(a) The board shall provide general notice pursuant to Section 4045 of a proposed rule change at least 28 days before making the rule change. The notice shall include the text of the proposed rule change and a description of the purpose and effect of the proposed rule change. Notice is not required under this subdivision if the board determines that an immediate rule change is necessary to address an imminent threat to public health or safety or imminent risk of substantial economic loss to the association.
(b) A decision on a proposed rule change shall be made at a board meeting, after consideration of any comments made by association members.
(c) As soon as possible after making a rule change, but not more than 15 days after making the rule change, the board shall deliver general notice pursuant to Section 4045 of the rule change. If the rule change was an emergency rule change made under subdivision (d), the notice shall include the text of the rule change, a description of the purpose and effect of the rule change, and the date that the rule change expires.
(d) If the board determines that an immediate rule change is required to address an imminent threat to public health or safety, or an imminent risk of substantial economic loss to the association, it may make an emergency rule change, and no notice is required, as specified in subdivision (a). An emergency rule change is effective for 120 days, unless the rule change provides for a shorter effective period. A rule change made under this subdivision may not be readopted under this subdivision.
Related Links
SB 261 Signed! Changes to Individual and General Notice
Published on HOA Lawyer Blog (9/27/18)
Civil Code Section 4355. Application of Rule-Making Procedures.
(a) Sections 4360 and 4365 only apply to an operating rule that relates to one or more of the following subjects:
(1) Use of the common area or of an exclusive use common area.
(2) Use of a separate interest, including any aesthetic or architectural standards that govern alteration of a separate interest.
(3) Member discipline, including any schedule of monetary penalties for violation of the governing documents and any procedure for the imposition of penalties.
(4) Any standards for delinquent assessment payment plans.
(5) Any procedures adopted by the association for resolution of disputes.
(6) Any procedures for reviewing and approving or disapproving a proposed physical change to a member’s separate interest or to the common area.
(7) Procedures for elections.
(b) Sections 4360 and 4365 do not apply to the following actions by the board:
(1) A decision regarding maintenance of the common area.
(2) A decision on a specific matter that is not intended to apply generally.
(3) A decision setting the amount of a regular or special assessment.
(4) A rule change that is required by law, if the board has no discretion as to the substantive effect of the rule change.
(5) Issuance of a document that merely repeats existing law or the governing documents.
Civil Code Section 4350. Enforceability of Operating Rule.
An operating rule is valid and enforceable only if all of the following requirements are satisfied:
(a) The rule is in writing.
(b) The rule is within the authority of the board conferred by law or by the declaration, articles of incorporation or association, or bylaws of the association.
(c) The rule is not in conflict with governing law and the declaration, articles of incorporation or association, or bylaws of the association.
(d) The rule is adopted, amended, or repealed in good faith and in substantial compliance with the requirements of this article.
(e) The rule is reasonable.
Civil Code Section 4340. “Operating Rule” and “Rule Change” Defined.
(a) “Operating rule” means a regulation adopted by the board that applies generally to the management and operation of the common interest development or the conduct of the business and affairs of the association.
(b) “Rule change” means the adoption, amendment, or repeal of an operating rule by the board.
Civil Code Section 4295. Amending or Revoking a Condominium Plan.
A condominium plan may be amended or revoked by a recorded instrument that is acknowledged and signed by all the persons who, at the time of amendment or revocation, are persons whose signatures are required under Section 4290.
Civil Code Section 4290. Condominium Plan Recording.
(a) The certificate consenting to the recordation of a condominium plan that is required by subdivision (c) of Section 4285 shall be signed and acknowledged by all of the following persons:
(1) The record owner of fee title to that property included in the condominium project.
(2) In the case of a condominium project that will terminate upon the termination of an estate for years, by all lessors and lessees of the estate for years.
(3) In the case of a condominium project subject to a life estate, by all life tenants and remainder interests.
(4) The trustee or the beneficiary of each recorded deed of trust, and the mortgagee of each recorded mortgage encumbering the property.
(b) Owners of mineral rights, easements, rights-of-way, and other nonpossessory interests do not need to sign the certificate.
(c) In the event a conversion to condominiums of a community apartment project or stock cooperative has been approved by the required number of owners, trustees, beneficiaries, and mortgagees pursuant to Section 66452.10 of the Government Code, the certificate need only be signed by those owners, trustees, beneficiaries, and mortgagees approving the conversion.
Civil Code Section 4285. Condominium Plan Requirements.
A condominium plan shall contain all of the following:
(a) A description or survey map of a condominium project, which shall refer to or show monumentation on the ground.
(b) A three-dimensional description of a condominium project, one or more dimensions of which may extend for an indefinite distance upwards or downwards, in sufficient detail to identify the common area and each separate interest.
(c) A certificate consenting to the recordation of the condominium plan pursuant to this act that is signed and acknowledged as provided in Section 4290.
Civil Code Section 4280. Content of Articles of Incorporation.
(a) The articles of incorporation of an association filed with the Secretary of State shall include a statement, which shall be in addition to the statement of purposes of the corporation, that does all of the following:
(1) Identifies the corporation as an association formed to manage a common interest development under the Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act.
