More than a year after the most destructive wildfires in Los Angeles County history tore through the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, residents of a luxury Altadena community are facing a new crisis – a $23,614 homeowners association (HOA) bill and just 34 days to pay it.
The Eaton fire, one of two enormous blazes that ignited on 7 January 2025, killed at least 31 people and destroyed nearly 17,000 structures across the region.
In La Vina, a gated community on the northwest edge of Altadena, 52 of its 272 homes were entirely lost. More than 70 per cent are now being rebuilt, with repairs to shared spaces also underway.
But despite this progress, the “special assessment” by the HOA and the bill it comes with has triggered a bitter feud in the community, pitting neighbor against neighbor and prompting litigation against residents whose homes burned to the ground, the LA Times reports…