One California condo owner was at the end of their rope when they claimed they were getting nowhere with their HOA when searching for a way to charge their electric car.
"I live in a condo in California and my carport is detached from the main unit," they explained in their post on r/HOA. "It has a storage space that has an electric outlet that is billed to the HOA. The HOA is not allowing me to use it."
According to the original poster, they're more than willing to pay any costs for the electricity and have come up with several potential solutions to cover their usage.
"I've written to them multiple times to let me use it, and in exchange they can bill me a predetermined amount every month to cover the cost of electricity. The second option I've presented is for a rep from the HOA to open up the main electrical panel and I could send those pics to an electrician so they can re-map the outlet to my unit."
But according to them, they've gotten no response. "The HOA has basically chosen to just ignore my email requests," they said. "My question is, do I have any legal standing here if I were to get lawyers involved? Will I be in the right with right-to-charge laws since they're obstructing the work that needs to be done?"
California's right-to-charge law makes it clear that both owners and renters are entitled to have access to an EV charging station, as Greenlancer explains. That station can be installed in a personal parking spot or in a common area, but building it is not optional — the HOA must allow tenants to add a charging station.
Yet some HOAs and landlords still try to interfere. One resident's HOA denied an installation because it claimed to be concerned about the risk of fire, and another Los Angeles landlord charged unreasonable fees for access to a charging station.
In this case, the law was on the original poster's side.
"I think that ignoring your requests would clearly be a violation of the right to charge law," said one commenter. "I suggest one more email … If they still don't respond, I would contact an attorney."
However, the original poster might have to adjust their plans.
"You will need to hire an outside company to make a full detailed study, pay for this yourself with the board permission," another commenter pointed out.
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