California · Davis-Stirling Act

What an association may fine a member, and how.

Since 2025 a monetary penalty is capped at $100 per violation unless health or safety is at stake. The member must be given ten days' notice and a chance to cure first — and discipline imposed without the procedure is not effective at all.

The cap, and the one way past it

§ 5850(c), as AB 130 rewrote it in 2025: a monetary penalty for a violation of the governing documents shall not exceed the lesser of the amount in the association's own published schedule, or $100 per violation. A schedule that names a larger figure does not raise the ceiling; the lesser of the two always wins.

Subdivision (d) opens the single exception: the board may impose more than $100 if the schedule in effect at the time of the violation says so and the violation may result in an adverse health or safety impact on the common area or another member's property. Before doing so the board must make a written finding specifying that impact, in a meeting open to the members — not in executive session, and not after the fact.

Two more limits sit beside it. Subdivision (e): a late charge or interest shall not be charged on a monetary penalty — which is the other half of § 5725(b), where a fine may not become a lien enforceable by sale. A fine cannot grow, and it cannot take the home. And subdivision (a) ties the schedule to the annual policy statement: it is distributed there, and penalties shall be reasonable.

Ten days before, fourteen days after

§ 5855(a): at least 10 days before the meeting, written notice by personal delivery or individual delivery under § 4040 — the same requirement whether the board is considering discipline or a charge for damage to the common area. Subdivision (b) sets the minimum contents: date, time and place, and the nature of the alleged violation or the damage.

Subdivision (f): written notification of the decision within 14 days of the action. And subdivision (g) is the sanction for all of it — a disciplinary action or a monetary charge for damage shall not be effective against a member unless the board fulfils the requirements of this section. Not voidable on challenge: ineffective.

If the board and the member disagree after the meeting, subdivision (d) gives the member internal dispute resolution under § 5910. If they agree, the board drafts a written resolution signed by both.

Two outer limits

§ 5875, added by AB 1410 in 2022: an association shall not pursue any enforcement action for a violation of the governing documents during a declared state or local emergency, where the nature of that emergency makes it unsafe or impossible for the homeowner to prevent or fix the violation. Actions for nonpayment of assessments are the stated exception.

And § 5865 draws a boundary around the whole article: nothing in §§ 5850 or 5855 creates, expands or reduces the board's authority to impose penalties. The power to fine comes from the governing documents; these sections only say how it must be exercised.