(2) States the business or corporate office of the association, if any, and, if the office is not on the site of the common interest development, states the front street and nearest cross street for the physical location of the common interest development.
(3) States the name and address of the association’s managing agent, if any.
(b) The statement filed by an incorporated association with the Secretary of State pursuant to Section 8210 of the Corporations Code shall also contain a statement identifying the corporation as an association formed to manage a common interest development under the Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act.
Civil Code Section 4275. Court Petition for Amendments.
(a) If in order to amend a declaration, the declaration requires members having more than 50 percent of the votes in the association, in a single class voting structure, or members having more than 50 percent of the votes in more than one class in a voting structure with more than one class, to vote in favor of the amendment, the association, or any member, may petition the superior court of the county in which the common interest development is located for an order reducing the percentage of the affirmative votes necessary for such an amendment. The petition shall describe the effort that has been made to solicit approval of the association members in the manner provided in the declaration, the number of affirmative and negative votes actually received, the number or percentage of affirmative votes required to effect the amendment in accordance with the existing declaration, and other matters the petitioner considers relevant to the court’s determination. The petition shall also contain, as exhibits thereto, copies of all of the following:
(1) The governing documents.
(2) A complete text of the amendment.
(3) Copies of any notice and solicitation materials utilized in the solicitation of member approvals.
(4) A short explanation of the reason for the amendment.
(5) Any other documentation relevant to the court’s determination.
(b) Upon filing the petition, the court shall set the matter for hearing and issue an ex parte order setting forth the manner in which notice shall be given.
(c) The court may, but shall not be required to, grant the petition if it finds all of the following:
(1) The petitioner has given not less than 15 days written notice of the court hearing to all members of the association, to any mortgagee of a mortgage or beneficiary of a deed of trust who is entitled to notice under the terms of the declaration, and to the city, county, or city and county in which the common interest development is located that is entitled to notice under the terms of the declaration.
(2) Balloting on the proposed amendment was conducted in accordance with the governing documents, this act, and any other applicable law.
(3) A reasonably diligent effort was made to permit all eligible members to vote on the proposed amendment.
(4) Members having more than 50 percent of the votes, in a single class voting structure, voted in favor of the amendment. In a voting structure with more than one class, where the declaration requires a majority of more than one class to vote in favor of the amendment, members having more than 50 percent of the votes of each class required by the declaration to vote in favor of the amendment voted in favor of the amendment.
(5) The amendment is reasonable.
(6) Granting the petition is not improper for any reason stated in subdivision (e).
(d) If the court makes the findings required by subdivision (c), any order issued pursuant to this section may confirm the amendment as being validly approved on the basis of the affirmative votes actually received during the balloting period or the order may dispense with any requirement relating to quorums or to the number or percentage of votes needed for approval of the amendment that would otherwise exist under the governing documents.
(e) Subdivisions (a) to (d), inclusive, notwithstanding, the court shall not be empowered by this section to approve any amendment to the declaration that:
(1) Would change provisions in the declaration requiring the approval of members having more than 50 percent of the votes in more than one class to vote in favor of an amendment, unless members having more than 50 percent of the votes in each affected class approved the amendment.
(2) Would eliminate any special rights, preferences, or privileges designated in the declaration as belonging to the declarant, without the consent of the declarant.
(3) Would impair the security interest of a mortgagee of a mortgage or the beneficiary of a deed of trust without the approval of the percentage of the mortgagees and beneficiaries specified in the declaration, if the declaration requires the approval of a specified percentage of the mortgagees and beneficiaries.
(f) An amendment is not effective pursuant to this section until the court order and amendment have been recorded in every county in which a portion of the common interest development is located. The amendment may be acknowledged by, and the court order and amendment may be recorded by, any person designated in the declaration or by the association for that purpose, or if no one is designated for that purpose, by the president of the association. Upon recordation of the amendment and court order, the declaration, as amended in accordance with this section, shall have the same force and effect as if the amendment were adopted in compliance with every requirement imposed by the governing documents.
(g) Within a reasonable time after the amendment is recorded the association shall deliver to each member, by individual delivery, pursuant to Section 4040, a copy of the amendment, together with a statement that the amendment has been recorded.
Related Links
Voter Apathy Not a Required Showing in a Petition to Reduce Percentage of Affirmative Votes Required to Amend CC&Rs – Published on HOA Lawyer Blog (04/19)
Civil Code Section 4270. Amendment Procedural Requirements.
(a) A declaration may be amended pursuant to the declaration or this act. Except where an alternative process for approving, certifying, or recording an amendment is provided in Section 4225, 4230, 4235, or 4275, an amendment is effective after all of the following requirements have been met:
(1) The amendment has been approved by the percentage of members required by the declaration and any other person whose approval is required by the declaration.
(2) That fact has been certified in a writing executed and acknowledged by the officer designated in the declaration or by the association for that purpose, or if no one is designated, by the president of the association.
(3) The amendment has been recorded in each county in which a portion of the common interest development is located.
(b) If the declaration does not specify the percentage of members who must approve an amendment of the declaration, an amendment may be approved by a majority of all members, pursuant to Section 4065.