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Real Estate & Property Law

California Condo & HOA Law

Information about legal issues for California condominiums and homeowner associations

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Last Entry: March 28, 2011 at 03:22:54

If You Send Unsolicited Materials - Beware of Shredding!

Posted on September 10, 2008
I receive lots of calls, as I have said before, from people who "just have a simple question" and I receive files in the mail sometimes, unsolicited, with notes attached like "just wanted your take on these" or "Want to weigh in?" The answer is no, I do not want to "weigh in" or read unsolicited case materials...

There Can Be A Silver Lining ... With "Due Diligence" and Some Effort.

Posted on September 07, 2008
In case there are any of you out there that are frustrated and do not think you can make a difference in your HOA, read this - its a note from a reader. Subj: Work in Progress but I can see the Silver Lining Dear Beth, The information I obtained from your website was invaluable...

PRIVATE INFORMATION, WHY CAN THEY HAVE MINE? AND NOT GIVE THEIRS?

Posted on August 30, 2008
Few people these days want to give out personal information. It is no different in HOAs. For California HOAs, the Board does have access to names and addresses of owners and they get this information through whatever proof of ownership a new owner provides...

FINES - AN ILLUSORY REMEDY FOR HOAs?

Posted on August 22, 2008
"Illusory" - it means maybe-not-real (although you won't find that definition in the dictionary). The question is: are fines really a viable remedy for HOAs? What if people do not pay them. Ho hum. If had a nickel for everytime that I heard a board member say: "Why fine, they don't pay them...

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AT WHAT POINT IS AN HOA MEETING INVALID BECAUSE OF ERRORS?

Posted on August 19, 2008
What do you think happens when a California HOA screws something up in the election process after Civil Code Section 1363.03? That's a good question. Some assume that the election is void (automatically invalidated). Others believe it's no big deal, unless someone challenges the election ...

RULE SETTING - WHAT RULES ARE RIGHT and REASONABLE?

Posted on August 09, 2008
Board members and owners in homeowner associations (HOA)s commonly have questions and concerns about setting rules to live by. Parking is one area of considerable consternation. People, pets, and pools are just a few others. In this blog, I will use parking as the example for rule setting considerations...

At What Point Does the HOA Board Start Assessing Members for Foreclosure Losses?

Posted on August 08, 2008
Professionals in this industry are bouncing around ideas as to how to deal with the issues related to foreclosures. This is just one of those issues. When a percentage of members of any HOA, whether 1% or 10%, lose their homes to foreclosure or "walk away, it leaves the rest of the homeowners "holding the bag"...

HARDWOOD FLOORS - CREATING A NIGHTMARE ALL OVER CALIFORNIA

Posted on August 02, 2008
This subject crosses over into so many areas in HOAs that I just added it to several categories: enforcement, neighbor-to-neighbor issues, board frustration, owner frustration, legal issues, general CID issues, etc., etc. Here are a bunch of sorry stories sent to me via email and notice the twists: FROM BOARD MEMBER/OWNER: I am the _________of the ________HOA in _______...

Uninsured HOA Funds - Who Pays For the Losses?

Posted on August 01, 2008
An interesting question came up at a legal resource panel this morning. Hopefully most everyone knows that many D&O policies for Boards of HOAs carry an exclusion of coverage for failure to insure, meaning, for example, that if an HOA fails to carry earthquake insurance and the Board or HOA is sued by someone who bears a loss because of that failure, the D&O Insurance would likely decline to provide a defense for the Board or HOA, or coverage for damages...

BOARD LESSON NO. 1 - CHOOSE APPROPRIATE COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Posted on July 31, 2008
Sometimes I cannot wait to get my fingers to the keyboard and send a blog. I see and hear so many mistakes (fixing mistakes is after all one of the facets of my business), and am always anxious to pass on helpful information to Boards and owners in common interest developments in California...

Board Lesson No. 2 - Do It Today, Do Not Wait Until a Crisis Time

Posted on July 31, 2008
Here is my second lesson in the series. Boards, practice proactive tactics when something comes up that tells you trouble may be broiling. Scuttlebut or rumor mills are not good for much other than an indication that BAD OR MIS-INFORMATION may be being passed around and CONJUECTURE may be at work...

AFFORDABLE HOUSING ... BMR UNITS ... WHAT IS THE ANSWER?

Posted on July 30, 2008
I have been writing about the problems owners of BMR (Below Market Rate) units experience when the majority of owners want to upgrade or when rehabilitation of the condo building is needed and it takes a large special assessment. I worked with a BMR owner for about a year trying to find solutions - communicating with the Association representatives and City representatives, to no avail...

Getting Belligerent Gets You Nowhere

Posted on July 30, 2008
I had a call this morning (I get a lot of calls from people wanting to ask "a simple question"). This one was particularly idiotic. Maybe you have been guilty of making a similar call. Owners call all the time and want to know if they can "do something"...

One Remedy For Really Bad Neighbors - Sue the B _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _s!

Posted on July 19, 2008
Gosh, I do not generally recommend suing anyone except as a last resort. However, many boards and many owners are at the ends of their rope! The economy certainly takes its toll on the average citizen in more ways than even imaginable. Through the trickle down effect of foreclosures, lost jobs, higher costs in gas, utilities and even groceries, things get left undone, and people resort to "other means" of making money...

Who Chooses Officers in an HOA?

Posted on July 19, 2008
This question below seems like a simple question to me ... probably because I already know the answer, but to the untrained, or the "tortured", it is not so simple. A reader asks: "How are the HOA officers decided. Our Property Manager decided which job was given to each elected person...

