California's high court took no HOA case at all this year — every petition denied
California's high court took no HOA case at all this year — every petition denied
2026-09-09 · California · Courts
California homeowners association law is being made entirely by the Courts of Appeal. Across every California Supreme Court petition conference from January 21 to September 2, 2026, the court granted no review, ordered no depublication, and granted no publication request in any common interest development matter.
Eleven matters reached the conferences. Every one was a denial.1
The record
January 21 — Tennis Villas at Monarch Beach HOA v. Ure (S294036): publication request denied.
February 25 — Holcomb v. Aliso Villas Condominium Assn. (S294490): review denied. Rialto Terrace HOA v. Superior Court (S294904): review denied.
March 18 — Arroyo v. Pacific Ridge Neighborhood HOA (S294225): review denied. LaZelle v. Mountain Valley HOA (S294743): review and stay denied.
April 15 — Eng v. Opperman (S295059): review and depublication denied.
May 27 — Key v. Hidden Hills Community Assn. (S296107): review denied.
July 29 — Alarcon v. The Avalon Management Group (S296469): publication request denied. Amstutz v. Pine Mountain Club POA (S296567): publication request denied.
September 2 — Harter v. Rancho Rios HOA (S297543): review denied, with Chief Justice Guerrero recused. Sparago v. Superior Court (Bel Air Glen HOA) (S297711): review and stay denied.
Why this is a story rather than a list
Two of these denials did real work.
The depublication denial in Eng v. Opperman is an affirmative decision. A depublication request asks the court to strip an opinion of citability without deciding the merits. Refusing it leaves the holding available — and Eng holds that Lamden judicial deference is not confined to maintenance decisions and that the business judgment rule protects a board's denial of an ADU application on public-safety grounds.
The four refused publication requests cut the other way. Each left a decision uncitable that practitioners had asked to be made citable, including rulings on manager liability, association disclosure duties, and a $401,918.50 fee award.
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Related California HOA Topics
- California Supreme Court, results of the petition conference of April 15, 2026 (S295059 — review and depublication both denied in Eng v. Opperman) ↩
- California Supreme Court, results of the petition conference of March 18, 2026 (S294225, S294743) ↩
- California Supreme Court, results of the petition conference of July 29, 2026 (S296469, S296567 — publication requests denied) ↩
- California Supreme Court, results of the petition conference of January 21, 2026 (S294036 — publication request denied) ↩
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