What happens if your board misses the 14-day decision deadline

Notice Cure team

AB 130 shortened the window for a board's written decision from 15 days to 14 after the hearing. It's an easy deadline to lose track of on a volunteer board juggling several open cases — and one of the easier compliance gaps for an owner to point to.

What the 14 days actually covers

The clock starts at the hearing, not when the board gets around to discussing it afterward. The written decision has to reach the owner — not just be drafted or approved in a board meeting — inside that 14-day window.

Why a late decision is a real problem, not just a technicality

A decision that goes out late is harder to defend if the fine is ever challenged: the association's own timeline shows it didn't follow the process the statute lays out. That doesn't necessarily void the fine outright, but it hands the owner a straightforward compliance argument the board now has to answer instead of the merits of the violation itself.

If you're already past it

There's no shortcut once the window has closed — the board can still send the decision, but it should be honest in its own records that it went out late, rather than quietly backdating anything. Going forward, the fix is almost always procedural: track the hearing date the moment it's set, not the fine amount, and put the 14-day deadline on whatever calendar the board actually checks.