What an HOA Cannot Ban — California Civil Code §§ 714, 4700–4765

Most California condominium and planned-development associations are governed by the Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act (Civil Code §§ 4000–6150). One article of the Act says it contains "provisions that limit the authority of an association or the governing documents to regulate the use of a member's separate interest," and that other statutes limit that authority too (§ 4700). So the answer to "what can an HOA not prohibit?" is a list of separate statutes, not one rule.

Three things recur across that list. Many protections void a rule only if it "effectively prohibits or unreasonably restricts" the use, so reasonable restrictions usually survive. Several apply only to a member's own separate interest (the unit or lot the member owns), to exclusive-use areas, or to particular kinds of developments, and the sections below keep those limits. And where an owner has to ask first, the association must handle the request in a defined way.

A covenant or governing-document provision "that effectively prohibits or restricts the installation or use of a solar energy system is void and unenforceable" (§ 714(a)). The statute does not reach reasonable restrictions, which are those that do not significantly increase the cost of the system or significantly decrease its efficiency or specified performance, or that allow an alternative system of comparable cost, efficiency and energy-conservation benefits (§ 714(b)). For a photovoltaic system, the statute defines "significantly" as "an amount not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) over the system cost as originally specified and proposed, or a decrease in system efficiency of an amount exceeding 10 percent" — in practice, the $1,000 and 10 percent marks are where a restriction stops being reasonable (§ 714(d)(1)(B)); for solar water or pool heating, it is an amount exceeding 10 percent of the system cost but in no case more than $1,000, or an efficiency decrease of more than 10 percent (§ 714(d)(1)(A)). The system must still meet applicable health and safety standards and permitting requirements (§ 714(c)).

Under § 714.1, an association may still impose reasonable provisions that restrict solar installations in common areas to systems it approves, require approval to install a system in a separate interest owned by someone else, provide for roof and building-component maintenance, and require installers to indemnify the association or its members for loss or damage (§ 714.1(a)). It may not, however, adopt a general policy prohibiting a rooftop solar system for household purposes on the roof of the building where the owner resides, or on an assigned garage or carport adjacent to that building, and it may not require a vote of the members to approve one; an action contravening either rule is void (§ 714.1(b)).

When approval is required, the application must be handled like an architectural modification request and not willfully avoided or delayed. An association that is not a public entity must decide in writing, and an application not denied in writing within 45 days of receipt is deemed approved, unless the delay results from a reasonable request for additional information (§ 714(e)). A willful violation exposes the association to actual damages and a civil penalty of up to $1,000, and the prevailing party in an enforcement action is awarded reasonable attorney's fees (§ 714(f), (g)). For a system on a multifamily common-area roof shared by more than one homeowner, § 4746 adds requirements: the applicant must notify each owner of a unit in the building, and the owner and each successive owner must keep homeowner liability coverage and give the association a certificate of insurance within 14 days of approval and annually after that (§ 4746(a)); the association may also require a solar site survey and cost-responsibility terms (§ 4746(b)).

A provision that "effectively prohibits or unreasonably restricts" installing or using an electric vehicle charging station within an owner's unit or in a designated parking space — including a deeded space, an exclusive-use common-area space, or a space designated for a particular owner — is void and unenforceable (§ 4745(a)). Reasonable restrictions are allowed: those that do not significantly increase the station's cost or significantly decrease its efficiency or specified performance (§ 4745(b)). The station must meet health and safety standards and zoning, land-use and permit requirements (§ 4745(c)).

If approval is required, the association must process the application like an architectural modification, decide in writing, and approve it by default if it is not denied in writing within 60 days of receipt, unless the delay results from a reasonable request for additional information (§ 4745(e)). When the station would go in a common area or exclusive-use common area, the association must approve if the owner agrees in writing to follow its architectural standards, use a licensed contractor, provide a certificate of insurance within 14 days of approval, and pay for installation and the electricity used (§ 4745(f)(1)). A station for one owner in a common area that is not an exclusive-use common area is authorized only if installing it in the owner's designated parking space is impossible or unreasonably expensive (§ 4745(g)). An association that willfully violates § 4745 owes actual damages and a civil penalty of up to $1,000, and a prevailing plaintiff who sues to have a station installed is awarded reasonable attorney's fees (§ 4745(j), (k)).

