California now requires condo HOAs to inspect every balcony, deck, and elevated walkway on a nine-year clock. When an association misses that deadline, the fallout can land on an owner trying to sell.

QIM 35 | Real Estate Litigation | Law Desk

Ava: Michael, most condo owners have never heard of "SB 326," and then suddenly it's the reason a sale won't close. What is it?

Michael Benavides, Esq.: SB 326 is California's Balcony Bill, now codified as Civil Code section 5551. It came out of a tragedy — a balcony collapse that killed six people — and it requires condominium homeowners' associations to have a licensed structural engineer or architect inspect the building's exterior elevated elements: balconies, decks, porches, stairways, walkways, and the railings that go with them, when they're made of or supported by wood. It applies to common interest developments with three or more units, which in practice means condo associations.

Ava: And there was a hard deadline?

Michael Benavides, Esq.: Yes. The first inspection report was due January 1, 2025, and after that the inspections repeat on a nine-year cycle. The report has to document the condition and remaining useful life of those elements and their waterproofing, and it gets folded into the association's reserve study so the HOA is planning — and budgeting — for the repairs. This is a duty that sits squarely on the association, not the individual owner.

Ava: So how does an association's paperwork problem become a homeowner's problem?

Michael Benavides, Esq.: Because that report is exactly the kind of thing a buyer's lender wants to see before funding a loan, and it's part of the document package the HOA has to hand a prospective buyer. If the association never completed its SB 326 inspection, an owner trying to sell can find the deal stalling — buyers hesitate, and lenders can balk at closing — through no fault of the seller. The owner didn't miss the deadline; the HOA did. But the owner feels the consequences.

Ava: Can the seller just... not mention it?

Michael Benavides, Esq.: No — and that's important. California sellers have to disclose known material facts, generally through the Real Estate Transfer Disclosure Statement under Civil Code section 1102 and following, and the HOA must provide the buyer a document package under Civil Code section 4525. A missing SB 326 report isn't something you can paper over; it will surface. The honest move is to disclose it and press the association to fix the underlying problem.

Ava: Bottom line for an owner caught in this?

Michael Benavides, Esq.: Know that the inspection duty is the HOA's, that the deadline was real, and that you have leverage to demand the association get compliant. Honest caveat: every building and every set of governing documents is different, and timelines and consequences turn on the specific facts — but a homeowner shouldn't just eat the delay silently. There are ways to push.

Talk it through with Law Desk. If an HOA's missed SB 326 inspection is affecting your unit or your sale, a California real-estate attorney can map your options against the association. Schedule a consultation with Michael Benavides, Esq.

Disclaimer

Attorney advertising. General information about California common-interest-development and real-estate law, not legal advice; reading it creates no attorney-client relationship. Requirements and consequences are fact-specific and depend on the building and governing documents; statutes change and are applied differently to different facts — confirm the current rules with a licensed California attorney before acting. Michael Benavides, Esq. — California State Bar No. 270714 — is the only licensed attorney and the source of every legal statement here. Ava Benavides is an editorial brand voice, not an attorney, and does not give legal advice in her own name.