Is it legal for a HoA to have work done on my house without my consent or knowledge and then bill me for the work?

The answer to your question will depend on what is written in the CC&Rs, the condominium plan, the legal description on the deed the first time your unit was sold, the resolutions approving the repairs, the notice sent to owners, the location of the specific repairs for which you were billed, and what those repairs were. I have attended board meetings and even served on a board and as its president. Not all boards are careful and serious about their work and decisions, but most are. I have almost always been impressed by the consideration HOA boards give to the interests of both the individual owners and all of the owners together. With that in mind, unless you have one of the other boards, your's probably agonized over the decision of whether to bill individual owners for extra work and how much to bill them. The board probably discussed the issue with a professional management company and maybe even a condo lawyer. While it is possible that they are wrong, it is unlikely. Even if you still think they are wrong, you should pay the bill AND exercise your rights to dispute the amount. Your CC&Rs should have a dispute mechanism for the board to appoint someone to listen to your claim and discuss it with you. If that doesn't work, the CC&Rs should also provide for mediation by a third party to try to negotiate a mutually acceptable compromise. After that, if there still is no agreement, many CC&Rs provide for private arbitration or court appointment of a referree to decide the dispute, rather than going to court. You must go through the processes in the CC&Rs before going to court. If you don't pay the bill, the HOA can impose late fees, fines, and penalty interest. It can hire an attorney to enforce all the unpaid charges, including selling your condo unit at a public auction to pay off what is owed, and add all of the attorney fees and expenses to what you owe. This is likely to cost a lot more than $4000.00. In a recent appellate decision, the Court of Appeal reduced the attorney fees and expenses a homeowner had to reimburse to his HOA, from over $1.2 million to over $730,000. Don't NOT pay the bill from the HOA. 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. Since such a trust 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, 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