The Annual Davis-Stirling Compliance Checklist for Self-Managed HOA Boards

How to use this checklist

The Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act (California Civil Code §§4000–6150) applies to nearly every California HOA regardless of size — a small self-managed association has the same core obligations as a large professionally managed one. A few duties scale with budget or unit count, but most apply to you.

Work through the eight sections below and confirm each item against your own governing documents and fiscal-year calendar. To pressure-test where you stand right now, run the free California HOA compliance checker, and map your specific deadlines with the Davis-Stirling deadline calculator. For what compliance costs a self-managed board in practice, see our California Davis-Stirling compliance cost index.

This is general information about California law, not legal advice — see the disclaimer at the end.

1. Budgets, reserves & financial oversight

• Distribute the annual budget report 30–90 days before fiscal year-end. The annual budget report must go to members 30 to 90 days before the end of the fiscal year (§5300(a)). It must include the pro forma operating budget, a reserve summary prepared under §5565, a summary of the reserve funding plan, and an insurance summary (§5300(b), with the insurance summary at §5300(b)(9)).
• Attach the Assessment and Reserve Funding Disclosure Summary. The disclosure form prescribed by §5570 must accompany the annual budget report (§5300(e)).
• Update the reserve study at least every three years. A reserve study based on a visual inspection of the major components the association must repair, replace, restore, or maintain is required at least once every three years (§5550(a)), and it must identify the components with a remaining useful life of less than 30 years (§5550(b)(1)).
• Review the association's finances monthly. Unless your governing documents are stricter, the board must review — on a monthly basis — reconciliations of the operating and reserve accounts, the latest financial-institution statements, actual revenues and expenses against budget, and the check register and delinquency reports (§5500). (Older guides say "quarterly"; AB 2912 changed this to monthly effective 2019.)
• Get a CPA review if gross income exceeds $75,000. An association whose gross income exceeds $75,000 in a fiscal year must have its year-end financial statement reviewed by a licensee of the California Board of Accountancy under generally accepted accounting principles, and distribute the review to members within 120 days after the close of the fiscal year (§5305).

Use the reserve & assessment calculator and budget generator to prepare these numbers.

2. Annual disclosures & the policy statement

• Distribute the annual policy statement 30–90 days before fiscal year-end. The annual policy statement must go to members 30 to 90 days before the end of the fiscal year (§5310(a)).
• Include everything §5310 requires. The policy statement must contain the name and address of the person to receive official communications, the association's assessment-collection policies, a statement of the association's lien and enforcement rights for delinquent assessments, a summary of the dispute-resolution (IDR/ADR) procedures, the approval process for physical changes to property, and the discipline/penalty policy where one applies (§5310(a)).
• Publish the schedule of fines if you levy them. If the association imposes monetary penalties for governing-document violations, the board must adopt and distribute a schedule of those penalties in the annual policy statement (§5850(a)). As of June 30, 2025 (AB 130), a fine may not exceed the lesser of the amount in your adopted schedule or $100 per violation — unless the violation is a health or safety hazard documented by a written board finding in open session (§5850(c)–(d)). AB 130 also bars charging late fees or interest on unpaid fines.

Generate a compliant meeting agenda for adopting these policies with the agenda builder.

3. Board meetings & notices (the Open Meeting Act)

• Give at least 4 days' notice of a regular open board meeting. Notice of the time and place of a board meeting must reach members at least four days before the meeting (§4920(a)), and the notice must contain the agenda (§4920(d)).
• Executive-session-only meetings: at least 2 days. A nonemergency board meeting held solely in executive session requires at least two days' notice (§4920(b)(2)). Emergency meetings under §4923 need no advance notice.
• Make minutes available within 30 days. Minutes, proposed minutes, or a summary of a board meeting (other than executive session) must be made available to members within 30 days of the meeting (§4950(a)).

Produce compliant notices and minutes with the meeting notice generator and meeting minutes template.

4. Elections

• Use a secret ballot for the big decisions. Director elections and removals, member-approved assessments, governing-document amendments, and grants of exclusive use of common area must be decided by secret ballot (§5100(a)(1)); hold a board election at least every four years (§5100(a)(2)).
• Give 30 days' notice at two stages. General notice with the full candidate list is due at least 30 days before ballots are distributed (§5115(b)), and ballots must reach every member at least 30 days before the voting deadline (§5115(c)).
• Appoint an independent inspector of elections. One or three inspectors run the election; an inspector may be a member but not a director, candidate, related person, or contractor to the association (§5110).
• Electronic voting is allowed (AB 2159, effective January 1, 2025). An association may adopt an operating rule for electronic secret-ballot elections and must let members switch voting methods up to 90 days before an election (§5105(i)).

