Category Archives: Davis-Stirling Act

Davis-stirling Act

Civil Code Section 5655. Priority of Assessment Payments; Receipts; Overnight Payment.

(a) Any payments made by the owner of a separate interest toward a debt described in subdivision (a) of Section 5650 shall first be applied to the assessments owed, and, only after the assessments owed are paid in full shall the payments be applied to the fees and costs of collection, attorney’s fees, late charges, or interest.

(b) When an owner makes a payment, the owner may request a receipt and the association shall provide it. The receipt shall indicate the date of payment and the person who received it.

(c) The association shall provide a mailing address for overnight payment of assessments. The address shall be provided in the annual policy statement.

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Davis-stirling Act

Civil Code Section 5650. Debt of Owner; Assessments, Late Charges, Collection Costs, Interest.

(a) A regular or special assessment and any late charges, reasonable fees and costs of collection, reasonable attorney’s fees, if any, and interest, if any, as determined in accordance with subdivision (b), shall be a debt of the owner of the separate interest at the time the assessment or other sums are levied.

(b) Regular and special assessments levied pursuant to the governing documents are delinquent 15 days after they become due, unless the declaration provides a longer time period, in which case the longer time period shall apply. If an assessment is delinquent, the association may recover all of the following:

(1) Reasonable costs incurred in collecting the delinquent assessment, including reasonable attorney’s fees.

(2) A late charge not exceeding 10 percent of the delinquent assessment or ten dollars ($10), whichever is greater, unless the declaration specifies a late charge in a smaller amount, in which case any late charge imposed shall not exceed the amount specified in the declaration.

(3) Interest on all sums imposed in accordance with this section, including the delinquent assessments, reasonable fees and costs of collection, and reasonable attorney’s fees, at an annual interest rate not to exceed 12 percent, commencing 30 days after the assessment becomes due, unless the declaration specifies the recovery of interest at a rate of a lesser amount, in which case the lesser rate of interest shall apply.

(c) Associations are hereby exempted from interest-rate limitations imposed by Article XV of the California Constitution, subject to the limitations of this section.

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Davis-stirling Act

Civil Code Section 5625. Assessments Based on Tax Value of Separate Interests.

(a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), notwithstanding any provision of this act or the governing documents to the contrary, an association shall not levy assessments on separate interests within the common interest development based on the taxable value of the separate interests unless the association, on or before December 31, 2009, in accordance with its governing documents, levied assessments on those separate interests based on their taxable value, as determined by the tax assessor of the county in which the separate interests are located.

(b) An association that is responsible for paying taxes on the separate interests within the common interest development may levy that portion of assessments on separate interests that is related to the payment of taxes based on the taxable value of the separate interest, as determined by the tax assessor.

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Davis-stirling Act

Civil Code Section 5620. Regular Assessments Exempt From Creditors.

(a) Regular assessments imposed or collected to perform the obligations of an association under the governing documents or this act shall be exempt from execution by a judgment creditor of the association only to the extent necessary for the association to perform essential services, such as paying for utilities and insurance. In determining the appropriateness of an exemption, a court shall ensure that only essential services are protected under this subdivision.

(b) This exemption shall not apply to any consensual pledges, liens, or encumbrances that have been approved by a majority of a quorum of members, pursuant to Section 4070, at a member meeting or election, or to any state tax lien, or to any lien for labor or materials supplied to the common area.

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Davis-stirling Act

Civil Code Section 5615. Notice of Assessment Increase.

The association shall provide individual notice pursuant to Section 4040 to the members of any increase in the regular or special assessments of the association, not less than 30 nor more than 60 days prior to the increased assessment becoming due.

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Davis-stirling Act

Civil Code Section 5610. Emergency Assessments.

Section 5605 does not limit assessment increases necessary for emergency situations. For purposes of this section, an emergency situation is any one of the following:

(a) An extraordinary expense required by an order of a court.

(b) An extraordinary expense necessary to operate, repair, or maintain the common interest development or any part of it for which the association is responsible where a threat to personal health or safety or another hazardous condition or circumstance on the property is discovered.

