it's whether the association is meeting its obligations to the membership. That's where a closer look at the governing documents, with professional guidance, tends to make sense.

Three New North Carolina Bills Could Reshape How HOAs Operate

The 2026 short session of the North Carolina General Assembly has produced HB 1212, HB 1174, and SB 1051, all aimed at community associations. The bills touch on a range of issues — board governance, enforcement procedures, owner records access, and limits on certain types of restrictions. None has been signed yet, and there's plenty of room for them to change in committee, but together they signal that NC is joining the broader national trend of legislative scrutiny on HOAs.

Ward and Smith — North Carolina Legislative Update: Three New Bills That Could Impact HOAs

Our take: Pending legislation is worth tracking even before it passes, because it tells you where the friction is — what homeowners have been complaining loudly enough about to make it onto a legislator's radar. If you're in a community where the board is leaning on a rule that's about to be limited or eliminated by statute, the smart play isn't to wait for the law to pass; it's to start documenting now. Build the timeline, save the notices, and keep your tone clinical in any correspondence. The paper trail that exists when a new law takes effect tends to be far more useful than the one assembled in a panic afterward.

When to consider professional guidance: if a board is doubling down on aggressive enforcement of a rule that's clearly on the legislative chopping block, or if you suspect the association is pushing through amendments to lock in restrictions before reform passes. Both situations may warrant a closer look at process and authority.

Utah Launches HOA Ombudsman Working Group

Utah's Office of Homeowners' Association Ombudsman, led by its first director Erin Rider, has launched a working group to tackle rising HOA costs and the steady drumbeat of homeowner complaints. The state has one of the highest concentrations of HOA-governed properties in the country, and the office was created specifically because traditional regulatory bodies weren't equipped to handle the volume of disputes coming in. The working group is expected to make policy recommendations on cost transparency, dispute resolution, and board accountability.

KSL TV — Utah HOA ombudsman launches working group to tackle issues and rising costs

Our take: An ombudsman's office can be a useful pressure point for homeowners who feel like they have nowhere else to turn — it's a public-record channel, it puts the association on notice that someone outside the community is now watching, and it costs nothing to file. If you're trying to resolve something on your own first, the practical sequence is: request the relevant documents in writing, give the board a reasonable window to respond, and if you get nothing back, consider whether an ombudsman complaint is appropriate before escalating further.

Signs the ombudsman route may not be enough: the dispute involves serious financial harm, ongoing harassment or retaliation, or an issue that goes to fundamental property rights. Ombudsman offices generally facilitate; they don't litigate. When the underlying problem is structural — a board that won't follow its own documents, repeated breaches of fiduciary duty, or escalating fines — outside legal guidance may be the next logical step.

Florida Court Greenlights Condo Association's Bad-Faith Claim Against Insurer

A Florida court ruled that a condo association can pursue extra-contractual, consequential damages against Empire Indemnity Insurance Co. in a storm-claim dispute. In plain English: the association isn't just suing to recover what the policy should have paid out — it's suing for the additional harm caused by the way the insurer allegedly handled (or mishandled) the claim. Bad-faith claims are notoriously hard to bring, and getting past the early motion stage is meaningful.

Westlaw Today — Judge OKs condo association's bid for bad-faith damages in storm claim

Our take: Most condo owners never see what happens between the association and its insurance carrier after a major storm, but the fallout lands on individual owners through special assessments, deferred maintenance, and rising fees. As a homeowner without legal intervention, the most useful thing you can do is push the board for transparency on insurance claims: when was the claim filed, what's the carrier's response been, what's the projected gap between coverage and actual repair cost? Get their reasoning on paper before escalating.

When this may need a lawyer's eye: the board is silent on a major claim, the carrier has denied coverage and the board appears to be accepting the denial without pushback, or the association is moving straight to a special assessment without explaining why the insurance proceeds fell short. Each of those is a moment where the board's choices are likely to shape every owner's wallet for years.

Clarksville HOA Dispute Heads Back to Court After Dismissal

A long-running legal battle in a Clarksville, Tennessee subdivision is heading back to court after an earlier lawsuit was dismissed. Residents say the HOA was officially formed in 2023 — after most of them had already bought into the neighborhood — and they're contesting whether the association was properly created and whether its authority to assess and enforce rules is valid in the first place.

FOX 17 News — Clarksville HOA dispute heads back to court after lawsuit dismissed

Our take: "Is this HOA even legitimate?" is a more common question than people realize, especially in older subdivisions where the original developer paperwork was sloppy or where an association was retrofitted onto a community that didn't have one before. The starting point is your governing documents — specifically, when they were recorded, whether they were properly recorded, and whether they actually bind your particular lot. Title work and recorded plats matter here in a way they don't in routine HOA disputes.

