As we previously reported, in late 2012, the Governor signed into law a complete restatement and reorganization of the Davis-Stirling Act which will be effective January 1, 2014. The year delay in the implementation of the new revised Act was intended to give us all time to get prepared and acquainted with the changes. We have a tool to assist you in this effort. The numbers used to reference the applicable sections of the Act (1350-1378) will be changing to entirely new section numbers (4000-6150). If your governing documents refer to an old section number, just use our handy Davis-Stirling Conversion Table to find the applicable new statute. We have included links in our table to our analysis of the substantive changes in the new Act.

2012 Case Law Affecting California Community Associations

Each year, there are a number of cases, Court of Appeal or California Supreme Court decisions involving California community associations. These are cases that we lawyers rely upon. Last year (2012), there were several important cases that are important for community association managers and board members to know about.

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Exemptions from Rental Restrictions; Not All Transfers Apply

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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Rental Restrictions: An International Issue

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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Family Day Care Homes Can Operate Within California Community Associations - So Long As They Follow The Law

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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What the Heck Is A Power of Attorney And How Does It Work For Board Meetings?

On occasion, a director will seek to appoint another person to attend board meetings on their behalf (and make board decisions and vote as if they were a board member), or a homeowner's friend or relative will attend the homeowners forum and attempt to speak on the homeowner's behalf. This article is intended to address and explain the concept of "Power of Attorney", or in other words, the ability for a person to appoint a representative to act on their behalf.

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The Ins and Outs of Executive Committees

Recent amendments to the Davis-Stirling Act have made it challenging for community association boards of directors to "deal" with important Association business. Don't know what I'm talking about? As of January 1, 2012, the California Legislature has imposed a prohibition on Boards taking action on any "item of business" outside of a properly noticed Board meeting. Obviously, the inability of a board to make "decisions" via email can restrict a Board's ability to make time sensitive decisions.

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Have You Visited HOALawBlog.com Lately?

For the latest information on changes in the law relating to California community associations, plus interesting and informative articles on the Davis-Stirling Act, be sure to visit hoalawblog.com. You may wish to subscribe to our blog to be notified of new blog posts via email.