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Legal Responsibilities and Liabilities. This article first appeared in The Communicator Magazine, Winter 2025 Issue.

By Holly Lull

WHETHER YOU LIVE in a quiet suburban neighborhood, condo, coop, master, sub, or other type of planned community association, you likely have a board of well-intentioned volunteers dedicated to maintaining the charm and harmony of their shared slice of home. However, when what seems like a minor decision about a violation or property boundary ends up leading to a lawsuit, it becomes clear that the board has unknowingly overstepped their legal authority.

This scenario is not uncommon. Across the country, community association boards face significant legal challenges, often stemming from misunderstandings or misapplications of the law or their responsibilities. These legal missteps can lead to costly consequences for both the board members and the communities they serve, highlighting the critical importance of understanding the legal responsibilities and po...

By Charles Mitchell, CMCA 

As a management firm, we were initially wary of conducting board meetings virtually via Zoom or similar platforms at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, we enthusiastically support the use of virtual meetings for the reasons outlined in this article, which we hope will serve as a helpful tool for boards and managers in evaluating how virtual meetings might benefit their communities.

#1 VIRTUAL MEETINGS ARE LEGAL

Beginning January 1, 2024, it is legal for HOAs to conduct board meetings virtually (via Zoom) without a physical location. In short, an association is no longer legally required to provide a place to meet if it wants to use Zoom for a board meeting. Matt D. Ober, Esq., wrote, "California law has finally caught up with technology with the passage of Assembly Bill (AB) 648, which takes effect on January 1, 2024."^{Display footnote number:1}

The conditions for conducting a board meeting virtually (Zoom) are as follows:

1. The meeting notice must i
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