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 
Apparently there are many of you out there that are not aware that as of January 2010, California community associations are permitted by law to distribute budget packages and most annual disclosure documents to owners electronically so long as owners give their written consent to receive them by email. Once that consent is obtained, budget distribution can become virtually paperless. To read the statute, 
Okay, it is Halloween. I have been representing condominium associations for 30 years and have never heard of one that is haunted, at least not with goblins and ghosts. But apparently there are some where residents have claimed to have seen ghosts. 
We have had to extricate several of our community association clients (and often their management as well) from claims or lawsuits relating to the federal Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA). It is well settled law that the FDCPA applies to the collection of delinquent and unpaid assessments for condominium and homeowner associations. However, the FDCPA does not apply to collection efforts which a community association, the creditor, undertakes on its own to collect on a debt, nor does it apply to its agents whose collection activities are “incidental to a bona fide fiduciary obligation” or which concern a “debt which was not in default at the time it was obtained by such person.”
Santa Monica has passed a law with new smoking rules that affect all multi-unit housing, and that includes condominiums. 
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. 
California community associations have been filing a lot of lawsuits the last three or so years attempting to collect delinquent assessments. Usually, these lawsuits are filed against owners that have lost their homes to their lender in foreclosure, wiping out their condominium development’s or planned development’s assessment lien. These associations are left with only a judicial remedy to collect what is owed their association.