As of January 1, 2026, Maine condo and HOA boards can no longer flatly refuse a unit owner who wants to install an EV charger in their designated parking space. Governor Janet Mills signed the change into the state's condominium law, and it joined a short list: as of mid-2026, only 16 states plus the District of Columbia have a statute that actually bars an association from saying no. That is a far smaller club than the "right to charge in all 50 states" framing you will find on some vendor sites, and the gap between "there is a law" and "the law protects you" is exactly where most homeowners get confused.
If you own a home or a unit and your association is dragging its feet on a charger, the first question is not "is there a law," it is "does the law where I live cover my situation, and what does it still let the board require." This guide works through both, state by state, using the same statute research behind this site's individual state guides.
What a right-to-charge law actually does
Every right-to-charge statute does one specific thing: it voids the part of an HOA's or condo association's governing documents (the covenants, bylaws, or declaration) that would otherwise let the board flatly prohibit an EV charging station. It does not hand you a free charger, and it does not remove the board from the process.
In every state with a statute, the homeowner still:
- Pays for everything. Equipment, installation, the electrician, the electricity, and usually removal or restoration if the unit is sold or the charger comes out.
- Uses a licensed contractor. Boards can require the installer be licensed and, in some states, insured.
- Meets reasonable architectural standards. A board can regulate paint color, conduit routing, and placement, as long as the standard is not so strict it functions as a ban.
- Carries liability insurance. Most statutes require a certificate of insurance; a few (California, until SB 770 changed it, and D.C. today) required the association be named as an additional insured, which some carriers simply would not write.
What changes state to state is who is covered (owners only, or renters too), how fast the board has to respond, and how much room the board keeps to say no on narrower grounds. That is the part worth checking against your actual state.
The 16 states plus D.C. with a right-to-charge statute
This table pulls from this site's state-by-state legal research, current as of the dates noted. "Covers" means who the statute actually protects, not just who the headline mentions.
| State | Statute | Covers | Notable condition |
|---|
| California | Cal. Civ. Code § 4745, § 4745.1 | HOA, condo, renters | SB 770 (Jan. 1, 2026) dropped the requirement that owners name the HOA as an additional insured |
| Colorado | Colo. Rev. Stat. § 38-33.3-106.8 | HOA, condo, renters | Owner must register the system with the association within 30 days |
| Connecticut | Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-216g | HOA, condo, renters | Exempt once 15% or more of a building's units already have charging access |
| D.C. | D.C. Law 25-262 | HOA, condo, renters | Requires design plans stamped by a registered architect or engineer |
| Florida | Fla. Stat. § 718.113(8) | Condo only | Owner must separately meter the station; no HOA or rental coverage |
| Hawaii | Haw. Rev. Stat. § 196-7.5 | HOA, condo | Association cannot charge a fee just for allowing the installation |
| Illinois | 765 ILCS 1085 | HOA, condo, renters | Request is deemed approved if the board does not deny it in writing within 60 days |
| Maryland | Md. Real Prop. Code §§ 11-111.4, 11B-111.8 | HOA, condo | Same 60-day deemed-approved default as Illinois |
| Maine | 33 M.R.S. § 1602-105 | Condo | Effective Jan. 1, 2026; deemed approved if the board does not act within 60 days, no placement fee |
| Massachusetts | Mass. Gen. Laws c. 183A § 10A; St. 2024 c. 239 | Condo | 2024 law broadened coverage beyond the original c. 183A condos |
| New Jersey | N.J.S.A. 45:22A-48.4 | HOA, condo | Board can still deny on documented life-safety grounds |
| North Dakota | N.D. Cent. Code § 47-04.1-08.2 | Condo only | No HOA or rental coverage |
| Oregon | Or. Rev. Stat. §§ 94.762, 100.627 | HOA, condo | Owner must disclose the charger to prospective buyers |
| Pennsylvania | 68 Pa. Cons. Stat. (Uniform Condominium Act, as amended) | Condo | Confirm the current section number; this part of Title 68 has been amended more than once |
| Utah | Utah Code §§ 57-8-8.2, 57-8a-802 | HOA, condo | No rental coverage |
| Virginia | Va. Code §§ 55.1-1962.1, 55.1-2229 | HOA, condo | Board can deny for documented technical infeasibility, not preference |
| Washington | Wash. Rev. Code §§ 64.34.395, 64.38.062, 64.90.513, 64.32.290 | HOA, condo | Owner must register the charger with the association |
That is 16 states plus D.C. Some vendor and aggregator pages frame right-to-charge protection as close to a nationwide guarantee; the actual statutory picture is narrower and far more state-specific than that framing suggests. Every other state, roughly two-thirds of the country, leaves EV charging entirely up to the association's own governing documents.
Three tiers, and which one you're actually in
The table above sorts into three real tiers, and the tier matters more than the fact that "your state has a law."
Full coverage, including renters: California, Colorado, Connecticut, D.C., and Illinois extend the protection to tenants installing at their own expense in a dedicated rental parking space, not just owners. This is a short list; see EV Charging for Renters for the renter-specific version of this whole question, including what these laws do not cover.