(c) An extraordinary expense necessary to repair or maintain the common interest development or any part of it for which the association is responsible that could not have been reasonably foreseen by the board in preparing and distributing the annual budget report under Section 5300. However, before the imposition or collection of an assessment under this subdivision, the board shall pass a resolution containing written findings as to the necessity of the extraordinary expense involved and why the expense was not or could not have been reasonably foreseen in the budgeting process, and the resolution shall be distributed to the members with the notice of assessment.

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Davis-stirling Act

Civil Code Section 5605. Assessment Increases; Requirements and Limitations.

(a) Annual increases in regular assessments for any fiscal year shall not be imposed unless the board has complied with paragraphs (1), (2), (4), (5), (6), (7), and (8) of subdivision (b) of Section 5300 with respect to that fiscal year, or has obtained the approval of a majority of a quorum of members, pursuant to Section 4070, at a member meeting or election.

(b) Notwithstanding more restrictive limitations placed on the board by the governing documents, the board may not impose a regular assessment that is more than 20 percent greater than the regular assessment for the association’s preceding fiscal year or impose special assessments which in the aggregate exceed 5 percent of the budgeted gross expenses of the association for that fiscal year without the approval of a majority of a quorum of members, pursuant to Section 4070, at a member meeting or election.

(c)(1)(A) For an association that records its original declaration on or after January 1, 2025, notwithstanding more restrictive limitations placed on the board by the governing documents, except as provided in paragraph (3), the board shall not impose a regular assessment against an owner of a deed-restricted affordable housing unit that is more than 5 percent plus the percentage change in the cost of living, not to exceed 10 percent greater than the preceding regular assessment.

(B) For purposes of this paragraph, “percentage change in the cost of living” means the percentage change from April 1 of the prior year to April 1 of the current year in the regional Consumer Price Index for the region where the residential real property is located, as published by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. If a regional index is not available, the California Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers for all items, as determined by the Department of Industrial Relations, shall apply.

(2) For an association that records its original declaration on or after January 1, 2025, notwithstanding any other law, except as provided in paragraph (3), the board may impose an assessment against an owner of a deed-restricted affordable housing unit that is lower than the assessment imposed against other owners according to the proportional ownership of total subdivision interests subject to assessments.

(3) This subdivision does not apply to any of the following:

(A) A development where the percentage of the units, exclusive of a manager’s unit or units, that are deed-restricted affordable housing units exceeds the percentage required by an applicable zoning ordinance in effect at the time the development received final approval.

(B) A development that is located within a city, county, or city and county that does not have an applicable zoning ordinance requiring a percentage of deed-restricted affordable housing units and meet either of the following conditions:

(i) The percentage of the units, exclusive of a manager’s unit or units, that are deed-restricted affordable housing exceeds 10 percent of the total number of units in the development at the time the development received final approval.

(ii) If the development met the requirements described in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 65912.122 of the Government Code and was approved pursuant to Section 65912.124 of the Government Code, the percentage of the units, exclusive of a manager’s unit or units, that are deed-restricted affordable housing exceeds 15 percent of the total number of units in the development at the time the development received final approval.

(d) For the purposes of this section, all of the following definitions apply:

(1) “Affordable housing unit” means a unit occupied by, or available at affordable housing cost to, lower income and moderate-income households, as defined by Sections 50079.5 and 50052.5, respectively, of the Health and Safety Code.

(2) “Final approval” has the same meaning as defined in clause (ii) of subparagraph (D) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (o) of Section 65589.5 of the Government Code.

(3) “Quorum” means more than 50 percent of the members.

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Davis-stirling Act

Civil Code Section 5600. Duty to Levy Assessments.

(a) Except as provided in Section 5605, the association shall levy regular and special assessments sufficient to perform its obligations under the governing documents and this act.

(b) An association shall not impose or collect an assessment or fee that exceeds the amount necessary to defray the costs for which it is levied.

(Added by Stats. 2012, Ch. 180, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 2013. Operative January 1, 2014, by Sec. 3 of Ch. 180.)

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Davis-stirling Act

Civil Code Section 5580. Community Service Organization Report.

(a) Unless the governing documents impose more stringent standards, any community service organization whose funding from the association or its members exceeds 10 percent of the organization’s annual budget shall prepare and distribute to the association a report that meets the requirements of Section 5012 of the Corporations Code, and that describes in detail administrative costs and identifies the payees of those costs in a manner consistent with the provisions of Article 5 (commencing with Section 5200) of Chapter 6.

