Assembly Bill 805.  Introduced by Assembly Member Torres, February 17, 2011.   This is a two-year bill introduced in conjunction with Assembly Bill 806 (see below)  Existing law, the Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act defines and regulates common interest developments. This bill, on and after January 1, 2014, would comprehensively reorganize and recodify the Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act.   The bill would also revise and recast provisions regarding notices and their delivery, standardize terminology, establish guidelines on the relative authority of governing documents, and establish a single procedure for amendment of a common interest declaration. The bill would guarantee the right of an owner of a separate interest to make changes in that separate interest, as specified, in a common interest development other than a condominium project, in which that right currently exists. The bill would establish an express list of conflicts of interest that may disqualify members of a board of directors of an association that manages a common interest development from voting on certain matters. The bill would also, among other things, revise provisions related to elections and voting, establish standards for the retention of records, and broaden the requirement that liens recorded by the association in error be released.

Assembly Bill  806.  Introduced by Assembly Member Torres.  This bill, operative January 1, 2014, would make various technical conforming changes to reflect a proposed revision and recodification of the Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act, and the operation of this bill would be contingent upon the enactment and operation of that revision and recodification.

Assembly Bill 2273. Introduced by Assembly Member Wieckowski, would amend Civil Code Section 1368 of the Davis Stirling Act. The Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act requires an owner of a separate interest in a common interest development to provide specified documents to a prospective purchaser of that interest. Existing law requires a homeowners’ association to provide these documents to the owner of the separate interest within 10 days of the mailing or delivery of the request, and limits the amount of fees charged for the provision of the documents to the association’s actual costs to procure, prepare, and reproduce the requested documents. This bill would additionally provide that an acquiring owner of a separate interest shall provide to the association’s board secretary, agent, manager, or designated representative a written notice of the acquiring owner’s mailing address within 30 days of receiving title , except as specified. Existing law imposes various requirements that must be satisfied prior to exercising a power of sale under a mortgage or deed of trust. This bill would, notwithstanding any other law, impose certain requirements on the sale of a property in a common interest development, as defined, executed under a power of sale contained in any deed of trust or mortgage. Among other things, the bill would require the sale to take place in the county where the property or a portion of the property is located, and would also require the sale to be recorded within 30 days, as specified. This bill would also make the purchaser, as specified, liable for the amount of certain unpaid liens recorded on the property if the sale is not recorded as described above. The bill would specify that these provisions would only apply if the purchaser is also the person or entity that exercised the power of sale on the property.

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• Rental Restrictions
• HUD/DOJ Anti-Discrimination Guidelines
• Electric Vehicles
• Biennial Reporting to State Agencies
• Teleconferencing
• Executive Session Requirements
• Board Meeting Requirements
• Disclosure Forms
• IRS Resolutions/Forms
• Use of Email

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• I. COMMON INTEREST DEVELOPMENTS 1
  • A. Types of Common Interest Developments 1
  • B. Differences Between Condominium Projects, Planned Developments, and Stock Co-ops 2
• II. HOMEOWNERS’ ASSOCIATION STRUCTURE 3
  • A. Legal Structure of Homeowners’ Associations 3
  • B. Governing Documents and Plans 4
    • 1. Subdivision Map or Condominium Plan 4
    • 2. Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (often simply called the “Declaration” or the “CC&Rs”) 5
    • 3. Articles of Incorporation 5
    • 4. Bylaws 6
    • 5. Homeowners’ Association or House Rules 6
  • C. Law Governing the Governing Documents 6
    • 1. Statutory Law 6
    • 2. Case Law 7
    • 3. California Department of Real Estate Regulations 7
  • D. Other Issues Regarding the Governing Documents and the Law 8
    • 1. Binding Effect of Governing Documents 8
    • 2. Liberal Construction of Governing Documents 8
    • 3. Conflicts between the Governing Documents and Statutory Law 8
    • 4. Ambiguous or Unclear Governing Document Provisions 9
    • 5. Unreasonable or Unfair Governing Document Provisions 9
    • 6. Owner’s Right to Inspect and Copy Governing Documents and Homeowners’ Association Books, Records, Minutes and Rules 9
    • 7. Amending Governing Documents: Procedural Requirements 11
      • a. CC&Rs 12
        • (i) Eliminating Developer-Related CC&R Provisions 13
        • (ii) Court Ordered Amendment of CC&Rs 13
        • (iii) Extending Life of the CC&Rs 14
        • (iv) Special Approvals 15
        • (v) Ballot Solicitation 16
      • b. Bylaws 16
      • c. Articles of Incorporation 17
      • d. Condominium Plans and Subdivision Maps 18
    • 8. Identity of “Declarant” 18
• III. OWNERSHIP, ACCESS AND USAGE 19
  • A. Individually Owned Portions of a Condominium Project 19
  • B. Individually Owned Portions of a Planned Development 20
  • C. Ownership of Common Areas 20
  • D. Use of Common Areas 21
    • 1. By a Unit or Lot Owner 21
    • 2. By a Non-Resident Unit or Lot Owner 21
    • 3. By Guests and Tenants 21
    • 4. Restrictions on or Fees for Use of Common Area 22
  • E. Exclusive Use or Restricted Common Area 22
  • F. “Percentage Interest” or “Common Interest” 23
  • G. Party Walls 23
  • H. Partition 23
  • I. Individual Unit or Lot Split Off 24
  • J. Sale or Exchange of Portions of Unit or Lot 24
  • K. Sale or Exchange of Exclusive Use or Restricted Common Area 25
  • L. Combination of Two or More Units or Lots 25
  • M. Access 25
    • 1. Homeowners’ Association Access to Individually Owned Units or Lots 25
    • 2. Unit or Lot Owner Access to Neighboring Unit or Lot 26
  • N. Rental Restrictions 26
  • O. Transfer of Ownership 27

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Mr. Bickel has qualified as an expert witness on condominium law for the purposes of trial testimony in both California Superior Court and United States Federal District Court. He has also served as an arbitrator/mediator for the United States Federal District Court in San Francisco for over 10 years. He has acted as a private mediator to assist in the resolution of condominium disputes in more than a dozen cases. He has been retained to act as an expert consultant/witness in approximately 15 cases split equally between plaintiff and defense. Mr. Bickel has been personally responsible for handling an estimated $100,000,000 in condominium construction defect claims.

Branden Bickel is a highly respected condominium law attorney in California who advises homeowner associations throughout California and revises governing documents for associations using The Rewrite Program.  For more information on the Rewrite Program, click here.