The full walkthrough lives on our California HOA election rules guide, and the annual meeting and electronic voting pages cover the mechanics.

5. Records & member inspection rights

• Know what counts as a record. "Association records" include financial statements, executed contracts, board-approval records, tax returns, reserve-account records, meeting agendas and minutes, membership lists, check registers, governing documents, and election materials; a narrower set of "enhanced association records" (invoices, receipts, canceled checks, bank and credit-card statements) has tighter access rules (§5200).
• Respond on time. After a proper written request, the association must produce current-fiscal-year records within 10 business days, and records for the previous two fiscal years within 30 calendar days (§5210(b)(1)–(2)). Minutes of a committee with decision-making authority are due within 15 calendar days of approval (§5210(b)(5)).
• Redact only what the law allows. Certain records may be withheld or redacted under §5215 (for example, attorney-client communications, executive-session minutes, litigation matters, and personnel records).
• Missing the deadline has teeth. A member may sue to enforce inspection rights, and the court may award a civil penalty of up to $500 for each denied written request plus the member's reasonable costs and attorney's fees (§5235(a)).

Store and produce records cleanly with document management.

6. Assessments & collections

• Respect the increase limits. Without a vote of the members, the board may not impose a regular assessment increase of more than 20% over the prior fiscal year, or special assessments that in the aggregate exceed 5% of the budgeted gross expenses for that fiscal year (§5605(b)); larger increases require approval of a majority of a quorum of members.
• Notice any increase 30–60 days out. The association must give individual notice of any increase in regular or special assessments not less than 30 nor more than 60 days before the increased assessment is due (§5615).
• Charge only what §5650 allows on delinquencies. A delinquent assessment may carry reasonable collection costs, a late charge not exceeding 10% of the delinquent assessment or $10, whichever is greater, and interest up to 12% per year, beginning 30 days after the assessment becomes due (§5650(b)).
• Send the pre-lien notice at least 30 days before recording a lien. At least 30 days before recording an assessment lien, the association must notify the owner in writing by certified mail, with an itemized statement of the charges and the owner's rights to dispute, to a board meeting, and to dispute resolution (§5660).
• Don't foreclose below the statutory floor. An association may not foreclose an assessment lien unless the delinquent assessments (excluding late charges, fees, interest, and collection costs) equal or exceed $1,800, or the assessments are more than 12 months delinquent (§5720).

Build a compliant increase notice with the special assessment tool.

7. Fines, discipline & enforcement

• Adopt and publish a fine schedule — and respect the $100 cap. Monetary penalties for governing-document violations must be set out in a schedule adopted and distributed via the annual policy statement (§5850). As of June 30, 2025 (AB 130), a fine may not exceed the lesser of your adopted schedule amount or $100 per violation — unless the violation is a health or safety hazard, which the board must document with a written finding in open session (§5850(c)–(d)). AB 130 also bars late fees or interest on unpaid fines and requires giving the member a chance to cure the violation before the hearing.
• Give at least 10 days' notice before a disciplinary meeting. Before the board meets to consider discipline or a damage-reimbursement charge, it must notify the member in writing at least 10 days before the meeting, stating the alleged violation and the member's right to attend and be heard (§5855(a)–(b)). The member may request that the meeting be held in executive session.
• Notify the member of the decision within 14 days. If the board imposes discipline or a monetary charge, it must give the member written notice of the decision within 14 days following the action (§5855(f)). Skipping these steps makes the discipline unenforceable (§5855(g)).

Draft a compliant violation notice with the violation notice tool, and review each director's duties with the board duties checklist.

8. Dispute resolution (IDR & ADR)

• Offer internal dispute resolution (IDR). The association must provide a fair, reasonable, and expeditious internal dispute-resolution procedure that a member can invoke, at no cost to the member, with a written and enforceable resolution (§§5900–5920, with the fair/reasonable/expeditious standard in §5910).
• Try ADR before suing to enforce the governing documents. Before filing an enforcement action in superior court for declaratory, injunctive, or writ relief (alone or with limited monetary damages), a party must first endeavor to submit the dispute to alternative dispute resolution (§5930(a)) — with exceptions for small-claims actions and assessment-collection matters (§5930(c)–(d)).

Keeping IDR and ADR summaries in your annual policy statement (§5310) closes the loop between this section and Section 2.

This checklist is general information about California's Davis-Stirling Act, not legal advice, and it is not exhaustive — your CC&Rs and bylaws may impose additional or stricter requirements, and the Civil Code is amended regularly. Confirm every deadline, threshold, and dollar figure against the current California Civil Code and your governing documents, and consult a qualified California HOA attorney before relying on anything here.