By David Swedelson, Esq., SwedelsonGottlieb, Community Association Attorneys
A manager at a planned development community association we represent contacted me regarding a dispute with an owner. The board was refusing to allow the owner to make a change to the common area solely because the owner had made a change without first submitting a plan and obtaining the required prior approval. I was informed that the board was refusing to provide approval as punishment for the owners’ actions. And the board was doing this despite the fact that the owner had come to them with two options that would have minimal impact on the common area and/or the aesthetics of the association, and the cost for the owner to bring the property back to its prior conditions would have been very expensive. The owner was not happy, and there were some rumblings of a lawsuit. I had to tell the manager and the board that their approach was not appropriate and that there was a possibility that the association could lose if a lawsuit were to be filed.
What I describe above is not an atypical board response to an owner’s failure to seek prior approval for a modification. It is not the correct response, and it can lead to lawsuits that associations may lose. We know this because the Court of Appeal has decided a similar case and told us that California community associations must consider the plans and approve or disapprove the proposed modification based on the usual and customary factors, such as impact on the common area, on the community, neighboring owners, etc. Boards need to show that their actions were regular, fair, and reasonable as a matter of law. Refusing to consider an owner’s plans for a modification because the owner had already made the modifications without approval is not a fair or reasonable response.
SwedelsonGottlieb Senior Partner Sandra Gottlieb was recently honored by the 
It’s that time of year again — time to get the community association’s budget together and ensure you’re making all the proper disclosures under the Annual Budget Report and Annual Policy Statement, as required by the California Civil Code. In order to assist you with this process and other required notices and disclosures, we have again updated our disclosure checklist reference.
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Growing up, there was a home in our neighborhood that had a massive radio antenna, much like the one in the photograph that is part of this blog post. As a kid, I was fascinated by the antenna. It was so big. Actually, I was captivated by the thought that I could talk to people around the world via a ham radio.