\u201cCalifornia condo fees are soaring. Some owners fear they can\u2019t survive,\u201d<\/a> Oct. 2).<\/p>\nAs a former member of a 400-unit homeowner association in Cerritos, I became concerned that the $25 monthly association dues would not be sufficient to support the costs of anticipated expenses for maintenance of the association\u2019s properties. I suspected the developer set a low fee to help sell the properties, while avoiding informing the new homeowners \u2014 my new neighbors \u2014 of the true costs that would be incurred over time.<\/p>\n
I dug into the financial aspects of the covenants, conditions and restrictions (or CC&Rs) and found they allowed a maximum 25% annual dues increase if needed. I initiated the formation of a finance committee (me) and persuaded the board of directors to institute yearly increases that eventually raised the monthly dues to $125.<\/p>\n
I was \u201crewarded\u201d for my work by being elected as a member, and at times as president, of the board. Over the years, we were able to repave the streets, rebuild the clubhouse and tennis courts and make other improvements that made the HOA the \u201cBeverly Hills\u201d of the city.<\/p>\n
I fear California is experiencing the same angst that is ailing many condo associations. We need our elected state and local leaders to be honest and tell us what we need to hear, not what we want to hear. We need them to act responsibly. Making false promises to make people feel happy, or to gain or regain a political office, is dishonest.<\/p>\n
Albert Perdon, De Luz<\/p>\n
..<\/p>\n
To the editor: My husband and I have lived in a condo development for 12 years. Many people who buy condos don\u2019t understand what they are buying and that the owners are the HOA. They think that owning a condo means they don\u2019t have to pay for major home repairs. In other words, they think like tenants, not owners.<\/p>\n
Replacing the roof on a single-family home could easily cost $26,000 or even more, and it\u2019s unlikely the homeowner has a designated fund to draw on to pay that expense. The HOA does \u2014 or at any rate, it should \u2014 have such a fund. But with the mindset that those kinds of costs are not their problem, or should be the next owner\u2019s problem, condo owners who pressure the HOA board to keep HOA fees low should not be surprised or angered by a special assessment.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re thinking of buying a condo, read that long boring document called \u201ccovenants, conditions and restrictions\u201d and understand what you are buying. Or talk to your real estate agent or someone on the HOA board about what condo owners are responsible for and what the HOA is responsible for. But understand that, really, the condo owners are ultimately responsible for all of it. Higher HOA fees or special assessments will come your way. You can pay now, or you will pay later.<\/p>\n
June Ailin Sewell, Marina del Rey<\/p>\n
..<\/p>\n
To the editor: The condo owner lamenting the emergency assessment should look in the mirror. In most cases I\u2019ve seen, HOA board meetings are open; almost nobody attends. HOA board meeting notes are published; almost nobody reads them. Being on an HOA board is a thankless job, as proved by the group running to replace the board that considered suing \u2014 with litigation costs borne by whom?<\/p>\n
Megan Blanda \u201cassumed monthly fees of more than $500 were keeping up with maintenance and upgrades.\u201d Those fees were likely low, precisely because there was insufficient involvement and support for proper maintenance. Consider the costs when the roof leaks during El Ni\u00f1o and roofers are in high demand.<\/p>\n
In fact, the \u201cfees\u201d are not a discretionary cost; they are part of the investment in real property. Condo owners who want someone else to do everything should consider renting an apartment.<\/p>\n
Douglas Hileman, Valley Glen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Oct. 6, 2026 5:30 AM PT To the editor: The story about California condo fees soaring, with some…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":486909,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,14428,190246,1750,190247,2072,189400,161518,54261,189406,1831,4971,7215,27845,34491],"class_list":["post-486908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-condition","tag-condo-community","tag-cost","tag-covenant","tag-editor","tag-hoa-board","tag-homeowner-association","tag-maintenance","tag-monthly-fee","tag-owner","tag-populous-state","tag-property","tag-restriction","tag-roof"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=486908"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486908\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/486909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=486908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=486908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=486908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}