2026-09-09 · California · Legislation · Pending — not yet law

A bill that would attach a $1,000 civil penalty to repeated procedural failures in California homeowners association lien practice is the most recently delivered common interest development measure on the Governor's desk. AB 2439 is not law. It was enrolled and presented to Governor Gavin Newsom on September 8, 2026.¹

The bill is authored by Assemblymembers Blanca Rubio and Josh Lowenthal, with Assemblymembers Ash Kalra and Blanca Pacheco as coauthors. The Senate passed it 32–5 on August 27; the Assembly concurred 76–0 the following day. It amends Civil Code sections 5655 and 5690 and adds a new section 4755.²

Payment notices and the certified mail trigger

Section 5655 governs how an association applies payments it receives. AB 2439 would add notice and recordkeeping requirements to it.

If the payee or payment recipient changes, the association would have to notify members within 60 days, by electronic delivery or by first-class mail with certificate of mailing. The bill also adds requirements for payment receipts and an overnight mailing address.

Where a member misses two consecutive payments after such a notice, the association would have to switch to certified mail with return receipt. Payment records would have to be maintained for five years.

The escalating penalty

Section 5690 addresses what happens when an association fails to comply with the statutory lien procedures. Under the bill, a non-compliant association would have to recommence the notice procedures at its own cost, and would be liable for reconveyance fees and for the owner's costs arising from the noncompliance.

Then the new part: a third procedural failure within five years would trigger a $1,000 civil penalty and mandatory notification to the membership.

That is a change in kind rather than degree. Existing law's remedy for a defective lien process is that the association starts over. AB 2439 would add a monetary penalty and a disclosure obligation on top of it.

A public streets provision riding along

New section 4755 is unrelated to collections and easy to miss inside a collections bill: “Except for restrictions to enforce public health and safety standards … the governing documents shall not impose restrictions on a member's use of public streets.” Requirements imposed by local authority are preserved.

1. AB 2439, California Legislature — bill status and complete history (enrolled and presented to the Governor September 8, 2026) ↩
2. AB 2439, California Legislature — bill text and Legislative Counsel's Digest (amending Civil Code §§ 5655, 5690; adding § 4755) ↩
3. 2026 Tentative Legislative Calendar, California State Senate (September 30 last day for the Governor to act) ↩