A separate section protects an EV-dedicated time-of-use meter, a utility-supplied meter devoted only to EV charging. Provisions that effectively prohibit or unreasonably restrict installing one are void, but "reasonable restrictions" there are those based on space, aesthetics, structural integrity and equal access for all homeowners, and the association must attempt to find a reasonable way to accommodate the request unless it would need to incur an expense (§ 4745.1(a), (b)). The same 60-day written-decision and deemed-approval rule applies (§ 4745.1(e)).

On renting, § 4741(a) bars a governing-document provision that prohibits, has the effect of prohibiting, or unreasonably restricts renting or leasing a separate interest, an accessory dwelling unit or a junior accessory dwelling unit. A development also may not restrict rentals of its separate interests to less than 25 percent of them; it may authorize a higher percentage (§ 4741(b)). The statute does not stop a development from prohibiting transient or short-term rental for 30 days or less (§ 4741(c)). A unit occupied by its owner, or whose ADU or JADU is, is not counted as occupied by a renter (§ 4741(e)), and a development had to comply from January 1, 2021 whether or not it had revised its documents (§ 4741(f)). A willful violation exposes the association to actual damages and a civil penalty of up to $1,000 (§ 4741(g)).

Two other sections add detail. An owner who lives in the unit cannot be subject to a provision prohibiting renting or leasing a portion of the owner-occupied separate interest for more than 30 days, although the renter must still follow the governing documents on conduct and on membership rights or privileges, including parking restrictions and guest access to common facilities (§ 4739(a), (b)). The older rule in § 4740 protects owners from a rental prohibition adopted after they acquired title, and requires them to give the association the date title was acquired and the prospective tenant's name and contact information before renting (§ 4740(a), (c)). Since January 1, 2021, § 4741 goes further: a provision that prohibits or unreasonably restricts renting does not bind any owner, and an association must comply whether or not it has revised its documents (§ 4741(a), (f)); § 4741(h) preserves the rights § 4740 already gave owners who acquired title earlier.

On pets, no governing document may prohibit an owner of a separate interest from keeping at least one pet in the development, "subject to reasonable rules and regulations of the association" (§ 4715(a)). "Pet" means any domesticated bird, cat, dog, aquatic animal kept within an aquarium, or other animal agreed between the association and the homeowner (§ 4715(b)). A later rule capping the number of pets cannot force an owner to give up a pet the owner already keeps that otherwise conformed to the earlier rules (§ 4715(c)). The section applies only to governing documents entered into, amended or modified on or after January 1, 2001 (§ 4715(e)).

Except as needed to protect public health or safety, no governing document may limit or prohibit a member's display of the flag of the United States on or in the member's separate interest or exclusive-use common area; the statute covers a flag of fabric, cloth or paper on a staff or pole or in a window, not a depiction made of lights, paint, roofing, siding, paving materials, flora or balloons (§ 4705(a), (b)). A governing document also may not limit or prohibit displaying one or more religious items on the entry door or door frame of the member's separate interest, except as restricted by § 1940.5; while the association maintains, repairs or replaces that door or frame, it may require the item to come down temporarily after individual notice (§ 4706).

More broadly, governing documents may not prohibit displaying noncommercial signs, posters, flags or banners on or in a member's separate interest, except as required for public health or safety or if the display would violate local, state or federal law (§ 4710(a)). The protected items may be made of paper, cardboard, cloth, plastic or fabric, but not of lights, roofing, siding, paving materials, flora or balloons, and may not include painting architectural surfaces (§ 4710(b)). The association may prohibit noncommercial signs and posters larger than nine square feet and noncommercial flags or banners larger than 15 square feet (§ 4710(c)).

A restriction that effectively prohibits or restricts installing or using a video or television antenna, including a satellite dish, 36 inches or less in diameter or diagonal is void, but reasonable restrictions survive — application and notice requirements, approval where the antenna is on a separate interest owned by another, roof maintenance provisions, and installer indemnity (§ 4725(a), (b)). Separately, a provision that arbitrarily or unreasonably restricts an owner's ability to market the owner's interest for sale is void, and an association may not charge a marketing fee above its actual or direct costs or require an exclusive broker relationship; "marketing" means listing, advertising, or obtaining or providing access to show the interest (§ 4730(a)–(c)). That section does not apply to the real estate sign rules in §§ 712 and 713 (§ 4730(d)).

