On June 30, 2025, AB 130 rewrote the fine rules for every California common interest development. It capped most fines at $100 per violation, banned late fees and interest on fines, and gave homeowners a right to cure before discipline. It took effect immediately, with no phase in. Many fine schedules distributed before then still list amounts and escalations the association can no longer collect.
Under Civil Code §5850 as amended by AB 130, a fine may not exceed the lesser of $100 per violation or the amount in your published schedule, unless the board makes a health or safety finding at an open meeting.
The lesser of $100 per violation or whatever your schedule says.
AB 130 was a 2025 housing bill, signed by Governor Newsom on June 30, 2025 and chaptered as Statutes 2025, chapter 22. Its changes to Civil Code sections 5850 and 5855 took effect June 30, 2025.
The rule. A monetary penalty for a violation of the governing documents shall not exceed the lesser of the monetary penalty stated in the association's schedule, or $100 per violation. Both limits apply at once. If your schedule lists an amount below $100, that lower amount is the limit. If it lists an amount above $100, the limit is $100 unless the health or safety exception applies.
It covers guests and tenants. Section 5850 applies to any monetary penalty, including any fee, imposed on a member for a violation of the governing documents, including penalties tied to the activities of a guest or tenant.
Penalties must still be reasonable. The statute keeps its older rule that monetary penalties shall be reasonable, and that the schedule must follow the authority for member discipline in your governing documents. The cap is a ceiling, not a target.
Continuing violations. Roseman Law, in its July 2025 analysis of AB 130, noted that the new cure right likely invalidates daily or automatically recurring fines for a continuing violation. Ask counsel before keeping any per day fine in your schedule.
Only for a health or safety risk, and only after a written finding at an open meeting.
Section 5850 lets the board impose a penalty from its schedule that is greater than $100 per violation if the violation may result in an adverse health or safety impact on the common area or another association member's property.
The finding. Before imposing the higher amount, the board must make a written finding specifying the adverse health or safety impact, in a board meeting open to the members. A finding made in executive session, by email, or after the fact does not satisfy the statute.
Protecting privacy. The hearing on the violation itself can still happen in executive session if the member asks. Roseman Law recommends that the open meeting finding describe the risk without identifying the member. For example, "an unpermitted gas fire feature on a wood deck adjacent to a neighboring unit" rather than a name and address.
Your schedule has to say it. The exception lets the board impose a penalty "stated in the schedule" above $100. If your schedule has no higher amount for a health or safety violation, there is nothing above $100 for the board to impose.
Put it on the agenda. Because the finding happens at an open meeting, it has to be on the agenda in the meeting notice. Our guide to HOA board meeting notice in California covers the four day notice and agenda rule.
No. Not on any fine, at any amount.
Section 5850 now says plainly that a late charge or interest shall not be charged to a member for a monetary penalty.
This one often hides in software rather than in policy. Many accounting systems apply the same late charge and interest settings to every receivable on an owner's ledger. If fines and assessments share a ledger, check that late charges and interest are switched off for fine charges, and review whether any were added after June 30, 2025.
The rule is about fines. It does not change the separate rules on late charges and interest for delinquent assessments, which live elsewhere in the Act.
Yes. Fix it before the hearing and the board may not impose discipline.
AB 130 added a cure right to section 5855. The board shall not impose discipline in either of two situations:
The practical effect is that a fine is now a last resort for owners who do not fix the problem, rather than an automatic charge for having had one. A violation notice that tells the owner what to fix and by when, and that the hearing will be called off if they do, is both fairer and more effective.
The statute contains no exception to the cure right for health and safety violations. A dangerous condition still has to be cured, and the board keeps its other tools, but the cure right applies.
Ten days written notice before the hearing, and a written decision within 14 days after.
The 14 day decision notice is the step boards miss most often, because the next regular meeting is usually more than 14 days away. Have the manager or secretary send the decision letter within a few days of the hearing, using a template the board approved in advance.
Yes. A fine that is not in the distributed schedule is a fine you cannot impose.
Because the cap is the lesser of $100 or your schedule, the schedule is still the document that sets every fine below $100. A clear, current schedule protects the board as much as the owners.
Ten edits, then redistribute it the way the statute requires.
If your board tracks architectural violations through ARC HOA, update the violation letter templates there at the same time, and put the revised schedule and enforcement policy in the next set of Board Packets so the vote is on the record.
This page summarizes California law as we understand it. It is written for orientation, not for reliance.
Statutes change, courts interpret them, and your governing documents may impose stricter or different requirements than the Act does. Nothing here creates an attorney client relationship, and no summary can account for the facts of your community. AB 130 is recent, and courts have not yet interpreted most of it. Before your board adopts a revised fine schedule or imposes a penalty above $100, confirm it with your association's legal counsel.
HOA180 is not a law firm and does not practice law. Where this page states a specific number of days or dollars, we have taken it from the current Civil Code section cited alongside it; where the Act does not set a number, we have said so rather than supply one.
Statutes cited: Civil Code section 5850, Civil Code section 5855.
Last reviewed October 2026. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we will check it.
Most owners who read this page are not on their board. If your community's fine schedule still lists amounts above $100, a short, polite note may be the most useful thing you send this year. Copy this, change the name, and send it.
Hi [board president's name],
I came across a plain English guide to the $100 fine cap that AB 130 put in place in June 2025, with a checklist of what to update in a fine schedule, and I thought it was worth sharing with the board: {URL}
It also mentions a service that answers homeowner questions any hour from our own CC&Rs and rules, with a full custom community website included, for $89 a month with a free 30 day trial and no minimum term. I am not asking for anything, I just thought it might save the board some time. Happy to talk about it at the next meeting.
Thanks for the work you put in,
[your name], [your street]
Our Online Assistant answers homeowner questions from your community's own documents, the CC&Rs, the rules, the fine schedule, any hour, and cites the exact section it used. Owners learn the rule before they break it. The board keeps every decision.
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