California Legislature Fixes the Law on Member Notice & Notice of Rule Changes-Amends Civil Code §4040 and Civil Code §4360

By the Community Association Attorneys at SwedelsonGottlieb
Through SB 261, the California Legislature fixed some issues with prior legislation dealing with delivery of notices and related matters and generally fixed some issues that had come up after prior legislation was adopted. This bill became effective in January 1st and amends the following existing sections of the Civil Code as stated:
• Email Consent to Document Delivery — Civil Code §4040 (Individual Notice), which allows for individual delivery of notices and other documents by email if an owner consents to this in writing was amended to allow an individual owner to permit/revoke consent to allow individual notice by email. While most attorneys thought that an email was considered a writing, this amendment eliminates any confusion.
• Statutory Rule Change Notice – Civil Code §4360 (Approval of Rule Change by Board) was amended so that the association/board can provide general notice no less than 28 days before making a rule change (previously it was 30 days). Why the change? As many boards meet every month, the prior 30-day notice period did not give the boards ample time to confirm a rule change, often requiring another month delay. By reducing the time between the notice of the proposed rule change and the actual board meeting/resolution to adopt the new rule from 30 to 28 days, boards will now, hopefully, be in a position to decide on the proposed rule change at one meeting, send out the notice of the proposed rule change (28 days in advance of the next month’s meeting) and be in a position 30 days later to formalize the rule change.