Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Have you been sued? I would assume not, but if you have, you need to see an attorney at once regarding preparation, service and filing of an answer or other responsive pleading.

Otherwise, your given facts show what may be the tip of an iceberg, requiring more information for a proper analysis, including whether a single incident like this could affect the HOA's insurance costs, whether it can be pinned down to this one incident, and whether you are liable for the cost increase, if any.

One possible starting point that you might try is to discuss the HOA's claim against you with the agents for the two insurers you've mentioned. Access to agents, adjusters and lawyers is one of the nice things about being insured.

The statute of limitations that might be applicable are as follows:

1. Property damage claim - usually 3 years. They might sue under the negligence or nuisance theories for this.

2. breach of contract - in this case the cc&r is a written contract. It is 4 years from the time of your breach.

You may have a good S/L argument here. It looks like the claims are barred.

No party has a right to claim their increased insurance premiums from another party who causes them to make a claim. So unless there is something in the CC&R's that says you will be responsible, tell the HOA to pound salt.