HOAleader.com - Tip of the Week - January 3, 2020
Published: Fri, 01/03/20
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Experts: You Simply Can’t Comply with Every Part of California’s New Condo/HOA Elections Law
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In this week’s tip, we address a new California law that’s making condo and HOA lawyers — and their clients — grumble a ton.
Back in May, we reported that there was a bill pending in the California legislature that would radically transform the election process for condos and HOAs in the state. Two laws passed and were signed by the governor in October 2019. They took effect Jan. 1.
We haven’t yet heard a community association lawyer speak positively about the new provisions. The comments from James R. McCormick Jr., CCAL, a partner at Delphi Law Group in Carlsbad, Calif., who represents associations, are pretty representative of what we’re hearing.
“If I had my way, I’d be telling California boards to write their legislators and have them fix this thing because it’s a mess,” he says. “What we’re suggesting to our clients is that all of the election rules have to be redone. The statute is internally inconsistent, and we’re trying to do the best we can.”
The law is now controlling for all common interest communities — there are no exceptions even for smaller associations, according to Susan Hawks McClintic, co-managing shareholder and the chair of the community association transactional practice group at the law firm of Epsten APC in San Diego.
“The law applies to every association in California,” she says. “There’s no limit on smaller communities, and there’s been very little acknowledgement by the legislature that smaller associations have different needs than larger ones.”
McClintic and McCormick have both immersed themselves in the new law and have also been doing presentations to clients to help them understand the scope of the changes. It takes literally several hours to explain the ins and outs to boards.
So if you’re in California, before you take any move on your next election, it would be wise to consult with your association’s lawyer so you can understand every change you’ll need to implement. This isn’t the time to save a buck and try to wade through the law yourself.
Read highlights of the new timelines in the law, and find out what sections you probably won’t be able to comply with, no matter how hard you try, in our new article: https://www.hoaleader.com/members/4040.cfm
Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President
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