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Monday 8:30am - 5:30pm Tuesday 8:30am - 5:30pm Wednesday 8:30am - 5:30pm Thursday 8:30am - 5:30pm Friday 8:30am - 5:30pm

MBK Chapman PC

The attorneys at MBK Chapman are the best & brightest in the fields of California HOA, Business, and Real Estate law. He pioneered it. Mr.

MBK Chapman is California’s leading homeowner-side HOA law firm, recognized statewide for its depth of experience enforcing the Davis-Stirling Act on behalf of homeowners. For nearly 30 years, the firm’s managing partner, Michael Kushner, has represented thousands of Californians whose homes, finances, and quality of life have been harmed by bad HOAs. Michael Kushner did not enter an existing prac

tice niche. Beginning in 2010, he became the first California attorney, to his knowledge, to deliberately build a full-scale homeowner-side HOA practice after recognizing that HOA abuse was not isolated misconduct, but a systemic problem embedded in HOA governance. He developed homeowner-focused legal strategies, pre-litigation systems, and enforcement tools designed specifically to protect homeowners’ rights, preserve property values, and restore peace of mind for people living in HOA-governed communities. Those systems and strategies proved so effective that the two largest homeowner-side HOA firms in California later adopted the same foundational approach in their own practices. Today, homeowner-side HOA representation is MBK Chapman’s largest and most visible practice area and the focus of its public-facing work. Kushner is widely regarded as California’s #1 homeowner-side HOA attorney. He has authored hundreds of homeowner-focused articles, guides, and legal analyses, created and hosts the hit podcast HOA HELL, and literally wrote the book on HOA abuse, HOA HELL | California Homeowners’ Definitive Guide to Beating Bad HOAs, an Amazon #1 best seller. He has also been selected as a California Super Lawyer for multiple consecutive years, an honor awarded to fewer than 5% of attorneys statewide, reflecting peer recognition for professional achievement and legal excellence. In addition to its homeowner-side HOA practice, MBK Chapman brings decades of experience in complex business, corporate, real estate, and civil litigation matters. Led by seasoned trial and transactional attorneys, the firm delivers strategic, results-driven representation focused on protecting clients’ rights, property, and long-term interests, both inside and outside the courtroom. Disclaimer: Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case is different and results depend on its specific facts. Read More of Our Terms of Use @ mbkchapman.com/terms-of-use

05/29/2026

Can HOA Board Members in California Be Forced to Pay Back Legal Fees?
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Many California homeowners assume that if their HOA’s insurance or the association itself pays to defend a board member in a lawsuit, that is the end of the story. In many cases, however, that’s not true. Under the right circumstances, the law may require an HOA director who initially receives a legal defense from the HOA to repay those legal fees out of their own pocket. The analysis begins by understanding the difference between an HOA’s duty to defend and a director’s right to indemnity.

05/28/2026

Can I Sue My HOA Board Members Personally in California?
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Most California homeowners assume they can simply sue the individual directors responsible if their HOA causes harm. In reality, however, that’s not so easy to do. California law strongly protects volunteer HOA board members from personal liability, and in most disputes, the HOA itself, not the individual directors, is the proper defendant.
Those protections, however, are not unlimited. California statutes and doctrines like the Business Judgment Rule shield board members from personal liability, but only when they act in good faith, stay within the scope of their authority, and make reasonably informed decisions. When directors step outside those boundaries through misconduct, intentional wrongdoing, or an unreasonable failure to properly carry out their duties, the legal protections that normally apply no longer protect them.

05/27/2026

Can a California HOA Convert Tennis Courts Into Pickleball Courts?
What You’ll Learn in today’s episode:
✅ When HOAs can convert tennis courts into pickleball courts without membership approval.
✅ The role that an HOA’s CC&Rs play in the board’s power to make the conversion.
✅ Why partial conversions and total eliminations raise different concerns.
✅ How pickleball noise and increased use affect the decision to make the conversion.
✅ How a good HOA usually goes about converting tennis courts to pickleball courts.
✅ What homeowners should do if they want to object to the conversion.