Owner coverage across HOAs and condos, no renter protection: Hawaii, Maryland, New Jersey, Oregon, Utah, Virginia, and Washington cover both single-family HOAs and condo associations, but only for owners installing in their own space.
Condo-only coverage: Florida, Maine, Massachusetts, North Dakota, and Pennsylvania protect condo unit owners specifically. If you own a single-family home in a homeowner's association in one of these five states, the condo statute does not apply to you; your HOA's governing documents control.
Know which tier you are in before you assume a state headline applies to your actual living situation.
The 60-day clock: Illinois, Maryland, and now Maine
Three of the 17 jurisdictions put a real deadline on the board, and all three land on the same fallback: silence counts as a yes. Illinois and Maryland deem a request automatically approved if the association does not issue a written denial within 60 days, which flips the default from "silence means no" to "silence means yes." Maine's new law, effective this year, works the same way: the board must issue a written acknowledgment within 30 days of receiving an application and a final written decision within 60, and an application the board never answers is deemed approved by default. If your board is stalling and you are in one of these three states, put your request in writing and start the clock; that written date is what makes the deadline, and the deemed-approval fallback, enforceable.
What a board can still say no to, even with a law on the books
A right-to-charge statute removes the flat "no." It does not remove every "no."
- Placement in a shared or common area. Statutes generally protect a designated or exclusive-use space; if your parking is unassigned or genuinely shared, most of these laws simply do not reach your situation, HOA or no HOA.
- Documented safety or engineering problems. Virginia's statute explicitly allows denial where installation is not technically feasible for structural or engineering reasons. This is a real exception, not a loophole for a board that would rather not deal with it, and the board typically has to document the specific problem.
- Life-safety issues. New Jersey allows denial on documented life-safety grounds, the same idea under a different label.
- Reasonable architectural conditions. Conduit routing, paint-matching, and placement rules are generally allowed as long as they do not functionally block the install or add unreasonable cost.
- Registration and process requirements. Colorado and Washington require the owner register the system with the association; skipping that step can put you outside the statute's protection even though the underlying installation is legal.
If your state has no right-to-charge law
Roughly two-thirds of states, concentrated in the Southeast, the Plains, and the Mountain West, have no statute at all. In those states your association's governing documents are the entire legal picture, and the board can restrict or refuse a charger the same way it would restrict a shed or a satellite dish.
A few things worth knowing if you are in this position:
- A general property statute is not a substitute. North Carolina's solar-access law, for example, protects solar collectors from HOA restriction but does not extend to EV charging equipment, a mix-up that shows up regularly in online advice. Read what a statute actually covers before you cite it to your board.
- Legislation is moving, but a bill is not a law. Nevada and New York have both had right-to-charge bills introduced in recent legislative sessions; neither had been enacted as of mid-2026. Track your state's session if this matters to you, but do not plan around a bill that has not passed.
- A structured, paid-for request still works in practice, even without a statute behind it. Put the request in writing, offer to cover installation, insurance, and electricity, and propose a licensed contractor. Many boards say yes to a well-documented ask regardless of what the law requires, because the alternative is explaining a refusal to other residents who want the same thing.
- A plug-in charger is a smaller ask than a hardwired one. A portable Level 2 unit on a dedicated outlet is easier for a board to approve than permanent conduit and a hardwired unit, and it travels with you if you move. See our hardwired vs. plug-in comparison for the tradeoffs, and what a typical installation actually involves for what a licensed electrician will need from the board either way.
If you rent instead of own
Owning and renting are different legal questions even in states with a right-to-charge law. Of the 16 states plus D.C. listed above, only California, Colorado, Connecticut, D.C., and Illinois extend the protection to tenants; the rest apply to unit or lot owners only. If you rent, your landlord's approval and your lease terms matter more than any HOA statute, and the incentive and cost picture is different too. The full renter-specific breakdown, including what Level 1 and shared building chargers can cover when a landlord says no, is in EV Charging for Renters: Options, Rights, and Real Limits.
The bottom line
A right-to-charge law is real leverage where it exists, but it exists in only 16 states plus D.C., it usually covers owners and not renters, and it never removes the board's authority over cost, contractor licensing, and reasonable placement. Check your tier before you rely on a headline: full coverage including renters, owner-only coverage across HOA and condo, or condo-only coverage. If your state has no statute, a well-documented, fully self-funded request still succeeds often enough to be worth trying before you assume the answer is no. Either way, start with your own governing documents and your state's page for the current statute and its conditions, since program details and legislative sessions both move during the year.
Last factually verified: August 21, 2026, against this site's state-by-state right-to-charge statute research (verified June 2026, cross-checked against primary state statute text), Maine LD 1133's January 1, 2026 effective date and its 30-day acknowledgment / 60-day deemed-approval provisions (corroborated across multiple independent 2025-2026 legal and industry summaries of the signed act; direct access to legislature.maine.gov was unavailable this session), and California SB 770's January 1, 2026 removal of the additional-insured requirement (confirmed via the enrolled bill and current HOA legal guidance). Individual program and statute details change; verify the current text of your state's statute before relying on it for a specific installation.
evcharginghelp.com is editorially independent and receives no compensation from any company mentioned.