HOA Law Blog

By David Swedelson, Partner, SwedelsonGottlieb, Community Association Attorneys

The Los Angeles Times reports (on January 1, 2013) that as a result of government imposed fees on investors that do not reside in their apartments (we assume condos) or buy to flip them, in Hong Kong real estate investors are scrambling to buy parking spaces that are not subject to the fees. “Single spaces are now selling for more than some modest Southern California homes. Someone paid $288,000 in November 2012 for a parking space in a luxury apartment complex on Hong Kong Island. Or the $166,000 tab for a spot in a suburban development called Festival City. A space attached to an exclusive cliffside townhouse community in the ocean view neighborhood of Repulse Bay fetched $385,000 in March. And those are just the recorded sales.”
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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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