Living With Your SF HOA: Dues, Assessments and Insurance

Updated 2026-10-25, 7 minute read

Your board can raise regular dues up to 20% a year and levy special assessments totaling up to 5% of the budget without asking you. Anything bigger needs an owner vote unless it is an emergency, and a master-policy premium that doubled at renewal usually is. Those Davis-Stirling rules, plus what a non-renewal does to your loan and your resale, explain most first-year surprises for SF condo owners.

What you are entitled to every year

Between 30 and 90 days before the fiscal year ends you must receive the annual budget report (Civil Code 5300): budget, reserve funding plan, planned special assessments, loans and an insurance summary with limits and deductibles. The annual policy statement (Civil Code 5310) adds the collection policy, fine schedule and dispute procedures, and the reserve study (Civil Code 5550) needs a site inspection at least every three years; how to read HOA documents covers percent funded. Year-round you get minutes within 30 days of each board meeting (Civil Code 4950), records on request, with a court penalty of up to $500 per refusal (Civil Code 5205 and 5235), and individual notice if any policy lapses (Civil Code 5810).

Dues and assessments: what the board can do alone

Action	Board alone?	Rule
Raise regular dues up to 20% over the prior year	Yes, if the budget report was on time	Civil Code 5605
Special assessments up to 5% of budgeted gross expenses per year	Yes	Civil Code 5605
Anything larger	No: majority of a quorum, secret ballot	Civil Code 5605
Emergency assessment of any size	Yes, with written findings to owners	Civil Code 5610

Emergencies are narrow: a court order, a threat to personal safety, or an extraordinary repair the board could not reasonably have foreseen when adopting the budget. A premium shock often fits; a roof everyone knew about does not. You get 30 to 60 days' notice before any increase is due (Civil Code 5615).

If you cannot pay, request a payment plan in writing within 15 days of the pre-lien notice and the board must meet with you within 45 days (Civil Code 5665). The association cannot foreclose until you owe at least $1,800 in assessments alone or are more than 12 months delinquent (Civil Code 5720), and fines for rule violations can never become a lien (Civil Code 5725). Withholding dues over a grievance turns it into a lien, so pay under protest and use the dispute process below.

Small self-managed buildings: you are the board

Many SF condos are two- to six-unit buildings with no manager. The minimum viable association:

An account in the association's name, operating and reserve funds separate, with written board approval for transfers above the lesser of $5,000 or 5% of budgeted income in buildings of 50 or fewer units (Civil Code 5502).
Monthly review of reconciled statements (Civil Code 5500); a CPA review once gross income tops $75,000 (Civil Code 5305).
Fidelity coverage equal to reserves plus three months of assessments (Civil Code 5806).
Filings: the Secretary of State statement every two years (Civil Code 5405), federal Form 1120-H and a California return.
A written maintenance plan keyed to the reserve study, with reserves funded at the plan's figure.

Hire a manager when nobody will keep the books or a six-figure project needs running; otherwise a bookkeeper, an association CPA and a triennial reserve study suffice. A TIC is not a common interest development, but the same habits apply under its TIC agreement.

The master-policy problem

California's insurance pullback has reached associations: non-renewals for age, wiring, claims or exposure, premiums that multiplied at renewal, and boards pushed onto the FAIR Plan, which covers fire and few other perils at a higher price. It reaches your unit three ways:

The premium lands in dues or in an emergency assessment.
Warrantability. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac require a master policy at 100% replacement cost with a deductible of no more than 5%. Lower limits, a named-peril form or a larger deductible can fail that test, and a lapse fails it outright. Every unit then needs a portfolio loan with more down and a higher rate, which shrinks your buyer pool, blocks a conforming refinance and shows up as a price gap in the comps tool.
Your HO-6 has to stretch. Loss-assessment coverage pays your share of an assessment after a loss the master policy did not fully cover; default limits are often only $1,000 and raising them is cheap. Earthquake loss assessment is a separate purchase; see earthquake insurance.

