2026-09-09 · California · Compliance

A California homeowners association may still impose reasonable restrictions on an accessory dwelling unit. It may no longer charge anything for the privilege.

The change is one sentence, added to Civil Code section 714.3(b) by AB 130, Chapter 22, Statutes of 2025, effective June 30, 2025:

“'Reasonable restrictions' shall not include any fees or other financial requirements.”¹

The Legislative Counsel's Digest describes the effect in the same terms: the bill “would prohibit fees and other financial requirements from being included in the above-described reasonable restrictions.”

What the section does

Section 714.3(a) voids any covenant or governing document provision that “effectively prohibits or unreasonably restricts” an ADU or junior ADU on a lot zoned for single-family residential use, where the unit meets the applicable Government Code standards. Civil Code section 4751 is its Davis-Stirling counterpart.

What survives is a genuine safe harbour: restrictions that “do not unreasonably increase the cost to construct, effectively prohibit the construction of, or extinguish the ability to otherwise construct” an ADU or JADU.

Design and aesthetic standards therefore remain available. Money does not.

The state has said the same thing in its own handbook

The Department of Housing and Community Development's Accessory Dwelling Unit Handbook, March 2026 edition, carries a dedicated homeowners association FAQ. Asked whether CC&Rs can prohibit ADU construction or use, it answers:

“No. Sections 714.3 and 4751 of the Civil Code nullify covenants, conditions, and restrictions (CC&Rs) that either effectively prohibit or unreasonably restrict the construction or use of an ADU or JADU on lots zoned to permit single-family residential uses. Such CC&Rs, including operating rules, are void and unenforceable.”²

The handbook's glossary repeats the fee prohibition verbatim, sourced to section 4751(b) and section 714.3(b). It also states what associations may still do: impose “some limited objective standards on an ADU or JADU, such as requiring, within reason, specific materials, architectural styles, or other design and aesthetic restrictions” — provided those standards are not more stringent than state ADU law.

1. Civil Code § 714.3, California Legislative Information — operative text ('Amended by Stats. 2025, Ch. 22, Sec. 1. (AB 130) Effective June 30, 2025.') ↩
2. Accessory Dwelling Unit Handbook, California Department of Housing and Community Development (March 2026 edition) — homeowners association FAQ and the 'reasonable restrictions' glossary definition ↩
3. AB 130, California Legislature — chaptered text and Legislative Counsel's Digest (Chapter 22, Statutes of 2025) ↩
4. CalMatters, 'California HOA triumphs over ADU law' (April 2026) — San Diego County Superior Court ruling on condominium application of the ADU statutes ↩