How Does One Determine if Condo Living is for Them?

Posted on July 19, 2008
You are not even in yet, just at the house shopping stage. Would you be a likely candidate for happiness in a condo? Ask yourselves: Have you ever experienced apt living? Was it tolerable? If not, then beware of condo living - it has many of the similar issues that occur when neighbors are living in close quarters, and it is harder to get out of if it becomes intolerable...

WHO DO THEY THINK THEY ARE - TELLING ME WHAT TO TAKE DOWN?

Posted on July 15, 2008
Sometimes one wonders all of the whys and the wherefores. Especially when they hear only one side of the story. Here is a recent post from a reader (and see my answer in italics following the questions): "There is an enclosed balcony in my condo with two open air windows...

BANK OWNED OR ABANDONED HOA PROPERTY FALLS INTO DISREPAIR - WHAT TO DO?

Posted on July 10, 2008
Because of the economy, the mortgage crisis, and other negative factors for HOAs today, HOA boards and neighbors are having to deal with more and more properties that are being foreclosed and abandoned (owners simply walking away). I am receiving many questions from HOAs and managers asking what to do when the lawn falls into disrepair or dries up and creates an eyesore in the neighborhood...

MORE ON PARKING - WHAT RULES ARE RIGHT?

Posted on July 07, 2008
I like it when people email me their questions and concerns. It gives me the perspective of both sides. There would be fewer disputes in the HOA world if people could see clearly in all directions, and have some understanding and compassion for others in their own actions, whether a director or a homeowner or anyone else...

Charging Assessments With No Backup - Can the HO Withhold Payment?

Posted on July 04, 2008
I have written several blogs about what an HOA can do if a homeowner does not pay assessments on time. It's brutal. Most documents and the law allow HOAs with the document authority to resort to nonjudicial foreclosure if homeowners don't pay. And if that does not work the HOA in most cases can pursue a personal debt action against the owner...

LIMITING RENTALS IN CIDS - MORE ON THIS SUBJECT

Posted on July 01, 2008
There are some lease limitation cases going on here in California and also in other states that I am watching. I am in the process of rewriting my article on my website called "Lease Limitatiton Amendments - Are They Legal." Here are some of my thoughts on the subject: I have always felt that a good clause that can be supported by objective reasonableness should uphold, and they have - but I have always believed (from reading the cases from all states that I could get my hands on)- that there are at least 2 mandatory criteria: 1...

Requests of the Disabled

Posted on June 25, 2008
Many HOA Boards are confronted with special requests of the disabled. Sometimes they are justified, sometimes not. Here are some requests that I found to be justified over the years: An owner who was deaf asked the board if it would provide a sign language interpreter at the board meetings so the person could understand what was going on...

Renters - How Do You Manage Them?

Posted on June 22, 2008
Here is a suggestion from a reader. "We're a small 10-unit complex and 3 of them are rentals. The renters are often annoying, loud, and are smokers. While the owner occupied units are quite, mellow, non-smokers. I lived in Germany and there HOAs can actually be on an approval-type board for all rentals...

Renters - Minutes - Do the Two Go Together?

Posted on June 19, 2008
Here is a question that has come up more than once: "Should the Board distribute minutes to renters?" One reader says: "Our current Board of Directors sees nothing wrong with sending out our minutes to renters. I objected so the current BOD position is that they will send "sanitized" minutes removing financial information to the renters...

DO BOARD MEMBERS HAVE TO PAY FOR COPIES OF RECORDS?

Posted on June 15, 2008
A reader asks: "Is there a provision in the civil code that a 'Board Member' may have access to HOA records, invoices etc. as a 'board member'? The management company tells us that a homeowner as well as a board member will be charged $____/hour plus ___ cents a copy with a 10 day notice...

DO DAY SLEEPERS HAVE RIGHTS?

Posted on June 12, 2008
A reader recently asked me a simple question: "Do Condo-Owner's who work Night Shifts & sleep in the daytime have any right to peace & quiet?" The answer is yes, reasonable rights, which is what everyone has. In order to find someone legally liable, you have to prove certain things...

LEASE LIMITATION PROVISIONS - ARE THEY GOOD?

Posted on June 07, 2008
I have done 3 other posts that touch on the subject of Lease Limitation provisions. Based on my research, and experience, I think it time to provide some simple explanations about what they mean. A lease limitation provision might be based on any of the following ideas (or maybe someone out there has something more creative to offer: Limit on number of units/lots that can be leased at one time...

What Elections Are Covered by the New California HOA Elections Law?

Posted on June 03, 2008
Here is a question about elections that is pretty straightforward. "I have read and re-read the section on Election and Voting Procedures and can't find anything in the section that covers anything other than the election process. The reason I ask is that we recently put out a ballot to the membership to give the Board authority to grant fence extensions from back of unit wall - recognizing that 1363...

Take It To The Judge - What Can He or She Do With An Assessment Request

Posted on June 03, 2008
People often ask what the court can do if an HOA or Owner takes a dispute to court. Basically, a judge can make orders to do something or stop doing something, and can make an order interpreting what documents say. However, in order to make an order, even the Judge has to have some legal authority to do it...

Elections Errors - How Do You Know What to Do About Them?

Posted on May 23, 2008
I get so many questions from readers about elections. Here are just a few ... and my answers to the best of my ability, given my knowledge and expertise. Do not take these answers as the only possible answers. The California elections law is just complicated enough and unsettled enough that attorneys disagree on answers and application of portions of the law...

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