Filing a HOA Complaint with the California   Attorney General: Corrected Links

Due to administrative errors, some of the links on the CCHAL website explaining how to file a complaint with the Attorney General’s office were misplaced.  The links to the AG’s complaint process are now fixed. 

PLEASE NOTE that the Attorney General has jurisdiction over certain kinds of association complaints that violate specific sections of the Corporations Code.  Those sections are listed here on a chart  https://calhomelaw.org/resolving-disputes/filing-complaints/filing-complaints-part-ii/filing-complaints-with-the-attorney-general/

To file a complaint, use the form posted on the AG’s website (“Complaint Against a Business” (though the courts have make clear that HOAs are really businesses with governmental powers.) https://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/contact/business_corpform.pdf

Homeowners can attach additional pages of evidence to the complaint form, e.g. written requests to the HOA asking to inspect records or letters  from the property manager rejecting the homeowner’s self-nomination for a board seat..  After filling out the form, print and then mail it (with attachments) to the Public Inquiry Unit of the AG’s office with a tracking number.  The Public Inquiry Unit address is on the CCHAL website pages just posted and on the complaint form itself.

We recommend that, before filing a complaint, homeowners visit a Self-Help Center attached to the superior court in the county where the (alleged) complaint occurred.  Staff at the Self-Help Center (and also the county public law library) can be a source of information and support while the complaint is being processed by the AG. 

Here’s the link for finding Self-Help Centers and (free) county law libraries in California’s 58 counties. 
https://selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/self-help/find-self-help

A sample, six-page written complaint by a homeowner is posted on the CCHAL website and is available to Contributing Members of the Center.  
https://calhomelaw.org/resolving-disputes/filing-complaints/filing-complaints-part-ii/filing-complaints-with-the-attorney-general/sample-complaint-to-the-ag

Contributing Members can also get a consultation with CCHAL staff about the issue they want to submit to the AG’s office. 

What happens after a complaint is filed? For more information about the process, Contributing Members to the Center for HOA Law should contact CCHAL for a phone appointment.  (Not sure if you’re a Contributing Member?  Go to your CCHAL account to find out:  https://calhomelaw.org/my-account/

[Can’t remember your password?  Just click on “Forgot Pswd” to re-set it.]

Homeowners should keep an organized file of ALL correspondence to/from the AG’s office regarding their complaint, including responses from the association to the complaint.
 
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Questions/comments? Email us at [email protected]

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