(b) If the community service organization does not comply with the standards, the report shall disclose the noncompliance in detail. If a community service organization is responsible for the maintenance of major components for which an association would otherwise be responsible, the community service organization shall supply to the association the information regarding those components that the association would use to complete disclosures and reserve reports required under this article and Section 5300. An association may rely upon information received from a community service organization, and shall provide access to the information pursuant to the provisions of Article 5 (commencing with Section 5200) of Chapter 6.

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Davis-stirling Act

Civil Code Section 5570. Reserve Funding Disclosure Form.

(a) The disclosures required by this article with regard to an association or a property shall be summarized on the following form:

Assessment and Reserve Funding Disclosure Summary
For the Fiscal Year Ending _____

(1) The regular assessment per ownership interest is $_____ per ____. Note: If assessments vary by the size or type of ownership interest, the assessment applicable to this ownership interest may be found on page _____ of the attached summary.

(2) Additional regular or special assessments that have already been scheduled to be imposed or charged, regardless of the purpose, if they have been approved by the board and/or members:

Date assessment will be due:	Amount per ownership interest per month or year (If assessments are variable, see note immediately below):	Purpose of the assessment:
_____	_____	_____
_____	_____	_____
_____	_____	_____
_____	Total:	_____

Note: If assessments vary by the size or type of ownership interest, the assessment applicable to this ownership interest may be found on page ____ of the attached report.

(3) Based upon the most recent reserve study and other information available to the board of directors, will currently projected reserve account balances be sufficient at the end of each year to meet the association’s obligation for repair and/or replacement of major components during the next 30 years?

Yes _____No _____

(4) If the answer to (3) is no, what additional assessments or other contributions to reserves would be necessary to ensure that sufficient reserve funds will be available each year during the next 30 years that have not yet been approved by the board or the members?

Approximate date assessment will be due:	Amount per ownership interest per month or year:
_____	_____
_____	_____
_____	_____
_____	_____
_____	Total:

(5) All major components are included in the reserve study and are included in its calculations.

(6) Based on the method of calculation in paragraph (4) of subdivision (b) of Section 5570, the estimated amount required in the reserve fund at the end of the current fiscal year is $____, based in whole or in part on the last reserve study or update prepared by ____ as of ____ (month), ____ (year). The projected reserve fund cash balance at the end of the current fiscal year is $____, resulting in reserves being ____ percent funded at this date.

If an alternate, but generally accepted, method of calculation is also used, the required reserve amount is $____. (See attached explanation)

(7) Based on the method of calculation in paragraph (4) of subdivision (b) of Section 5570 of the Civil Code, the estimated amount required in the reserve fund at the end of each of the next five budget years is $______, and the projected reserve fund cash balance in each of those years, taking into account only assessments already approved and other known revenues, is $______, leaving the reserve at ______ percent funded. If the reserve funding plan approved by the association is implemented, the projected reserve fund cash balance in each of those years will be $______, leaving the reserve at ______ percent funded.

Note: The financial representations set forth in this summary are based on the best estimates of the preparer at that time. The estimates are subject to change. At the time this summary was prepared, the assumed long-term before-tax interest rate earned on reserve funds was ____ percent per year, and the assumed long-term inflation rate to be applied to major component repair and replacement costs was ____ percent per year.

(b) For the purposes of preparing a summary pursuant to this section:

(1) “Estimated remaining useful life” means the time reasonably calculated to remain before a major component will require replacement.

(2) “Major component” has the meaning used in Section 5550. Components with an estimated remaining useful life of more than 30 years may be included in a study as a capital asset or disregarded from the reserve calculation, so long as the decision is revealed in the reserve study report and reported in the Assessment and Reserve Funding Disclosure Summary.

(3) The form set out in subdivision (a) shall accompany each annual budget report or summary thereof that is delivered pursuant to Section 5300. The form may be supplemented or modified to clarify the information delivered, so long as the minimum information set out in subdivision (a) is provided.

(4) For the purpose of the report and summary, the amount of reserves needed to be accumulated for a component at a given time shall be computed as the current cost of replacement or repair multiplied by the number of years the component has been in service divided by the useful life of the component. This shall not be construed to require the board to fund reserves in accordance with this calculation.

(Amended by Stats. 2016, Ch. 714, Sec. 8. Effective January 1, 2017.)

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