BOARD BUSINESS WILL NEVER BE THE SAME: CHANGES IN MEETING PROCEDURES (October 2011)
The California Legislature has further amended the Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act to impose restrictions on how association boards of directors conduct business. The changes enacted through Senate Bill 563 will take effect on January 1, 2012 and include the following: Members must be given notice of the time and place of all open board…
SOLAR POWER VERSUS ASSOCIATION REGULATORY POWER (November 2011)
In a recent case last month, Teroso Del Valle Master Homeowners Association v. Griffin, the Second District Court of Appeal upheld a homeowners association’s power to regulate homeowners’ installation of solar energy systems. Although under California law associations cannot prohibit the installation or use of solar energy systems, associations may impose reasonable restrictions on them. To…
REDEMPTION AFTER FORECLOSURE (March 2012)
When a community association forecloses on a separate interest/unit, the owner has a right of redemption within 90 days after the foreclosure sale. Code of Civ. Proc. § 729.035. If the owner redeems the unit, the foreclosure sale is canceled. Code of Civ. Proc. § 729.080(d). This right of redemption has ramifications for the association if the association…
ASSOCIATIONS CAN SUE OWNERS’ BROKERS (June 2012)
In a very recent case, the Second District Court of Appeal held that a homeowners association can sue the unit owners’ real estate brokers when the brokers’ misconduct pertains to damage to the common area or separate interest that the association is obligated to maintain or repair, even though the association did not hire the…
RENT SKIMMER OR INNOCENT ASSOCIATION (August 2012)
In this era of high delinquency rates and association foreclosures, associations acquiring units encumbered by a senior mortgage should be weary of potential rent skimming issues. As unfair and counter-intuitive as it seems, when an association acquires a unit that has a senior mortgage, using any rent received during the first year after acquiring the…
PROTECTION FOR ASSOCIATIONS AGAINST TRICKY LENDERS (October 2012)
On September 7, 2012, the Governor signed into law Assembly Bill No. 2273, adding Section 2924.1 to the California Civil Code. Now, when a mortgage lender forecloses on property in a common interest development, the transfer of title to the purchaser (the Trustee’s Deed Upon Sale in a non-judicial foreclosure) must be recorded within 30…