Blog

By Alexandria Pollock, PCAM, CCAM-HR

This article first appeared in the Fall 2021 Issue of The Communicator here.

I HEARD THE news story from the OC Register a few months ago: a Tustin woman is embroiled in a battle with her homeowners association over garage doors she installed without seeking architectural approval. Her defense? According to the homeowner, she’s made other alterations to the exterior of her home over the years without hearing from the association.

Another story that made the Wall Street Journal in March of 2019 details numerous citations over the course of several years to a Kansas resident from his HOA. The citations started with a misplaced satellite dish and included a statue in a flower bed and a decorative wall around another plant bed. These improvements were made without architectural approval and in violation of the association’s guidelines, according to the HOA. However, the owner believed he received...

By Sandra L. Gottlieb, Esq., CCAL and Meigan Everett, PCAM

This article first appeared in the Fall 2021 Issue of The Communicator here.

MANY ASSOCIATIONS ADOPT architectural guidelines when the community is formed and don’t look back. Some boards keep the guidelines forever stuck in time. Even though the community evolves and changes and becomes its own unique place, the guidelines are often forgotten, ignored, or things are done the way they always have been done. But architectural guidelines can evolve with the community’s needs and change to comply with new laws and the more mature look of the association.

Provided that the association’s CC&Rs give the board authority to adopt architectural guidelines, also known as rules and regulations, the board should review them every few years to ensure that they meet the community association’s needs.

THE PROCESS

California Civil Code § 4355 requires that architectural rules be adopted...

By Beth Gilbert

This article first appeared in the Fall 2021 Issue of The Communicator here.

ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW REQUESTS mean a lot to your homeowners. They take pride in their homes, and find making modifications – like an addition, pool, or garden shed – to improve their property exciting. If you hold up the review process with clunky, manual paper processes and back-and-forth phone calls, it not only takes longer for them to achieve their dream, but leads to overall customer dissatisfaction. All of this can be eliminated by following a couple of key steps. Here are some of the ways you can set up your architectural review process for success.

CREATE ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW GUIDELINES

It’s easier and faster to make a decision when you have all of the information you need. Make it simple for homeowners to submit their requests by providing a set of association architectural guidelines and rules for them to follow. This not only ensures consistency, but...

By Grant Shetron, CMCA, AMS, PCAM

The Fall 2021 Issue of The Communicator focuses on architectural modifications and owners’ protected uses. Residents are drawn to common interest development living for many reasons. Among those reasons are the covenants, conditions, and restrictions that, in part, are designed to deliver a uniform and visually appealing community experience. However, layered over this, and sometimes in direct conflict with the association’s general plan as articulated through its governing documents, is a continually evolving stream of legislation that affords residents certain protections regardless of what the governing documents indicate. Over the years we have seen these protections applied to satellite dish installations, solar systems, flags and banners, vehicle charging stations and ADU/JDU units, to name just a few. To co-exist, associations must understand these protections and craft their rules and regulations, policies and...