Help the board shop: 90 days before renewal, send one submission (replacement cost estimate, loss runs, roof, electrical and retrofit documentation, the SB 326 report) to three commercial brokers who place associations, one with surplus-lines access. If the FAIR Plan is the only answer, add a difference-in-conditions policy and plan a return to the admitted market, as in homeowners insurance in SF's hard market.

SB 326, soft story and deferred work

SB 326 (Civil Code 5551) requires associations with buildings of three or more units to have a licensed structural engineer or architect inspect wood-supported balconies, decks, stairs and walkways more than six feet above grade. The first inspection was due by January 1, 2025 and repeats every nine years, with the report folded into the reserve study. TIC buildings fall under the apartment statute, SB 721 (Health and Safety Code 17973), whose first deadline AB 2579 pushed back a year to January 1, 2026, with a six-year cycle.

Repairs are a common-area cost split by percentage interest, not by whose balcony failed: Civil Code 4775 puts repair and replacement of exclusive-use components on the association unless the CC&Rs say otherwise, and the same applies to an unfinished soft-story retrofit under DBI's mandatory program. The next article compares the options: a special assessment, an HOA loan repaid through dues, or a hybrid.

Remodels, flooring, windows and chargers

Civil Code 4765 requires a written architectural procedure, a timely decision, written reasons for a denial and an appeal to the board. Expect to supply a contractor's insurance certificate naming the association, DBI permits, work hours and sound underlayment under hard flooring. Windows and decks are usually exclusive-use common area: you maintain, the association repairs and replaces. An EV charger cannot be prohibited; an application not denied in writing within 60 days is deemed approved, and you pay installation, electricity and upkeep (Civil Code 4745).

Rentals, short-term rentals and guests

Civil Code 4741 stops an association from capping rentals below 25% of units, excludes ADUs from the cap and lets it ban rentals of 30 days or less; under Civil Code 4740 a restriction adopted after you bought does not bind you unless you consent. The city separately requires short-term rental hosts to be permanent residents, register with the Office of Short-Term Rentals and keep un-hosted nights to 90 a year. Once you have a tenant, just cause applies; renting under SF rent control covers it.

Disputes, fines and serving on the board

Fines need a published schedule, 10 days' notice of a hearing and written notice of the decision within 15 days (Civil Code 5850 and 5855); a 2025 state law (AB 130, effective June 30, 2025) capped most fines at the lesser of the schedule amount or $100 per violation unless the board makes a written finding that the violation threatens health or safety, so check the current text. You can demand internal dispute resolution, a meet-and-confer the board must join (Civil Code 5900); before either side sues over the governing documents, a Request for Resolution gives the other 30 days to accept ADR, which then runs within 90 days (Civil Code 5930 to 5940); assessment collection and small claims are exempt. A construction-defect suit needs notice to owners first (Civil Code 6150), faces a ten-year outside limit and usually makes the building ineligible for conforming loans while pending. Civil Code 5800 shields volunteer directors only when the association carries D&O and liability insurance of at least $500,000 for 100 or fewer units; insist on the policy before taking a seat.

What to shop for

The master policy is the high-savings item: identical submissions to three commercial brokers produce quotes thousands apart, and staying off the FAIR Plan protects every unit's financing. Management is medium and a reserve study is low; the shop table above has the details. This site earns nothing from any of them; it is paid only by the buyer-side commission when a reader later buys with one of its agents.

