Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: Home owners association resident parking

Well, if you can get enough affected homeowners to share the legal costs, there's no harm in trying, or at least consulting with a local attorney with some HOA experience.

Requesting a TRO requires filing a suit raising some issue regarding the legality of the action or activity being restrained. I'm not sure that mere unreasonableness is a sufficient legal reason to file and win the suit, but if the judge thinks your suit has some merit, and that you might win, and that in the meanwhile the affected owners will suffer harm that's disproportionate to the harm to the HOA from delayed implementation of the new rule, you may get a TRO. There may be other bases for suit, such as lack of a quorum, breach of duty to provide additional parking, or that the fine is a penalty that only a court can impose. Your lawyer can assist you in framing palpable issues for suit.

If you get the TRO, it is good for a couple of weeks, at which time the court will hold a hearing on whether it should be dissolved or turned into a preliminary injunction. This is a tougher step; you may have to post a bond, and the judge will inquire much more deeply into the merits of your suit - and the HOA will probably be there to argue its case for the fines.

An interesting question is why the HOA did this in the first place, and why you seem confident that, given a little time, you can get the HOA to reverse itself.