If this continues, it may be time for outside help: questions about whether an HOA was lawfully formed, whether covenants run with your land, or whether the association has authority over your property aren't really self-help territory. They're document-intensive and jurisdiction-specific, and the wrong answer can cost a lot more than a consultation would.

"The HOA Headache": Florida Fees Keep Climbing

Florida Weekly takes a deep look at why HOA fees in the state are rising faster than the national average — a combination of climate-driven insurance cost increases, post-Surfside legislative reforms requiring beefed-up reserves and structural inspections, and aging infrastructure across older condo developments. For some owners, monthly assessments have doubled or tripled in just a few years, and the article notes that the trend isn't slowing down.

Florida Weekly — The HOA Headache

Our take: Rising fees aren't, by themselves, a legal problem — sometimes they reflect real costs the association legitimately has to cover, and reserve-funding reforms exist precisely because past boards underfunded for decades. As a homeowner, the question isn't whether fees went up; it's whether the increase is documented, justified, and properly noticed. Check what the bylaws actually say about assessment increases, special assessment caps, and the notice timeline the board has to follow.

Signs worth a closer look: large special assessments imposed without itemized backup, increases that exceed any cap in the governing documents, or reserve studies that have been ignored for years while the board insists everything's fine. The numbers should reconcile to something — a reserve study, a vendor bid, a claim shortfall, an insurance premium. If the board can't show its work, that's the conversation to have first.

Can the HOA Tell You Whether You Can Park on the Street?

In a reader Q&A, a homeowner asks whether an HOA can prohibit on-street parking, even when the street itself is a public road maintained by the city. The short answer the column gives: it depends on whether the street is actually owned by the association (common in private communities) or by the municipality, and on what the CC&Rs and applicable state law actually permit.

PressReader / Tampa Bay Times — Can an HOA really tell you whether you can park on the street?

Our take: Parking is one of the most consistently misunderstood enforcement areas because it sits at the intersection of three different rule sources: the CC&Rs, state statute, and — when the road is public — municipal code. Pull out the CC&Rs and look for the specific provision the HOA is citing. Then check who actually owns the road. If it's a public street, the association's authority to fine you for parking there is often far narrower than the notice letter suggests.

When self-help has run its course: you've asked the board to identify the specific rule and explain its authority, and they've responded with a generic citation or none at all. Or the fines keep coming despite the road being municipal property. That's the point where having someone read the documents alongside the actual recorded street ownership tends to clarify things quickly.

Frontline is our regular look at HOA news stories making headlines—curated for homeowners who want to understand what’s actually happening beyond the drama.

Every week, we review dozens of articles about HOA disputes, board overreach, policy changes, and homeowner conflicts. We pull out the ones that matter most—not because they’re the most sensational, but because they illustrate patterns that show up in real cases.

For each story, we break down:

- What happened (in plain language)

- How we’d approach it as a homeowner before calling a lawyer

- What warning signs would suggest it’s time for legal help

This isn’t legal advice. These are practical observations from a law firm that’s seen hundreds of these disputes play out. We’re showing you how to think through common HOA problems—so you can recognize when self-help makes sense and when it doesn’t.

Frontline exists because most HOA conflicts follow predictable scripts. The details change, but the structure stays the same. Understanding those patterns helps you make better decisions when your own board starts acting out of line.

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1. Former Hammocks HOA President Reaches Plea Deal in $11M Fraud Case

The Marglli Gallego saga continued this week with new sentencing developments out of Miami-Dade. The former Hammocks Community Association president — described by residents as someone they were "terrified" of — and her husband, Jose Antonio Gonzalez, accepted plea arrangements connected to roughly $11 million in misappropriated HOA funds. Gonzalez forfeited a property prosecutors say was purchased with association money and turned over a $50,000 restitution check. The Hammocks case became a national reference point for how badly HOA governance can decay when residents' early complaints are ignored — it took years of pushback, state-level intervention, and an appointed HOA monitor before the full picture came into view.

Read the article

Our Take: Cases like Hammocks rarely start with eight-figure theft. They start with a board that won't release financials, a management company that won't return calls, and homeowners who give up after the first runaround. Before things ever reach criminal territory, the tools available to a homeowner are mostly procedural: written records requests, attendance at open-session meetings, and a contemporaneous log of every interaction (date, method of contact, response — or silence). If neighbors are getting different answers than you are, write that down too. The clinical paper trail is what eventually changes the dynamic.

