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34 articles on guides from our team.
GuidesSB 326 is a state law, so a condo association in Glendale, Burbank, Pasadena, Santa Clarita or Torrance runs on the same inspection rules and deadlines as one in Los Angeles. Here is what the city line changes, what it does not, and the 2026 rule that puts the report in your escrow packet.
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GuidesYour roof is common area, so the Solar Rights Act alone does not get you panels. Civil Code 4746 sets the path: the association must run a roof survey and allocate usable area equitably, and you carry the insurance, maintenance and removal cost for as long as the panels exist.
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GuidesCalifornia's Right to Repair Act sets a separate deadline for almost every part of a newer condo — one year for noise, four for plumbing, five for paint, ten for structure — and makes you notify the builder before you can sue. Here is how the clock works and what to ask before you buy.
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GuidesCivil Code section 4765 governs how a California condo board approves or denies a physical change to your unit: the procedure must be fair and reasonable, the decision must be in writing, and a denial must say why. The city permit is a separate track.
LA Condo HQGuidesCalifornia sets a default split between owner and association for maintenance, repair and replacement — and since January 1, 2017 the association repairs exclusive use common area even though the owner maintains it. Your CC&Rs can rewrite all of it.
LA Condo HQGuidesA homeowner 55 or older can move a Prop 13 taxable base value to a replacement condo anywhere in California, up to three times. Buy for more than you sold for and only the difference is added to the base.
LA Condo HQGuidesLos Angeles allows short-term rental only in your primary residence, only after registration, and only for 120 days a year. Then your HOA gets a separate vote — and state law lets it say no.
LA Condo HQGuidesA Mills Act contract reassesses a qualified historic property on hypothetical rental income instead of market value. What that means for Downtown LA adaptive-reuse lofts, and what a buyer inherits along with the unit.
LA Condo HQGuidesCalifornia law bars condo associations from prohibiting rentals or capping them below a quarter of the units — but preserves the 30-day minimum lease. What Civil Code 4741 allows, what it forbids, and the questions to ask before you buy to rent.
LA Condo HQGuidesCalifornia's Proposition 19 ended the old parent-child property tax exclusion. What an heir keeps, what gets reassessed, and how the $1 million cushion is actually calculated on a Los Angeles condo.
LA Condo HQGuidesConnect a reserve study’s scope, dates, assumptions and funding schedule to the current budget instead of treating one percentage as a building-quality score.
LA Condo HQGuidesSix checkboxes on a one-page form tell you whether an LA condo sits in a fault zone, a liquefaction zone, a flood zone or a fire zone. What each one means when you are buying an interest in a building rather than a lot.
LA Condo HQGuidesCalifornia gives the association 10 days to produce the disclosure packet, itemizes its price on a statutory form, and defines exactly which documents belong in it. What section 4525 includes, what it leaves out, and the order to read it in.
LA Condo HQGuidesCalifornia bars an association from foreclosing over unpaid dues until the assessments alone hit $1,800 or run past 12 months. What that threshold excludes, the notice sequence before a lien, and the three lines to read in a resale package.
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GuidesCalifornia guarantees condo owners at least one pet, but the guarantee has a date attached and leaves a board plenty of room. What an LA association may still restrict, and why assistance animals follow a different rulebook entirely.
LA Condo HQGuidesCalifornia caps what a board can assess on its own authority — and the emergency exception is where the cap stops mattering. How the 5 percent rule works, and how to see an assessment coming before you buy.
LA Condo HQGuidesIn Los Angeles the word townhouse describes a shape, not a form of ownership. The difference between a condominium and a planned development changes your insurance, your loan and who fixes the roof.
LA Condo HQGuidesThe three ways an LA condo parking space can be held, why tandem is not two spaces, why newer transit-area buildings have fewer stalls, and the documents that settle it.
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GuidesCalifornia law voids a blanket HOA ban on EV charging — but the conditions an association may attach, and the age of your building's garage, decide what installing one actually costs.
LA Condo HQGuidesIn a condo purchase the lender underwrites the building as well as the borrower. Here are the six project-level problems that most often kill an LA condo loan, why several of them are unusually common here, and how to find out before you write an offer.
LA Condo HQGuidesLos Angeles requires seismic retrofits on two categories of older building, and in a condo the bill lands on the association. What the ordinance covers, who pays, how it reaches your loan, and the questions to ask before you write an offer.
LA Condo HQGuidesA condo in Los Angeles is covered by two policies that meet somewhere inside your walls — plus a wildcard called loss assessment. Here is how the HOA master policy, your HO-6 and California's FAIR Plan fit together, and what to read before you buy.
LA Condo HQGuidesClosing costs are the one-time bill buyers forget to budget. How California escrow works, who customarily pays what in LA, and how to estimate your condo closing costs before you sign.
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GuidesIn Los Angeles the choice is rarely condo versus estate — it's condo versus small-lot home at a similar price. The two forms cost money in completely different places, and the winner depends on which bills you'd rather owe.
LA Condo HQGuidesCompare association and unit-owner earthquake coverage, including building property, belongings, temporary housing, assessments and separate deductibles.
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GuidesCheck which exterior elevated elements fall within California’s condo inspection law, then investigate the report, repair records and association responsibilities.
LA Condo HQGuidesYour LA condo's tax bill is set by what you paid, not the seller's old assessment. Learn how Prop 13 resets your basis at purchase, why a supplemental bill arrives after closing, and when Measure ULA's transfer tax applies.
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GuidesBefore you lease out an LA condo, learn whether the Rent Stabilization Ordinance caps your rent, why nightly rentals are usually off-limits, and how to stack the real monthly carry against market rent.
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GuidesCalifornia's Davis-Stirling Act gives condo buyers the right to demand an association's budget, reserve study and minutes before closing. Here is how to read those documents, and the limits the law puts on how much any HOA can raise your dues or assess you.
LA Condo HQGuidesBuying your first condo in Los Angeles means learning three things fast: how to read an HOA, what the master insurance policy doesn't cover, and why two identical units can carry different tax bills.
LA Condo HQGuidesDTLA holds the West Coast's deepest stock of true loft housing — banks, warehouses and department stores converted into homes. Where the districts differ, and what loft buyers must check.
LA Condo HQGuidesLA's harbor town wraps condo living around North America's largest man-made small-craft marina. What slip ownership really means, why ground leases change the math, and how MdR compares to its neighbors.
LA Condo HQGuidesBuilt on the old Fox backlot, Century City is the Westside's only true high-rise residential district. The landmark towers, the real cost of white-glove service, and who lock-and-leave living fits.
LA Condo HQGuidesCompare the current fee for the exact unit with included services, reserve contributions, additional assessments and expenses paid separately.
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