can the hoa fine for patios

Probably not. The CC&Rs and the Condominium Plan define what part of the complex is yours and what part is open and available to all owners and residents. Your Unit is yours. The Common Area is for everyone, except for areas for common equipment, like furnaces and water heaters, which the HOA might want to control access to. Balconies and Patios which are for the use of just the adjacent owner and no one else, are usually referred to as Exclusive Common Area. If the area outside your bedroom window is not Exclusive Common Area, then anyone can use it. I have written and reviewed lots of CC&Rs. If you would like to hire me to do so and answer your questions, please call me. If you appreciate this free advice, please remember to refer me to any friends or acquaintances who need a lawyer. Referrals are still our best source of new business. Do you have a revocable living trust to protect your heirs against probate? Probate takes forever, is expensive, and is annoying. Do your family a favor. Set up a trust, and put all your property, especially any real property, into the trust. Since it is revocable, you can change it, add to it, take property out of it, or even cancel it completely, at any time. We set up such trusts, provide a pour-over will as a back-up for any property that does not make it into the trust, provide you with blank durable powers of attorney for health care and financial decisions, in case you become incapable of making such decisions while still alive, and convey one piece of real property to the trust, usually the family home, for $1500.00. If you would like to hire me to do this, let me know, and I'll send you a list of the information I need. Dana Sack