Signs this may need a lawyer's eye: legitimate financial document requests get refused without explanation, the same vendors keep getting paid above market with no visible bid history, or you start hearing about properties or assets connected to board members that the association quietly funds. A single odd transaction may have a clean explanation. A pattern the board refuses to discuss in writing is a different situation entirely.

2. Honolulu Property Manager Indicted Over Alleged $647K HOA Theft

A Honolulu property manager named Doane has been indicted on charges of first-degree computer fraud and first-degree theft, accused of embezzling roughly $647,000 from homeowner associations she managed. Arraignment is set for later this week. Details about the alleged method are still emerging, but the charges suggest direct access to association financial systems was the vector.

Read the article

Our Take: Worth re-stating the structural point this case illustrates: the relationship between an HOA and its management company is contractual, and the management company answers to the board — not to individual homeowners. That structure works fine when boards are paying attention. It tends to fail when they aren't. As an owner, what you generally do have access to are association records, though whether you can actually compel disclosure depends on your governing documents and the relevant state statute.

Practical moves before anything reaches a crisis: request the most recent reserve study, the year's bank statements, and any audit reports. Ask in writing and keep the request narrow and specific. If those requests get slow-walked or refused, that's a data point you can act on later. When a single management company has stonewalled multiple homeowners on basic financial questions, that's usually when self-help has run its course.

3. Florida Condos Turn to Bank Loans to Cover Mandatory Repairs

Florida condominium associations facing newly required structural repairs — a downstream consequence of post-Surfside reforms — are increasingly using bank loans to fund work their reserves can't cover. The article walks through how years of underfunded reserves, deferred maintenance, and now mandatory milestone inspections have collided. Special assessments remain the primary funding tool, but financing is now firmly in the mix, and not every building qualifies on the lender side.

Read the article

Our Take: If you own a unit in an older Florida condo, especially one approaching its 30-year inspection milestone, this affects you directly. The bill for decades of underfunded reserves is being paid right now — through special assessments, through loans that raise monthly dues, or through a lender quietly deciding the building isn't financeable anymore. None of that is hypothetical.

Your governing documents are the starting point. Pull the most recent reserve study, the structural integrity reserve study (SIRS) if your building has completed one, and the minutes from any board meeting where loan options were discussed. Ask whether the loan terms have been put to a unit-owner vote where required, what the interest rate is, and how it changes the assessment timeline. When boards skip procedural requirements on something this consequential, the disputes that follow often turn on whether the vote was properly noticed and conducted — not whether the repair was actually needed.

4. Fannie Mae Tightens Project Standards for Condo and HOA Mortgages

Fannie Mae announced meaningful changes to its project standards and property eligibility rules — changes that will affect how lenders approve mortgages on units inside condominium projects and HOAs. The practical effect: more buildings could end up on lender blacklists if their reserves, deferred maintenance, financials, or insurance fall short of the new criteria.

Read the article

Our Take: This is the quieter story this week, but arguably the one with the longest tail. When Fannie Mae decides a project doesn't meet standards, conventional financing dries up, sale prices fall, and current owners can find themselves stuck — unable to refinance, unable to sell at the price they were counting on. Boards that have been deferring on reserves are about to discover the federal mortgage market is paying attention.

If you're an owner, this is a fair moment to ask the board specific questions: What's our current reserve funding ratio? When was our last reserve study completed? Have we heard anything from lenders about project eligibility? Do we carry the insurance limits Fannie now wants to see? Get the answers on paper. If the board can't or won't respond, that itself tells you something — about governance, and about your unit's future marketability.

5. River's Edge HOA Asks City to Take Over Drainage Lot

A useful inversion of the usual HOA-as-villain story: the River's Edge HOA is asking the city to take over the deed to a drainage lot the association has been responsible for. The board's reasoning is straightforward — maintenance costs have outpaced what 24 homeowners can absorb through dues, and the consensus is that raising dues won't close the gap.

Read the article

Our Take: This is what healthy governance looks like — a small association being honest about a maintenance burden it can't sustain and looking for a real solution. The opposite, which is what we usually see, is the board that doesn't acknowledge the math doesn't work. Maintenance gets deferred, common areas degrade, and eventually someone's basement floods or a retention pond fails. By then, the dispute has become much harder.

If you live in a small HOA that owns real infrastructure — drainage, private roads, retaining walls, shared wells — the questions are worth asking now: Do we have a current reserve study for this asset? What's the projected cost of replacement? What's our funding ratio against that? Most common-area infrastructure disputes don't begin as disputes. They begin as slow-motion failures that nobody acknowledged until the water was already inside someone's house.