Shop for this now

Service	When	Savings from shopping	How to shop it
HOA master insurance (commercial broker)	90 days before the master policy renews, and the day a non-renewal notice arrives	High: shop it hard Quotes for the same building differ by thousands of dollars a year and some brokers reach carriers others cannot; we found no published San Francisco benchmark as of 2026-10-24. The real saving is staying off the FAIR Plan, whose placement costs more and can make every unit non-warrantable.	Have the board send one identical submission (replacement cost estimate, five years of loss runs, roof, electrical and retrofit documentation, the SB 326 report) to three commercial brokers who place condo associations, including one with surplus-lines access, and compare limits, deductible and named exclusions, not just premium.
HOA management company	When no owner will keep the books, when a dispute has frozen decisions, or before a six-figure project	Medium: worth 2-3 quotes Per-unit fees and add-ons vary widely for small buildings and most contracts carry a monthly minimum that makes a four-unit building expensive per door; many 2-6 unit SF associations self-manage with a bookkeeper and a reserve study every three years for a fraction of the cost. As of 2026-10-24, treat any published average as a starting point only.	Get three proposals that itemize the monthly fee, minimums for small buildings, and every add-on (meetings, mailings, violation letters, escrow document fees, project management percentage); compare them with a bookkeeper plus an association CPA.
Reserve study provider	Every three years with a site visit, and before the first budget you vote on	Low: compare once Fees cluster in a narrow band for small buildings, so the value is in the funding plan and the component list, not in the price; a study that misses the garage membrane or the sewer lateral costs more than any fee difference.	Get two quotes from firms that do small residential buildings, ask for a level-one study with a site visit and a 30-year funding plan, and ask who incorporates the SB 326 report.

Frequently asked questions

How much can an HOA raise dues without a vote in California?

Up to 20% above the previous year's regular assessment, as long as the board first distributed the annual budget report on time under Civil Code 5300. Anything above 20% needs approval by a majority of a quorum of owners by secret ballot. The limit is per year, so three consecutive 20% increases are legal, and owners must get 30 to 60 days' notice before the new amount is due.

Can my HOA charge a special assessment without owner approval?

Yes, up to 5% of the association's budgeted gross expenses for that fiscal year in total, under Civil Code 5605. Larger assessments need a majority of a quorum of owners, with three exceptions in Civil Code 5610 that need no vote: a court order, a threat to personal safety on the property, and an extraordinary repair the board could not reasonably have foreseen when it adopted the budget, which requires a board resolution with written findings sent to every owner. Insurance premium shocks and SB 326 repairs are two common triggers in San Francisco right now.

What happens if the HOA's insurance is cancelled?

The association must notify every owner as soon as practicable under Civil Code 5810, and the board has to replace the policy before the old one ends, usually through a commercial broker who can reach surplus-lines carriers or, as a last resort, the FAIR Plan. The new premium lands in dues or an emergency assessment. If the replacement falls short of the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac standard, 100% replacement cost with a deductible of no more than 5%, or if there is any gap in coverage, units in the building stop qualifying for conforming loans until it is fixed, which hits your resale value and your own refinance. Raise the loss-assessment limit on your HO-6 the same week.

Who pays for SB 326 balcony repairs?

All owners, through the association, because balconies, decks and exterior stairs are common area or exclusive-use common area, and Civil Code 4775 makes the association responsible for repair and replacement of exclusive-use components unless the CC&Rs say otherwise. The cost is split by each unit's percentage interest in the CC&Rs, not by who has the balcony, and is funded from reserves, a special assessment or an HOA loan repaid through dues. The inspection itself is a budgeted operating expense; the first was due by January 1, 2025 and repeats every nine years.

How do you run a small self-managed HOA in San Francisco?

Treat it as a small nonprofit with four non-negotiables: a bank account in the association's name with separate operating and reserve funds, a monthly look at the statements plus an annual budget report delivered 30 to 90 days before the fiscal year ends, fidelity coverage equal to reserves plus three months of dues, and a reserve study with a site visit at least every three years. Add the biennial Secretary of State filing and a federal Form 1120-H, which an association CPA handles cheaply. Put the maintenance plan in writing and hold one real annual meeting with minutes. Hire a bookkeeper before you hire a manager; most two- to six-unit buildings never need the manager.

Can I refuse to pay a special assessment?

Not safely. Assessments become a lien on your unit once the association follows the pre-lien steps, a late charge of up to 10% applies once you are delinquent and interest of up to 12% a year starts 30 days after the due date, and the association can foreclose once you owe $1,800 in assessments or are more than 12 months behind, under Civil Code 5720. If you believe the assessment was imposed improperly, pay it, say in writing that you are paying under protest, and request internal dispute resolution under Civil Code 5900, then alternative dispute resolution; a court can order a refund, but it will not forgive a lien you let accrue. If the problem is cash flow, request a payment plan in writing within 15 days of the pre-lien notice and the board must meet with you within 45 days.