Civil Code Disputes & Enforcement Recently amended
Schedule of Monetary Penalties
Chapter 10 · Dispute Resolution and Enforcement · Discipline and Cost Reimbursement
Text current as of 2026-07-07 · Last amended by AB 130, eff. 2025-06-30
The code says CIV §5850
(a) If an association adopts or has adopted a policy imposing any monetary penalty, including any fee, on any association member for a violation of the governing documents, including any monetary penalty relating to the activities of a guest or tenant of the member, the board shall adopt and distribute to each member, in the annual policy statement prepared pursuant to Section 5310, a schedule of the monetary penalties that may be assessed for those violations, which shall be in accordance with authorization for member discipline contained in the governing documents. Monetary penalties shall be reasonable.
(b) Any new or revised monetary penalty that is adopted after complying with subdivision (a) may be included in a supplement that is delivered to the members individually, pursuant to Section 4040.
(c) A monetary penalty for a violation of the governing documents shall not exceed the lesser of the following:
(1) The monetary penalty stated in the schedule of monetary penalties or supplement that is in effect at the time of the violation.
(2) One hundred dollars ($100) per violation.
(d) (1) Notwithstanding subdivision (c), the board may impose a penalty stated in the schedule of monetary penalties or supplement that is in effect at the time of the violation that is greater than one hundred dollars ($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.
(2) Before imposing a penalty on a violation pursuant to this subdivision, the board shall make a written finding specifying the adverse health or safety impact in a board meeting open to the members.
(e) A late charge or interest shall not be charged to a member for a monetary penalty.
(f) An association shall provide a copy of the most recently distributed schedule of monetary penalties, along with any applicable supplements to that schedule, to any member upon request.
(Amended by Stats. 2025, Ch. 22, Sec. 3. (AB 130) Effective June 30, 2025.)
In plain English
Editorial summary — not the statute’s text.
An association that fines members must adopt a schedule of its monetary penalties and send it to every member in the annual policy statement; later changes can go out as an individually delivered supplement. Since mid-2025, a fine can’t exceed the lesser of the amount in the schedule in effect at the time of the violation or $100 per violation, unless the violation may harm health or safety and the board makes a written finding in an open meeting.
What this means for you
Editorial summary — not the statute’s text.
- Send the penalty schedule with every annual policy statement, and deliver changes as a supplement.
- Going above $100 requires a possible health-or-safety impact and a written finding at an open board meeting.
- Late charges and interest can never be added to a monetary penalty.
Where this sits in the process
Editorial summaries — not the statute’s text.
Disciplining a member
After: §5855 — The fine must be priced before the hearing can impose it: no penalty may exceed what the schedule (or supplement) already in effect at the time of the violation stated — and the violation itself precedes the §5855 meeting noticed to consider it.
How courts have read this
Editorial summaries — not the court’s words.
Every decision listed was decided before the current text (eff. 2025-06-30, AB 130).