05/26/2026

Altadena & Palisades Fires: Why California FAIR Plan Insurance Isn’t Enough to Rebuild
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The aftermath of the Altadena and Palisades fires has exposed a problem that many California homeowners who live in high fire zones didn’t see coming. They had insurance through California’s FAIR Plan and they’ve paid very high premiums for that insurance. But it wasn’t until they lost their homes that many innocent Californians suddenly discovered that their coverage didn’t come close to what it costs to rebuild. This is not a paperwork issue or a misunderstanding of policy language. It is a structural gap between what the FAIR Plan pays and what rebuilding now costs in the real world.

05/22/2026

Can a California HOA Stop You from Speaking at a Board Meeting?
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Bad HOA boards often attempt to stifle homeowner speech during open board meetings by eliminating open forum entirely, restricting the scope of permissible topics, or deploying obstructive tactics such as claiming a comment is “not on the agenda,” cutting speakers off mid-sentence, or shutting off microphones. These actions reflect a gross misunderstanding of the Open Meeting Act, the specific portion of the Davis-Stirling Act that protects the homeowner’s right to participate in the governance of the community. Under California law, boards cannot use procedural games or favoritism to silence members during the session the Legislature specifically designated for member input.
Civil Code 4925 gives homeowners the right to attend and speak at board meetings, and Civil Code 4930 makes clear that this right extends to any matter within the jurisdiction of the HOA. While the agenda limits what the HOA board itself can discuss or vote on, it does not limit what homeowners can say during open forum. A homeowner does not lose the right to speak simply because the board would prefer not to hear the issue.

05/21/2026

Can a California HOA Hold Secret Meetings Without Notice or Minutes?
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Bad HOAs don’t like to operate in the light. Instead, they prefer to operate without oversight. To hide their activities from the membership at large, bad HOA boards will frequently try to conduct business behind closed doors by calling their gatherings “planning meetings,” “informal sessions,” or something else they claim does not count as a board meeting. Homeowners usually discover these meetings after the board has already made decisions without notice, agendas, or any record of what occurred. That practice is unequivocally illegal under California law, and members should not tolerate such conduct.
Civil Code 4090 defines a board meeting broadly as any gathering of a quorum of directors to hear, discuss, or deliberate on HOA business. What the board calls the meeting does not matter. If a quorum of directors is discussing HOA business, the Open Meeting Act, set forth in Civil Code 4900 through 4955, applies. That means the meeting required notice, an agenda, minutes, and the opportunity for members to attend unless a valid executive session exception applied.

05/20/2026

California's most respected homeowner-side HOA Attorney, Michael Kushner, explains why HOA law has become one of the most important and fastest-growing areas of homeowner litigation in California. As HOA-governed communities continue expanding rapidly across the state (and the country), more homeowners are finding themselves trapped in disputes involving abusive boards, selective enforcement, neighbor conflicts, architectural disputes, harassment, fines, maintenance failures, and financial mismanagement.

This short video explains the philosophy behind MBK Chapman’s homeowner-side HOA practice and why so many California homeowners turn to the firm that started it all on the homeowner-side. By the time many homeowners contact the firm, they are exhausted, frustrated, emotionally overwhelmed, and looking for a law firm that actually understands how HOA power structures operate.

Attorney Michael Kushner discusses the reality that HOAs are not “all powerful,” and that California homeowners possess substantial legal rights under the Davis-Stirling Act and other California laws. He also explains why homeowner-side HOA litigation requires specialized knowledge and why experience matters when confronting aggressive HOA boards and management companies.

