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HOA Hell

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  HOA Hell:  California Homeowners' Definitive Guide to Beating Bad HOAs  (Michael Kushner, Esq.)  An intro to a new book about bad HOAs based on selected excepts:  For most people, buying a new home is an achievement, and rightly so.  But since more and more residential communities are governed by HOAs in California, it’s important for homeowners living in those associations to understand that in addition to buying a new home, they’re also buying into a private form of government—a legal structure with rules, penalties, and enforcement powers that often mimic the powers of local government.  These private governments are known as homeowners associations, or HOAs, and they govern millions of properties in California.  The Davis-Stirling Act is the primary body of law that governs HOAs in California.  It gives boards significant authority to carry out their duties, the most important of which are to maintain the common areas, enforce the gover...
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The Mail Carrier's Plea for House Numbers

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This video requires its own post given the absurdity of the matter. My husband was taking out the bins yesterday evening ahead of Friday morning's trash pick-up, when our mail carrier (with whom he is not familiar and had never previously interacted) approached to ask for his help.  She asked that my husband request of "the people in charge" (i.e., Meritage Homes) that visible house numbers be installed on the homes in the Willow community.  My husband broke out in laughter and replied that we had, in fact, requested these some time ago, but that the developer, Meritage Homes, had informed us that it had complied with the local requirements and would, essentially, do no more. Link to video:  The Mail Carrier's Plea for House Numbers When the HOA sent out a communication regarding its intent to allow for the installation of house numbers without a $75 Architectural fee, we submitted Written Comments in which we argued that homeowners SHOULD NOT BE RESPONSIBLE for these...
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Frequently-Violated Rules

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CC&Rs  Section 2.57 - Permitted Parking Areas "Permitted Parking Areas” shall mean driveways and garages that are designed and established for the parking of Authorized Vehicles. Permitted Parking Areas may also include those areas determined to be such areas by the Board of Directors as part of the Association Rules.  Permitted Parking Areas do not include Motor Courts, sidewalks, driveway or garage aprons,  streets marked with "No Parking" signs and/or red-painted curbs, or adjacent residential, commercial or industrial properties. Use of the Permitted Parking Areas is described in Section 4.28 of this Declaration.  CC&Rs  Section 4.28 - Parking and Vehicle Restrictions   All parking within the Project (including enforcement of parking by the Association) shall comply with this Declaration and any Association Rules. There is limited street parking within the boundaries of the Project, and curbside parking may be limited to only one side of the str...
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Facebook Group Posts

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The following posts are from a private community Facebook group Live Oak Residents which appears to have been renamed Live Oak & Trolley Heights Residents in October 2025.   Facebook group posts allude to 03/20/25 board meeting call that may not have been initiated by Keystone and/ or the Meritage-controlled Board.  We inquired about this during IDR on 08/11/25 and the Secretary of the HOA Board, Nick Harris, insisted that the call took place despite T. Levin's comment that the Host never started the meeting. Meeting Minutes indicate that 2 homeowners participated in the call.   Spring 2025 (?) Facebook Post -  Group's moderator had to call out the unknown individual  who maliciously revealed my name in a group in which posts are meant to be anonymous
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New NO PARKING Signage in Shared Driveways (Willow)

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The Meritage-controlled HOA board and Keystone got it wrong... again!  We no longer believe it's a matter of incompetence- at this point, we believe that the outgoing Meritage-controlled board is simply acting in its own interest and attempting to pass the costs of Davis Stirling Act-conforming signage and delay enforcement (via towing) to the new homeowner HOA board.   Email dated 03/05/26 to Board President, E. Joelson, regarding recently-installed NO PARKING signs Email dated 01/16/26 to Board President, E. Joelson, regarding NO PARKING Vendor Selection
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The Parkways

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The parkway is the patch of land that runs between the sidewalk and road.  As we understand it, this land is owned by the City, but managed by the HOA.  Modifications to these parkways are  prohibited per the only newsletter sent out to the Live Oak community in June 2025, but i t appears this is yet another rule that is not being enforced by the developer-controlled HOA given  the multitude of homes in the Alder and Sycamore communities which have modified the parkways in front of their respective homes.     UPDATE (04/15/26) :   I recently requested HOA clarification regarding the permissibility of modifications to parkways given a conversation w/ a homeowner who insisted they received written approval to modify the parkway in front of their property as part of their impending front yard landscaping project. We were disappointed to learn that one of the candidates for the new homeowner board has modified the parkway in front of their home. ...
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