Latest Legal Updates
Latest Legal Updates
HOA and condominium association legislation, court rulings and regulatory changes across every state, the District of Columbia and federal law — newest first.
Showing 1,873–1,896 of 1,989 updates
A DC neighborhood commission wants condo owners told when a warranty bond lands
ANC 1E adopted a resolution in May 2026 asking DHCD to notify associations whenever developer warranty security is received or modified, after one association learned of a $660,000 bond only through a records request.
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Signed and effective now: AB 2692 lets burned-out LA County HOAs revive terminated CC&Rs
An urgency statute creating a one-county process to reinstate a terminated declaration after the 2025 Palisades and Eaton fires. It repeals itself on January 1, 2028.
Read the full updateDC is rewriting all twelve construction codes — comment window opens this fall
The Department of Buildings took over code development in February 2026, committed to adopting the 2024 model codes by the end of 2027, and will publish first proposed rules in late 2026 with a 45-day comment period.
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Connecticut court: adding later unpaid years to an association lien case does not wipe out the default
Birch Groves Assn. v. Jordon affirmed a homeowners association's lien foreclosure where the owner sat on a default for nearly three years, and held that an amended complaint adding more unpaid charges did not extinguish it. Released July 1, 2025.
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Arkansas's fortified-roof grant program excludes condominiums by statute
Act 427 of 2025 created wind and hail grants for Arkansas homeowners and wrote condominiums, manufactured homes and mobile homes out of the definition of an insurable dwelling.
Read the full updateSB 222 would bar California HOAs from blocking heat pumps
The bill would add Civil Code section 4737, voiding covenants that restrict heat pumps or gas-to-electric appliance swaps, and would cap local permit fees. It awaits the Governor's signature.
Read the full updateDC now requires one elevator running whenever a building is occupied
Administrative Bulletin 2025-03 confirms the Department of Buildings enforces Title 12-G, not Title 14 — setting an elevator availability duty, a 68°F heat standard from October 1, and a cooling season running May 15 to September 15.
Read the full updateConnecticut now assesses an owner's renovation costs back to that owner's unit
A subsection added to § 47-257 requires that where a unit owner's addition, alteration or improvement increases common expenses — maintenance, repair or insurance — the increase is assessed solely against that owner's unit. In force since October 1, 2025.
Read the full updateDC energy benchmarking now reaches buildings over 10,000 square feet
The reporting threshold dropped in 2026, pulling in small and mid-size condominium and cooperative buildings that had never been regulated — with a May 1 deadline that many will have missed and fines of up to $100 a day.
Read the full updateThe bill to loosen California's $100 HOA fine cap died in May
AB 2579 would have replaced the blanket cap with an enumerated list and fixed the cure loophole. Its author sent it to the inactive file and never brought it back.
Read the full updateArkansas sets a high bar for overturning a nonprofit's vote over misleading notice
A May 2026 decision presumes bylaws valid, lets them supplement the articles on membership eligibility, and requires proof that members were actually misled before a vote will be set aside.
Read the full updateDC bill would let the buildings department lien you before you fix it
The LIEN Act would expand the Department of Buildings' authority to record liens on real property, including before hazardous housing-code violations are abated and for unpaid DOB fines.
Read the full updateAB 2050 would make California HOA reserve funding mandatory from 2032
The bill would require associations to fund reserves at a level keeping the balance above zero for 30 years, with a 15 percent floor. It awaits the Governor's signature.
Read the full updateConnecticut raised the crumbling-foundation condo cap to $82,000 — and the loan bridging the gap collapsed
CFSIC's per-unit condominium cap rose from $76,000 to $82,000 on January 20, 2026, against an average remediation cost of about $139,000. The CHFA supplemental loan programme that covered the difference stopped functioning in August 2025.
Read the full updateDC bill would ban smoking inside every condo unit in the city
Bill 26-590 would prohibit smoking anywhere inside multifamily housing of two or more dwelling units, and within 25 feet of an entrance or window — doing by statute what most associations can only achieve by amending their declaration.
Read the full updateArkansas licensed property managers this year — and left HOA managers out of it
Act 392 of 2025 created two new property management licences. Neither reaches community-association management, and the Real Estate Commission has no jurisdiction over an Arkansas HOA board.
Read the full updateHOA master policies enter California's wildfire non-renewal ban for the first time
A new Insurance Code section names homeowners and condominium associations by name, and the Gann Fire bulletin locks 22 ZIP codes for a year from August 6, 2026.
Read the full updateDC moved every BEPS deadline a year — and added a hardship exemption
D.C. Law 25-307 slid the second energy-performance cycle to 2028, pushed annual benchmarking from April 1 to May 1, and created a whole-cycle exemption for financial distress or low occupancy.
Read the full updateConnecticut court: build without submitting plans and the “unreasonably withheld” defence never arises
Casner v. Roberts enforced a plan-approval covenant against owners who built a six-car garage without submitting anything — and reversed the trial court for reading the covenant as a total ban on commercial use. Released February 3, 2026.
Read the full updateCalifornia's high court took no HOA case at all this year — every petition denied
Eleven common interest development matters reached the Supreme Court's 2026 conferences. Review was denied in every one, depublication refused in another, and four publication requests turned down.
Read the full updateThe reserve mandate DC never passed arrives in January 2027
Fannie Mae's Lender Letter LL-2026-03, aligned with Freddie Mac, raises the minimum reserve allocation to 15 percent of assessment income, retires Limited Review, bars baseline reserve funding and caps master-policy deductibles at $50,000.
Read the full updateArkansas's AG says a POA could become a water authority — the Village itself could not
Opinion 2025-052 holds that Hot Springs Village has no legal status as an unincorporated community, but its property owners association, being a nonprofit corporation, may qualify under the amended Water Authority Act.
Read the full updateDC's top court revives a condo EV-charger claim and rewrites fee-shifting
In Burton v. Chase Point, the Court of Appeals held an association cannot moot an owner's injunction by adopting its own rule mid-suit, and construed “substantially prevailing party” in § 42-1902.09(b) for the first time.
Read the full updateSB 1238 would rewrite California HOA manager duties, balcony reports and reserve rules
The session's largest common interest development package would add a manager standard of care, restrict reserve spending on litigation, and reformat balcony inspection reports.
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