05/19/2026

Can My HOA Force Me to Pay a Special Assessment After the Altadena and Palisades Fires?
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In the aftermath of the devastating fires that swept through Altadena, the Pacific Palisades, Malibu, and surrounding areas in early 2025, many homeowners are now facing a second crisis: massive HOA special assessments that HOA boards imposed to repair fire-damaged common areas. In at least one widely reported Altadena community, homeowners were hit with an emergency special assessment of $23,000 per unit, with a short payment deadline and the threat of liens and foreclosure if they failed to pay. For families already dealing with displacement, insurance claims, and the loss of their homes, these demands created a level of financial pressure that bordered on the cruel.
For homeowners who have already lost homes, possessions, and stability, a massive assessment on a compressed timeline is not just frustrating, it can feel devastating, and in many cases, completely unmanageable. While repairs to common areas may be necessary, that does not give HOA boards a free pass to impose financial demands in a way that ignores the real-world impact on their members. The timing, structure, and enforcement of these assessments matter, and when handled poorly, they can turn an already catastrophic event into a prolonged financial crisis for the very people the HOA is supposed to serve.
Unfortunately, the reporter who wrote the news story that prompted this Fact Sheet appears to have relied on the same type of misplaced trust that many homeowners place in highly visible online content, confusing ubiquity with actual expertise. This unfortunate reporter quoted my oft-cited “bad HOA lawyer” (i.e., the professional promoter), who in typical fashion provided an obvious, surface-level “analysis” that lacked any useful information. In short, the purported “expert” highlighted in that story offered little beyond what was already obvious, and that lack of depth matters. Homeowners in this situation need more than surface-level reactions. They need to understand what questions to ask and where the real pressure points may exist. When experts provide no deeper analysis, the people affected remain without meaningful guidance at the exact moment they need it most.
This Fact Sheet picks up where that bad HOA lawyer’s “expert” take stopped.

05/18/2026

California HOA Fines After AB 130: $100 Limit, Repeat Violations, and Predictions Coming True
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When AB 130 took effect, I made a series of very specific predictions about how it would play out in the real world. Although I’m widely regarded as California’s most groundbreaking HOA attorney on the homeowner-side (meaning that my law firm, MBK Chapman, only represent homeowners), and I am thus staunchly pro-homeowner and anti-bad HOA, I made it clear from the beginning that AB 130 was a terrible law and the wrong solution for a real problem. In fact, I said that AB 130 would create confusion, shift enforcement behavior, increase costs, and that both bad HOAs and bad homeowners would find ways to exploit its gaps, while good HOAs and good HOA members would suffer because of the law. Nine months later, those predictions are no longer theoretical. They are occurring. Events have since proven me right, much to my disappointment.

05/15/2026

Can My California HOA Ban Airbnb or Short-Term Rentals?
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Every spring, as the summer approaches, we start fielding questions from homeowners across California about their right to rent out their homes to vacationers on websites like Airbnb or VRBO. And we always respond with the same answer: it depends. The Davis-Stirling Act allows HOAs to regulate, or even ban outright, short-term rentals (also frequently referred to as vacation rentals or STRs).
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05/14/2026

🎯HIRING ALERT🎯

Our growing firm is seeking a litigation attorney who can handle their own caseload, work independently, and zealously represent clients both in and out of court. To be considered, you should have experience with discovery and law and motion practice. Trial preparation and trial experience is not necessary but is a plus.

Your excellent communication and drafting skills will come in handy as you assist in thoughtfully positioning clients toward favorable outcomes. We have an outstanding team of collegial, yet hard-working attorneys who enjoy litigating cases for their clients. We work hard but have fun doing it!

Reach out to us today if this opportunity sounds ideal for you.

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Address

120 Vantis Drive, Suite 500
Aliso Viejo, CA
92656

Opening Hours

Monday	8:30am - 5:30pm
Tuesday	8:30am - 5:30pm
Wednesday	8:30am - 5:30pm
Thursday	8:30am - 5:30pm
Friday	8:30am - 5:30pm

Telephone

+19497673910

Website

http://www.mbkchapman.com/, https://www.youtube.com/@HOAHELLpodcastofficial, https://www.amazon.com/s?k=hoa+hell&crid=1I

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