HOA tree root damage my back yard

-- When did you first notice that the cement was lifting?

-- When did you first tell the HOA that the cement was lifting?

From my reading and for California, whether the HOA owes you for the full amount of the repair depends on the answers to the questions above. If you did not inform the HOA, in a timely fashion, of the damage the tree root was causing, then this will reduce any damages the HOA might owe you. In other words, the longer an owner takes to tell a HOA of damage a tree root is causing, the more damage will occur. Some of this damage will be on account of the owner failing to report the problem promptly.

Note that, if you had first reported the problem as soon as you noticed the cement cracking, then the HOA might have been able to fix the problem promptly such that repairs might never have been necessary.

More discussion appears at https://www.davis-stirling.com/HOME/Case-Law/Alpert-v-Villa-Romano

One final caveat for now: To fight this using lawyers will quickly exceed the cost of the repair itself.

In my experience: Unless the root(s) is (are) cut off, I do not think grinding down the cement and sealing cracks is a solution.

Minh

Where was the crack? In the slab your home sits on or elsewhere? Needed or not you cannot just go about doing things and expect the BOD to pay for. You should have discussed this with the BOD ahead of time.