Blog

By Robert M. DeNichilo, Esq., CCAL

After two straight years of significant success in advancing legislation on behalf of California’s Community Associations, CAI’s California Legislative Action Committee’s (CLAC) 2024 agenda seeks to continue simplifying and improving operations for California’s community associations.

We are well into the 2024 legislative session, and the bill introduction deadline has passed. While bills can still be amended, as of the writing of this article, no bills have been introduced that would make operations significantly more difficult for community associations. For its part, CLAC is working on several bills that will continue to improve the election process and make balcony inspections a bit easier to complete.

CLAC is currently working on three pieces of legislation it hopes to get passed in 2024. The first, AB 2114, will make completing balcony inspections required under Civil Code section 5551 easier by adding civil...

By Nathan McGuire, Esq.

The Court of Appeals for the Fourth Appellate District recently handed down a landmark decision impacting HOA governance. In LNSU #1 v. Alta Del Mar Coastal Collection Community Association, the court delves into the issue of e-mail communications between board members. For better or worse, the court essentially eviscerates the transparency component of the Open Meeting Act (located in the California Civil Code as part of the Davis-Stirling Act), allowing boards to communicate and deliberate by e-mail outside of a noticed and agendized meeting. And while not directly addressed in the court’s ruling, the court arguably opens the door for boards to deliberate using electronic forms of communication other than just e-mails. As boards and professionals within the HOA industry grapple with the implications of this ruling, there is a growing discourse about potential legislative changes and concerns regarding this perceived loophole.

The crux...

By Steven J. Tinnelly, Esq.

The two cases covered here are unique in that they both involve colorful scenarios in which an association’s board of directors sought to perpetuate their own power by failing to hold required elections and circumventing the will of their membership.

LAKE LINDERO HOA V. BARONE

In Lake Lindero Homeowners Association, Inc. v. Barone, (2023) 89 Cal.App.5th 834, ("Lake Lindero"), the association was properly served with a petition signed by more than 5% of its 459 members to conduct a recall election to remove the entire sitting board. After the board refused to act on the petition within the required statutory timeframe, the petitioning members exercised their rights to conduct the meeting themselves. They sent notice of the recall election to the association’s members, retained a third-party inspector of elections, and prepared/distributed the election materials to the association’s membership.

The special meeting was...

By Amy K. Tinetti, Esq.

The following is a summary of the new laws for 2024 and how they impact community associations.

AB 572: LIMITATION ON REGULAR ASSESSMENT INCREASE FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING UNITS

This bill amended Civil Code section 5605. The new law prohibits regular assessment increases of more than 5% plus cost of living (capped at 10%) over the previous year for any deed-restricted affordable housing unit. The law only applies to associations with more than 20 units with original declarations recorded on or after January 1, 2025.

Takeaway: Board members, managers, and vendors who serve community associations should be aware of budgeting and funding challenges in post-2025 associations with affordable housing units.

AB 648: VIRTUAL MEETINGS

The law now allows associations to conduct meetings entirely by teleconference (including video conference) without a physical location. The notice of the meeting must contain technical instructions and contact information to...

When it comes to new Sacramento legislation that has the potential of affecting our industry, it’s fair to say 2022 was not the busiest year. Nevertheless, our chapter’s Legislative Support Committee (LSC), which supports the mission of CAI’s California Legislative Action Committee (CLAC), has been busy planning several exciting events and fundraisers for 2023, as well as continuing to support CLAC in its ongoing work.

First up is a Virtual Town Hall, our "Getting Ready for Advocacy Week" planning meeting (April 11). Then comes the ever popular and always important "Advocacy Week" event itself (held virtually, April 24-27). During Advocacy Week, CLAC delegates, homeowners, and other industry professionals meet with legislators to discuss potential impacts of bills the Legislature is considering, as well as other issues and challenges currently affecting their communities. LSC will also help support CLAC in its ongoing "Buck-a-Door" campaign, in which...

By Stephen T. Brindle, Esq.

Governor Newsom signed Assembly Bill (AB) 1410 on September 30, 2022, which took effect on January 1, 2023. Adding to existing law prohibiting community associations from restricting the free speech rights of members or residents, the bill prohibits associations from:

• Prohibiting members or residents from using social media or other online resources to discuss issues of concern to them, even if the content is critical of the association or its governance
• Retaliating against members or residents for exercising their free speech rights
• Prohibiting owners from having roommates; and
• Enforcing governing document violations (except for nonpayment of assessments) during declared state or local emergencies if the nature of the emergency would make it unsafe or impossible for owners to prevent or fix the violation

CAI-CLAC successfully convinced legislators to remove some of the more onerous provisions considered for the bill, including those that would...

By Nathan R. McGuire, Esq.

This article first appeared in the Winter 2022 Issue of The Communicator here.

On balance, the industry fared well in this last legislative session. The prior two years in a row, we faced some of the most historically significant bills since the Davis-Stirling Act came into effect in 1986. And we’re still dealing with those bills (think SB 323, AB 670, AB 3182). That’s saying a lot considering the Davis-Stirling Act has been perpetually amended year after year. Overall, the legislature continued to focus on COVID-19, economic recovery, and housing affordability issues. But the legislature was also able to fit in bills on other topics, including many which will have a lasting impact on community associations.

CAI’s California Legislative Action Committee monitored more than 50 bills and engaged on at least 10 of them. We had an outstanding year as we continued to pivot and take advantage of virtual legislative opportunities and...

By Janet Quinn-Dennis

This article first appeared in The Communicator, Winter 2021. To read more, click here. 

Early in my career I realized that I was frustrated with many of the laws that affected the CID industry. Case law, as well as legislative law, seemed ineffective at holding back the tide of special interest groups that wanted to have a say in the way our homeowners and directors lived their lives.

Then, sometime in the mid-1980s, I was introduced to a mentor who would show me ways in which I could legislatively direct my passion for this industry. This person was the one and only Beth Grimm. She was heavily involved in CAI’s California Legislative Action Committee (CLAC). Beth served as a delegate for the Bay Area/Central Chapter, as well as the PR chair on the Executive Committee. She encouraged me to participate on the local Legislative Support Committee (LSC) at that time and introduced me to other statewide delegates.

The hook was set during...

By Nathan R. McGuire, Esq.

This article first appeared in The Communicator, Winter 2021. To read more, click here. 

For the last two legislative sessions, we have faced some of the most historically significant bills since the Davis-Stirling Act. And that’s saying a lot considering the Davis-Stirling Act has probably been amended more than a hundred times since it was enacted in 1986. This year was especially challenging on legislators, advocates, and citizens wishing to engage in the process, given the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the legislative process. It has also demonstrated the need for modernizing the Davis-Stirling Act by allowing for the use of mainstream technology, which has become commonplace in our everyday lives.

Because of the pandemic, the legislature shifted its focus to the coronavirus, economic recovery, and housing affordability issues. Other bills, like the ones pushed by CAI’s California Legislative Action Committee...

Not anymore. New law gives property owners the right to build second homes on their properties.
By Lisa Esposito

To Increase Affordable housing in California, Governor Newsom signed legislation that encourages homeowners to convert their garages into living spaces and build small dwelling units in their backyards as low-income rentals. On January 1, 2020, new laws went into effect voiding restrictions in planned developments that would prevent the construction of granny flats and the conversion of garages into rental units.

From the Homeowner's Perspective, California's New Laws: 

• make available an affordable type of home to construct in California because they do not require paying for land, major new infrastructure, structured parking or elevators
• can provide a source of income for homeowners
• allow extended families to be near one another while maintaining privacy
• can provide as much living space as many condominiums; and they’re well-suited for couples,...