CALIFORNIA EARTHQUAKE AUTHORITY (CEA) EARTHQUAKE (EQ) COVERAGE FOR HOMEOWNERS OR RENTERS – Article provided by Erin Rose
California Earthquake Authority (CEA) is available to owners or renters of condominiums, townhomes and other units in the common interest developments. Association EQ insurance policies cover only the structures and typically would have a very high deductible. The CEA helps the homeowner cover their deductible, as well as provide coverage for their contents, any upgrades to … Continue reading
Your Day Job Is Different Than Your “Night Job” – Article by Kelly G. Richardson, Esq.
Serving as a volunteer director is hard enough, but it often is made more difficult by directors themselves. The problem is not a lack of good will, good thinking or hard work, but a misunderstanding about the basic nature of volunteer board service. In one’s career, whether in business, government service or elsewhere, one … Continue reading
Can a Board Use “Self Help” to Enforce the Covenants? – Article by By Curtis G. Kimble.
How to obtain compliance when enforcing a violation of the governing documents can be one of the most vexing problems in a homeowners association. One of the chief functions of a homeowners association is enforcement of the covenants and rules governing the community. Even though the individual property owners ordinarily have the power to … Continue reading
Why We STILL Need to Recycle Fluorescent Lamps – Article by Dionne Petitpas
So why do I need to recycle my lamps? Do we really have to? Is there an easy way to do it? These are questions many Board members and HOAs ask when thinking about fluorescent lamp recycling, and it’s understandable. A tough economy is forcing many of us to trim budgets, raising the question of … Continue reading
ASSESSMENT COLLECTIONS: HOW DO YOU KNOW WHEN THE BANK HAS FORECLOSED? – Article by by John R. MacDowell, Esq
Associations rely on assessments. In most cases, they are an Association’s only source of revenue. Yet the lack of equity in homes restricts an Association’s ability to recover unpaid assessments. Often, an Association can expect to receive payments only after the lender has foreclosed and taken title. Only then is an owner in place with … Continue reading
SUMMARY OF LEGISLATION EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1, 2012 – Article by The Law Offices of Laura J. Snoke
New Legislation Affecting Community Associations 1. SB 563 Board Meetings This legislation amends sections of, and adds sections to, the Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act (The Act), Civil Code sections 1350 et seq. The Act governs all common interest developments in California. Specifically, the legislation amends the following sections of The Act. A. Civil Code … Continue reading
How Bankruptcy Affects Assessment Collection – Article by Sean D. Allen
So, your Association has a homeowner who is delinquent on his assessments. Before you are able to make any progress on collection and before a lien is recorded, you receive notice that he has filed for bankruptcy. What happens next? The moment a debtor files for bankruptcy, an “automatic stay” is imposed. The automatic stay … Continue reading
New Law—Independent Contractors: Willful Misclassification SB 459 Corbett – Article by By Sandra Gottlieb
We know that there is a tendency to classify some condo and HOA staff as independent contractors rather then employees. Some community association boards want to do this because they think that such a classification will mean that their association will not have to pay for all of fees, charges, taxes, etc. that are normally … Continue reading
TOW FEES – TOWING COMPANIES – AND THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN YOUR SECURITY PATROL SERVICE – ARTICLE BY KATHY MIRAMONTES
Your Courtesy Security Patrol Professional impounds vehicles, in accordance with your Homeowner Associations rules and regulations and in accordance with the CA. Vehicle Code section 22658. Your Courtesy Security Patrol Professional is hired by your HOA to enforce the parking rules. In doing so, unfortunately, some vehicles will be towed. Towing a vehicle is NEVER … Continue reading
Can I cut down my neighbor’s tree when its branches overhang my property? – Article by Tarley Robinson, PLC, Attorneys and Counsellors at Law
In our ever crowding residential areas, more of us experience the situation in which the limbs of a neighbor’s tree overhang our property line. Most of the time, these limbs do not pose us any concern, but questions do arise as to whether we have the right to prune our neighbor’s trees. In the past, … Continue reading