Reader Questions - Forgotten Association, Late Board Packets

Dear Mr. Richardson,

The subdivision of single family homes where I live was built [about 20 years ago]. There may have been an HOA at that time, but by the time I bought my home several years later, one did not exist. At this point, nobody who was around then remembers what happened to the HOA. Some homeowners have been making inappropriate additions, neglecting their landscaping, and doing other things that lower our property values. Is there any way to resurrect an HOA? Or is there some better option?

B.C., Chula Vista

Dear B.C.,

For an association to qualify under the Davis-Stirling Act as a “Common Interest Development” there must be a recorded declaration of covenants. Check your title policy – do you see “Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions” mentioned? If nobody has copies of the CC&Rs, they can be retrieved from the County Recorder (often through the help of your friendly local title company). If your title insurance does not reference CC&Rs, perhaps it never was a CID. If there is a CID, perhaps the homeowners can resurrect it and start doing things properly – benefitting all owners. The CID association is the tool which helps people share land or even share a building, to everyone’s mutual benefit. Without the “HOA”, there is no structure.

Some small associations ignore their CID status, their governing documents, and the applicable legal requirements, handling everything informally- which works great until the first disagreement. Those associations then suffer with huge legal problems. Unfortunately, the CID Act becomes more complicated each year, and so far the Legislature has not seen fit to develop a simpler and scaled down Act for the smaller associations – associations which cannot afford lawyers to guide and train them.

Instead of ignoring the law and documents, hire a good manager and count on them to know the documents and recognize the rare occasions when legal help is needed. It is unfair to expect volunteers to keep up on all the changes in the law, service providers, and management practices unless one does it regularly, as do the professional community managers.

Best,
Kelly

Dear Kelly,

I just joined my association board. I am just learning the ways and just visited www.caionline.org. I am sure I will be using that website. My question is: How far in advance does a board normally receive board packets before a meeting. I just received a [400+] page packet Friday afternoon to meet at the next morning. When I mentioned this was preposterous to the rest of the board, not much was said. Is this normal?

Sincerely,

B.H., Yorba Linda

Dear B. H.,

No that is not normal, and yes, that was preposterous. As directors you are expected to review the information given to you by management and be ready at the start of the board meeting to deliberate and make decisions based upon that information. In that short turnaround, nobody could reasonably be expected to have reviewed the information – so how can the board prove it followed the Business Judgment Rule?

Get that squared away soon – Board packets should be distributed 3 or 4 days before the meeting, soon after posting the agenda. Anything less than two days ahead is unfair to the volunteer community leaders.

Thanks,
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®.