California HOA electric vehicle charging rights

An HOA cannot block an EV charger. Civil Code 4745 makes void and unenforceable any covenant, restriction, or condition in the governing documents that effectively prohibits or unreasonably restricts installing or using an electric vehicle charging station in an owner's unit or designated parking space.

Reasonable conditions are still allowed. The protection does not reach restrictions that do not significantly increase the cost of the station or significantly decrease its efficiency. An application to install is processed the same way as an architectural modification, in writing, and cannot be willfully delayed. If it is not denied in writing within 60 days of receipt, it is deemed approved, unless the delay is the result of a reasonable request for additional information.

An association may attach reasonable conditions, including:

• Written approval processed like an architectural-modification request.
• Installation by a licensed contractor and compliance with health, safety, and zoning rules.
• For a charger in a common area or exclusive use common area, a certificate of liability insurance within 14 days of approval, renewed annually.
• For a charger in a common area or exclusive use common area, the owner paying for installation, electricity, maintenance, and any damage or restoration costs.
• For a charger in the common area, a showing that installing in the owner's designated space is impossible or unreasonably expensive, plus a license agreement.

SB 770, effective January 1, 2026, changed the insurance rule. Before it, the statute required the owner's policy to name the association as an additional insured. SB 770 deleted that requirement. The owner still has to carry liability coverage for the charger and send the association a certificate within 14 days of approval and every year after.

The statute no longer requires additional-insured status, but it also does not expressly forbid an association from asking for it. Whether a community rule that still demands it holds up depends on the general test in 4745: a restriction is reasonable only if it does not significantly increase the cost of the station or significantly decrease its efficiency or performance.

Before you make an offer, read these against Civil Code 4745:

• The CC&Rs and rules for any ban on EV charging or conditions heavy enough to function as a ban. Both are red flags under the statute.
• Your parking situation: a deeded or designated space makes installation straightforward; reliance on common-area parking is harder and follows the common-area path in the statute.
• The architectural-review process and timeline, since approval runs through it and an application not denied in writing within 60 days is deemed approved.
• Any insurance rule that still demands additional-insured status, which the statute stopped requiring in 2026 and which is worth asking the HOA about.

For an EV owner, reliable home charging is part of what the home is worth. A community with an outdated charging ban, an onerous approval process, or an insurance demand that no longer matches the law can turn a simple install into a months-long dispute.

None of this is in the listing. It is in the CC&Rs, the rules, and the architectural process inside the disclosure packet, which is what an HOA Notes brief reads and checks against the statute, with a citation on every finding.

Civil Code section 4745 (EV charging stations). A governing-document provision that effectively prohibits or unreasonably restricts an electric vehicle charging station within an owner's unit or designated parking space (a deeded space, a space in the owner's exclusive use common area, or a space specifically designated for that owner) is void. A reasonable restriction is one that does not significantly increase the station's cost or significantly decrease its efficiency or performance. An application must be decided in writing and is deemed approved if not denied in writing within 60 days, unless the delay comes from a reasonable request for more information. A willful violation makes the association liable for actual damages and a civil penalty of up to $1,000, and a prevailing plaintiff owner is awarded reasonable attorney's fees. The association may impose reasonable restrictions and process the application like an architectural modification; the station must meet health, safety, and zoning requirements. For a station in a common area or exclusive use common area, it may require the owner to agree in writing to follow its architectural standards, use a licensed contractor, provide a certificate of liability insurance within 14 days of approval and annually after that, and pay for installation, electricity, maintenance, damage, and restoration of the common area after removal. Since SB 770 (effective January 1, 2026) the statute no longer requires the policy to name the association as an additional insured. A charger in non-exclusive common area is allowed only if installing in the owner's designated space is impossible or unreasonably expensive, under a license agreement.

When you read the disclosure packet, watch for no electrical modifications to parking, no alterations to assigned spaces, board approval at sole discretion, and no equipment installations without written consent. HOA Notes flags each of these against the statute and tells you which restrictions are actually enforceable.