*New Resource

Associations have traditionally encountered problems with renters in their communities. Because renters do not have an ownership interest in their units and the Association, they may feel less invested in the community. This often results in renters failing to (1) comply with the Association's CC&Rs and/or (2) properly adhere to the Association's rules and regulations. Associations that have high quantities of renters typically find themselves paying more in enforcement costs compared to those Associations that have smaller renter populations.

Senate Bill 150 ("SB 150"), which takes effect January 1, 2012, will effectively prohibit Associations from enforcing the types of rental restrictions they have utilized in the past. In sum, SB 150 exempts owners in an Association from any rental restrictions that were not in effect prior to the date the owner bought into the community.

We have published a resource on SB 150 that discusses this issue in more detail and provides a recommendation for Associations that have, or are considering, adopting rental restrictions in their community. The resource, entitled "Senate Bill 150 and the Impact on Rental Restrictions" is available for download in our library.

In furtherance of California's energy conservation goals, Governor Brown has signed Senate Bill 209 ("SB 209") which prohibits Associations from unreasonably restricting the installation of electric vehicle ("EV") charging staitons in their communities. SB209 will take effect January 1, 2012.

CAI's California Legislative Action Committee ("CAI-CLAC") worked with the author of SB209 to ensure that potential issues regarding an Association's responsibility and control over these stations would be adequately addressed. The work of CAI-CLAC was reflected in Governor Brown's signing message to the California Senate: "The author has assured me that she will pursue legislation that clearly protects the right of [Associations] to establish reasonable rules for any use of common areas for charging stations."

The aesthetic concerns over EV charging stations are easy to understand. However, there may be an incentive for an Association to voluntarily install the stations for use by its members/tenants: a new revenue stream. Practically every major Southern California utility company offers discounted rates on electricity used to charge EVs. However, according to a recent decision by the California Public Utilities Commission ("CPUC"), "condominium associations that provide electric vehicle charging on the premises as a service to condominium owners...that have not dedicated their equipment for public use" are not regulated as public utilities and therefore not subject to various rate controls when deciding what price to charge for the use of the stations.Thus, an Association could install the stations for use by its members/tenants and ultimately profit from them.

Congratulations to CAI's California Legislative Action Committee ("CAI-CLAC") for successfully working to get Senate Bill 759 vetoed. SB 759 would have required Associations to permit the installation of artificial turf in their communities. This marks the second time that such a bill was ultimately vetoed by a California Governor.

SB 759 purported to serve a water conservation goal and was passed by the California Legislature with bipartisan support. The Community Association Industry's opposition to the bill was based largely on the realization that such a bill would intrude on the self-governance rights reserved for Associations.

In his veto message, Governor Jerry Brown stated that "[t]he decision about choosing synthetic turf instead of natural vegetation should be left to individual homeowners associations, not mandated by state law."  

The Governor's action with respect to this bill serves as an important recognition of the fact that Associations are meant to be autonomous, self-regulating entities. Congratulations again to CAI-CLAC for their hard work.