Bad HOA

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.

Bad HOA is a education podcast hosted by LS Carlson Law, with 49 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

LS Carlson Law hosts Bad HOA, a education show with 49 episodes published.

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  Bad HOA

  Proving HOA Negligence: Duty, Breach, and the Paper Trail That Wins

  Jul 7, 202652 min

  “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 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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  Bad HOA

  A Bad Neighbor and a Bad HOA Aren't Always Two Separate Problems

  Jun 22, 202647 min

  When a neighbor violates the CC&Rs and the harm lands on you, your first instinct is to fight the neighbor. But the bigger fight is often with the association that knows about the violation and refuses to act. In California, your governing documents don't just bind you to the board — they set the rules between you and every other owner, which is why one violation can sometimes give you two separate claims. This episode walks through the real flashpoints — the towering spite fence, the house painted code-violating black, the upstairs condo tub leaking through common-area pipes, plus noise, parking, and commandeered greenbelts — and shows how to tell which ones are genuinely the HOA's responsibility. It explains the difference between property damage and quality-of-life harm, when a dispute is really a matter for the police, and how board favoritism turns simple inaction into a failure-to-enforce claim. Then we run the whole problem through the STRIKE method so you know how to document it, who to put on formal notice, and when escalation actually makes sense. What we cover: • How CC&Rs govern neighbor-to-neighbor conduct, not just the board • Why one violation can create two defendants — the neighbor and the association • Failure to enforce, selective enforcement, and board favoritism • Damage vs. quality of life: noise, nuisance, and the reasonableness test • When a problem belongs with the police, not the HOA • The 6-step STRIKE method applied to neighbor disputes • Mistakes that sink a case and the signs it's time for a lawyer For more info on this topic, check out our blog post: https://www.lscarlsonlaw.com/articles/neighbor-violates-hoa-rules-board-wont-act-california

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  Bad HOA

  How One Appeal Changed California HOA Election Rights

  Jun 8, 202640 minS0

  <p>Most homeowners lose an HOA election before a single ballot is counted—because the board controls who gets to speak.</p><p><br></p><p>In this episode, Luke Carlson and co-host Marty are joined by California attorney Edward Tescher, lead counsel in Arroyo v. Pacific Ridge, a published California Court of Appeal decision that is reshaping HOA elections across the state.</p><p><br></p><p>Edward explains how a sitting board attempted to silence a member it was trying to recall, why the board's effort to redefine "association media" through its own operating rules failed on appeal, an...

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  Bad HOA

  Failure to Repair: When Your HOA Won't Fix What They Should

  May 20, 202658 minS0

  <p>Your roof is leaking. Mold is spreading. The board won't return your calls — or tells you it's your problem when it isn't.</p><p><br></p><p>In this episode of Bad HOA, Luke Carlson and Marty break down failure-to-repair disputes: what your HOA is actually obligated to maintain, where boards typically get it wrong, and how homeowners can build a documented case that gets taken seriously.</p><p><br></p><p>This is the third installment in the 2026 Dispute Series Revisited — applying the STRIKE method to one of the most common (and most damaging) HOA problems we see.</p><p...

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  Bad HOA

  How to Use Your CC&Rs to Hold Your HOA Accountable

  Apr 29, 202649 minS0

  <p>Most homeowners think their CC&Rs only tell them what they can't do. In this episode, Luke Carlson and Marty break down why CC&Rs may actually be one of the most powerful tools a homeowner has — and how they can be used to hold an HOA accountable when the board isn't following its own rules.The episode covers the three core components of HOA governance — CC&Rs, bylaws, and rules — and explains where each one sits in the authority hierarchy. Luke walks through how state and federal law can override outdated CC&R provisions, and why boards that ignore...

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