Welcome to "Bad HOA," where host Luke Carlson, Esq., a seasoned attorney with over 15 years of experience, empowers homeowners to reclaim their neighborhoods from mismanaged homeowners associations. This podcast delves into the myriad ways HOAs can fall short of their duties, providing listeners with a how-to resource to handle disputes and understand different personality types within HOAs. Each episode features in-depth analysis of common homeowner grievances, interviews, and real-life situation assessments. "Bad HOA" equips you with the knowledge to ensure that your HOA serves you.
HOA Mediation: What Actually Happens and How to Prepare
If your plan is to sue your HOA, California law has a step you have to take first, and getting it wrong can cost you the money you spend winning.
Mediation is the most misunderstood room in an HOA dispute. Most homeowners picture a courtroom and a judge, and are surprised to learn that in California the Davis-Stirling Act pushes almost every enforcement dispute through alternative dispute resolution before a lawsuit can be filed at all. Skip that step and you can win your case, ask the court to make the association pay your legal bills, and watch that request get denied on procedural grounds.
This episode walks the whole process from the first phone call to the settlement paperwork. We get into what a demand for ADR actually sets in motion and the clock it starts on the other side, how the mediator gets chosen and why their familiarity with the Davis-Stirling Act matters more than their title, and what the day itself is really like once you are sitting in a conference room waiting for someone to come back with a number. We talk about why the mediator has no power to make your HOA do anything, and what actually pressures an unreasonable board toward a deal.
We also spend time on the part most homeowners do not see coming: the association's insurance carrier is often the real decision maker in the room, and its willingness to look at the dispute as a cold risk calculation frequently works in the homeowner's favor. And we cover when to stop, because sitting through a mediation the other side had no intention of using is not a requirement.
What we cover:
• Why ADR is a prerequisite in California, not a voluntary option
• The 30-day clock a demand for ADR starts, and how boards play it
• Why skipping this step can cost you a later attorney fee award
• How mediators are chosen, and what separates a good one
• What mediation day actually looks like, room by room
• Why the mediator cannot force your association to do anything
• The insurance carrier's quiet role, and the three possible outcomes
Read the full breakdown:
https://www.lscarlsonlaw.com/articles/mediation-vs-litigation-resolving-hoa-disputes-in-california (https://www.lscarlsonlaw.com/articles/mediation-vs-litigation-resolving-hoa-disputes-in-california)
Watch the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnvLJIQIU2k (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnvLJIQIU2k)
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Bad HOA Podcast — a Bad HOA Production from LS Carlson Law.
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https://reddit.com/r/badhoa (https://reddit.com/r/badhoa)
LS Carlson Law represents homeowners only and practices in California and Florida. This podcast is general information and not legal advice.
27 Aug 2026
Win Your HOA Lawsuit, Lose Your Attorney's Fees? What You Need to Know About ADR
Most homeowners arrive saying the same thing — I want to sue my HOA — but in California, filing too early can quietly cost you the right to recover your attorney's fees.
After months or years of being ignored, fined, or stonewalled, a lawsuit feels like the only way to be taken seriously. It usually isn't, and under the Davis-Stirling Act it often cannot be the first step.
Luke Carlson and Marty walk through pre-litigation — everything that happens between "I've had enough" and a complaint actually being filed — and explain why the majority of HOA disputes both start and end in this phase.
Along the way, they cover the two mistakes that do the most damage: treating a demand letter as a strategy when the other side is negotiating in bad faith, and skipping the ADR step in a rush to the courthouse, which can leave a homeowner who wins the case unable to recover what it cost to bring it.
Luke also describes what a mediation looks like from the inside — separate rooms, a mediator shuttling between them, and the very different styles mediators use to push a deal — and why a signed settlement agreement, with a fees provision in it, is worth far more to a homeowner than a favorable conversation.
What we cover:
• Why "I want to sue" is usually the wrong first move
• Internal Dispute Resolution: your right to demand a sit-down
• Demand letters: when they work, and when they stall you
• Why the HOA's attorney does not represent you
• The ADR demand and the 30-day clock it starts
• How skipping ADR can cost you your attorney's fees
• Mediation versus arbitration, and what a settlement really gets you
This episode focuses on California and the Davis-Stirling Act. Florida procedure under Chapters 718 and 720 works differently.
Read the full breakdown:
https://www.lscarlsonlaw.com/articles/hoa-dispute-resolution-in-california-from-mediation-to-litigation (https://www.lscarlsonlaw.com/articles/hoa-dispute-resolution-in-california-from-mediation-to-litigation)
7 Jul 2026
Proving HOA Negligence: Duty, Breach, and the Paper Trail That Wins
“My HOA is negligent” gets said a lot — but negligence is an actual legal claim with specific parts, and knowing them is the difference between a complaint your board ignores and a case it can’t.
In this revisited episode, we break down how HOA negligence really works: the four elements you need, how boards hide behind the business judgment rule, and the documentation-and-escalation playbook that tends to separate a strong case from one a board can brush aside.
What We Get Into:
The four building blocks of a negligence claim: duty, breach, causation, and damages
Why a board owes you a duty in the first place, and where the fiduciary standard raises the bar
The business judgment rule — and how a missing paper trail cracks it wide open
The fact patterns we see most: ignored hazards, common-area failures, dues cut too low to fund upkeep, and bad-contractor problems
Where the HOA’s responsibility ends and yours begins
How to document, stay clinical, and escalate the right way — including IDR under the Davis-Stirling Act
The mistakes that quietly kill cases: self-help repairs, illegal recordings, and withholding dues
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
01:38 Revisiting HOA Negligence
04:35 The Four Elements of Negligence
11:00 The Business Judgment Rule and How to Challenge It
13:18 Common HOA Negligence Fact Patterns
26:51 When It’s Not the HOA’s Responsibility
28:48 Insurance and Tendering a Claim
32:20 The Homeowner’s Playbook: Documenting Your Case
43:19 Mistakes That Can Sink Your Case
47:19 When to Call an Attorney
Want the written breakdown? We turned this episode into a full guide — covering the four elements, the business judgment rule, statute citations, and the step-by-step playbook:
https://www.lscarlsonlaw.com/articles/how-to-prove-hoa-negligence-california (https://www.lscarlsonlaw.com/articles/how-to-prove-hoa-negligence-california)
This episode is educational and is not legal advice. Laws change, and how they apply depends on your facts and jurisdiction. LS Carlson Law practices in California and Florida and represents homeowners only.
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Engagement
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