{
  "section": "5658",
  "code": "California Civil Code",
  "law_code": "CIV",
  "citation": "California Civil Code § 5658",
  "heading": "Paying Under Protest and Going to Small Claims",
  "heading_is_editorial": true,
  "effective": "2013-01-01",
  "amended_by": "Added by Stats. 2012, Ch. 180, Sec. 2. (AB 805) Effective January 1, 2013. Operative January 1, 2014, by Sec. 3 of Ch. 180.",
  "official_credit_line": "Added by Stats. 2012, Ch. 180, Sec. 2. (AB 805) Effective January 1, 2013. Operative January 1, 2014, by Sec. 3 of Ch. 180.",
  "official_url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&sectionNum=5658.",
  "page_url": "https://quoroom.org/law/delinquency",
  "pending_amendment": null,
  "version_history": [],
  "verified": "sources differ — see notes",
  "verification_note": "Text taken verbatim from the Legislative Counsel of California official code database and checked word for word against an independent publisher. The two sources disagree on one word: the official database reads “Sections 116.220 and 116.221 of the Code of Civil Procedure” where california.public.law reads “Section”. The plural is what the Legislative Counsel publishes and is what the citation list requires. The same substitution appears at §§ 4210, 5310, 5350, 5375 and 5605 — in every case immediately before a list of two or more section numbers and nowhere else, which is where the second source's own citation-linking rewrites the word.",
  "sources": [
    {
      "url": "https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zip",
      "accessed": "2026-10-11",
      "name": "leginfo (Legislative Counsel official bulk code database, LAW_SECTION_TBL)",
      "note": "Authoritative. Retrieved with tools/fetch.py, which reads the archive's central directory by HTTP range request and fetches only this section's member. The leginfo.legislature.ca.gov HTML page sits behind a bot challenge; this is the same database that backs it."
    },
    {
      "url": "https://california.public.law/codes/civil_code_section_5658",
      "accessed": "2026-10-11",
      "name": "California Public Law (Public.Law)",
      "note": "Independent publisher, used to check the text word for word.",
      "edition": "2025"
    }
  ],
  "subdivisions": [
    {
      "id": "a",
      "label": "(a)",
      "text": "If a dispute exists between the owner of a separate interest and the association regarding any disputed charge or sum levied by the association, including, but not limited to, an assessment, fine, penalty, late fee, collection cost, or monetary penalty imposed as a disciplinary measure, and the amount in dispute does not exceed the jurisdictional limits of the small claims court stated in Sections 116.220 and 116.221 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the owner of the separate interest may, in addition to pursuing dispute resolution pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with Section 5925) of Chapter 10, pay under protest the disputed amount and all other amounts levied, including any fees and reasonable costs of collection, reasonable attorney’s fees, late charges, and interest, if any, pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 5650, and commence an action in small claims court pursuant to Chapter 5.5 (commencing with Section 116.110) of Title 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure.",
      "anchor": "https://quoroom.org/law/delinquency#s5658-a"
    },
    {
      "id": "b",
      "label": "(b)",
      "text": "Nothing in this section shall impede an association’s ability to collect delinquent assessments as provided in this article or Article 3 (commencing with Section 5700).",
      "anchor": "https://quoroom.org/law/delinquency#s5658-b"
    }
  ]
}