Reader Questions - Board Reports, Carport Signs

Dear Kelly,

I enjoy reading your column weekly and am hoping to join our HOA board in the near term. Can a new board member email results of board decisions to the home owners to keep them abreast of what is going on? Our current board is very secretive and autocratic. I want to do all I can to make our HOA more democratic. Any suggestions would be welcome.

Thanks for your help,

A.C., Long Beach

Dear A.C.,

A common interest development board should be as open as it can with the members – who are not just members but also your neighbors. There are many strong ways to demonstrate openness such as – strictly observing the Open Meeting Act (Civil Code 4900-4955); making sure minutes are timely available; and periodically sending “board updates” to the members, most of whom do not attend board meetings. Doing a report on your own could have several drawbacks – you can create conflict within the board, or you can make statements which are erroneous or which are your opinion but not necessarily the official position of the board. Also, you can mistakenly reveal closed session information, which could even expose you and the association to liability.

Try to work with your colleagues, and encourage them to communicate meaningfully with the neighbors in your association. It is a good sign of a healthy association with a trustworthy board.

Thanks,
Kelly

Kelly,

I recently received a letter from our management company telling me to remove my two signs from my carport gates. They did not state what was the CC&R or rule I was breaking. Isn’t it a law that they refer to our CC&R document which should have a number or code referring to what rule I have broken? MY signs are “Private Property No Trespassing” & “Keep out”. I was told if I didn’t take them down I would be fined. Please let me know what I should do.

Thanks

L.B., Cherry Valley

Dear L.B.,

If your association is a condominium, the carport is most likely not “yours” at all, but is shared community ownership, as it is probably common area. The signs you purchased may be your personal property, but when you place it on common area property the association is affected. Your association may have rules regarding what can or cannot be posted on exterior common area locations.

The association, if it does initiate a disciplinary hearing against you, must tell you what rule or use restriction you are violating. Civil Code 5855(b) requires a disciplinary notice to “contain, at a minimum, the date, time, and place of the meeting, the nature of the alleged violation” and a statement informing you that you may attend the meeting to address the board.

However, don’t let it go that far. Ask your association manager to help you understand which policy the signs violate, and see if there is a sign location the board would approve. If not, take them down – to you they are a helpful warning, but your neighbors might think them ugly.

The main feature of community association living is that you all have to work together – which means sometimes you cannot do what you would like to do. However, remember, those same rules also stop your neighbors from doing everything THEY would like to do.

Best regards,
Kelly

Written by Kelly G. Richardson

Kelly G. Richardson Esq., CCAL, is a Fellow of the College of Community Association Lawyers and a Partner of Richardson | Ober | DeNichilo LLP, a California law firm known for community association advice. Submit questions to [email protected]. Past columns at www.hoahomefront.com. All rights reserved®.