A covenant or governing-document provision in a planned development that effectively prohibits or unreasonably restricts building or using an accessory dwelling unit or junior accessory dwelling unit on a lot zoned for single-family residential use that meets the Government Code ADU requirements is void and unenforceable, but reasonable restrictions — those that do not unreasonably increase construction cost, effectively prohibit construction, or extinguish the ability to build an ADU or JADU consistent with those requirements — are allowed (§ 4751). Similarly, a provision is void to the extent it prohibits a "substantially similar reconstruction" of a residential structure destroyed or damaged in a declared disaster, which means a rebuild that complies with the local building code, does not exceed 110 percent of the prior interior livable square footage, is in the same location and dimensions or at least four feet from the side and rear lot lines, does not exceed 110 percent of the prior height or 100 percent of the height the governing documents allow (whichever is greater), and meets any objective design standard in effect at the time of the loss; an owner who prevails is awarded attorney's fees (§ 4752(a)–(c)). Section 4752 was added effective January 1, 2026 (history note). Section 4747 voids provisions in a planned development that effectively prohibit or unreasonably restrict an eligible housing development project from using the floor area ratio standards the Government Code authorizes, subject to reasonable restrictions (§ 4747(a), (b)). And a governing document may not make an owner install or repair a roof in violation of Health and Safety Code § 13132.7; in a very high fire severity zone it must allow at least one type of fire-retardant roof covering that meets that section (§ 4720).

On landscaping, a governing document or landscaping guideline is void if it prohibits, or has the effect of prohibiting, low water-using plants as a group or as turf replacement, or artificial turf or another synthetic surface that resembles grass, or if it prohibits or restricts compliance with a water-efficient landscape ordinance or a water-use regulation adopted under the Water Code (§ 4735(a)). The association may still apply landscaping rules that fully conform with that subdivision (§ 4735(b)). During a drought emergency declared by the Governor or a local government, it may not fine or assess an owner for reducing or eliminating watering of vegetation or lawns — except an owner who receives recycled water from a retail water supplier and does not use it for landscape irrigation (§ 4735(c), (d)) — and it cannot make an owner undo water-efficient landscaping afterward (§ 4735(e)). A provision requiring pressure washing of the exterior of a separate interest, or its appurtenant exclusive-use common area, during a declared drought emergency is void (§ 4736(a)).

Two protections apply only to yards designated for the owner's exclusive use. A provision is void if it effectively prohibits or unreasonably restricts using a homeowner's backyard for personal agriculture, though reasonable restrictions (those that do not significantly increase the cost or significantly decrease the efficiency) are allowed and the association may require that dead plant material and weeds be regularly cleared (§ 4750(b)–(e)). Likewise, a provision is void if it effectively prohibits or unreasonably restricts using a clothesline or drying rack in the owner's backyard; a balcony, railing or awning does not qualify, and the association may still enforce reasonable rules (§ 4753(a)–(e)).

Many of the protections above let the association require approval of the physical change. Section 4765 applies whenever the governing documents require approval before a member changes a separate interest or the common area. The association must use a fair, reasonable and expeditious procedure that is written into its governing documents, with prompt deadlines and a stated maximum time to respond to an application or request for reconsideration (§ 4765(a)(1)). A decision must be made in good faith and may not be unreasonable, arbitrary or capricious, and it may not violate governing law, including the Fair Employment and Housing Act, a building code or other land-use or public-safety law, even if the governing documents say otherwise (§ 4765(a)(2), (3)).

The decision must be in writing. If the change is disapproved, the written decision must explain why and describe the procedure for reconsideration by the board, and the applicant is entitled to reconsideration by the board at an open meeting (§ 4765(a)(4), (5)). The association must also give members annual notice of the types of changes that need approval, with a copy of the review procedure (§ 4765(c)). Section 4765 does not authorize a physical change to the common area that is inconsistent with the governing documents unless the change is required by law (§ 4765(b)). Section 4700 also reminds readers that other statutes limit an association's authority over a member's separate interest, including provisions on signs, disability-related modifications, and family day care homes (§ 4700).

This page is general information, not legal advice. Read the enacted text linked below, and talk to a lawyer about a specific situation.