Articles Posted in CC&R and Rule Enforcement

By Sandra L. Gottlieb, Senior Partner and Community Association Attorney at SwedelsonGottlieb

California Civil Code Section 1360.2 went into effect on January 1, 2012, a little over one year ago, and states that any new provision in a governing document or an amendment to a governing document that prohibits the rental or leasing of any of the separate interests is not applicable to anyone who purchased before the date the governing document and/or amendment was adopted or recorded unless that person expressly consents to be bound. Notwithstanding the limitations created by Civil Code Section 1360.2, many community associations are still adopting new rental restrictions to be applied to new owners or transferees. What they are learning is that not all transfers of an interest in a property will be covered by Civil Code Section 1360.2 which allows for certain exemptions from a leasing restriction. Certain transfers of property do not constitute a change in ownership and therefore, the new owner may not be subject to any provisions prohibiting leasing that were adopted after the new owner obtained title to the separate interest (i.e., unit or lot).
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By Sandra L. Gottlieb, Esq. Senior Partner at SwedelsonGottlieb, Community Association Attorneys

Did you know that California community associations are required to allow an owner to operate a “family day care home” within their unit or lot at an association and that the day care can have up to 14 kids in it!? Yup, it is true. This blog post is intended to address family day care homes and what your association can do to deal with them to reduce, if not eliminate, its liability and protect the community.
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Blog Post by David Swedelson, SwedelsonGottlieb Community Association Attorneys

We are often asked whether persons who are not members of the association can attend association board meetings. The short answer to this question is yes, subject to the considerations discussed below. We are also asked if non-members can be excluded from board meetings; the answer is yes, and this is also subject to considerations that are addressed below.

California Corporations Code § 1363.05, known as the Common Interest Development Open Meeting Act, provides, at subsection (b), that any member of the association may attend meetings of the association’s oard of directors, except executive session meetings of the board. This statutory provision is silent as to whether non-owner residents of the association or other non-members can attend open/general session Board meetings. Further, most association’s bylaws do not prohibit non-members from attending board meetings, and are silent on this issue.
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We are often asked if a California condominium or homeowners association has the authority to tow vehicles from the association if the vehicle is parked in violation of the association’s Rules and Regulations. The answer is that an association has the right and authority to tow vehicles, assuming that the Association has the proper signage posted in accordance with the California Vehicle Code, the towing is conducted in accordance with the California Vehicle Code, and the association’s Rules allow for same. Do you tow vehicles at your association? Are you considering adopting rules regarding towing? We have updated our information on towing vehicles at community associations and turned it into a printable article. Follow this link to download it.

Need assistance with developing towing rules and/or policies? Contact David Swedelson at dcs@sghoalaw.com

The holidays are just around the corner, and it’s time for community association boards to start getting ready to address issues connected with holiday decorations. What kinds of limits should be placed on holiday decorations? How do you implement holiday rules and regulations? All that and more questions are answered in our article ‘Tis the Season to Be Tolerant: Building a Sense of Community in Spite of Holiday Decoration Rules.

By David Swedelson, Partner SwedelsonGottlieb; Condo Attorney and HOA Lawyer

A CC&R dispute that started 11 years ago over the condition of a Tampa Florida homeowner’s lawn, a lawsuit that involved dozens of court hearings, a weeklong jury trial, two appeals and a second trial, at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars is finally over, and the owner prevailed. While this lawsuit occurred in Florida, it could have just as easily taken place in California. Boards at homeowners associations need to be careful when imposing charges and recording liens on an owner’s property.

The lawsuit was between an owner at the Pebble Creek HOA, a real estate broker and retired Tampa police captain, who claimed that his homeowners association illegally took action to replace his lawn in January 2002 and then recorded a $2,212 lien against the home and property for the cost of the sod.
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By David C. Swedelson, Esq., and Ryan D. Barrett, Esq., SwedelsonGottlieb; Condo Lawyers and HOA Attorneys

We are often asked if a California condo or homeowners association has the ability to tow vehicles from the association if they are violating the association’s Rules and Regulations. The answer is that an association does have the right and ability to tow vehicles, assuming that the towing is appropriate, does not conflict with the applicable California Vehicle Code (including having the required signage), and that the association’s Rules allow for same. Follow this link to our prior blog post regarding the basics relating to towing of vehicles from a California common interest development. This post will address when and if a California condo or HOA can tow a vehicle based on its Rules.

For the Rules to be effective, they cannot conflict with the association’s CC&Rs, and the Rules must have been properly adopted pursuant to the Civil Code. For several years, the Civil Code has required that before the board can adopt Rules, it must first send them out to all homeowners and allow thirty (30) days for homeowner comment. I would not want to see the board go through the effort of enforcing the Rules only to have a homeowner complain that the Rules were not properly adopted (as homeowners often do).
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Blog Post by David Swedelson

I recently spoke at a program on secondhand smoke issues at California community associations. And I posted an article that dealt with second hand smoke and how condo and HOA associations can deal with the issue, The Smoker Next Door: Secondhand Smoke + Condominiums = Trouble

A new “Smoke-Free Housing” tool kit for owners and residents of multifamily housing, including condo associations, is available from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The toolkit includes a guide for implementing no-smoking policies, sample resident survey and educational and research materials.

Blog post by David Swedelson

We hear these types of complaints all the time. While secondhand cigarette, pipe or marijuana smoke are the biggest sources of complaints, we are often asked to help associations deal with smells from other sources including cleaning products, paint and lack of ventilation, food and even perfume. I was reminded about this issue from an article that appeared in the Chicago Tribune newspaper.

As the article points out, “[w]ith many kids being asthmatic or allergic, and increasing numbers of people claiming chemical sensitivities, whether real or imagined, products that could become the trigger for an attack can become quite a hot button issue in certain associations.”