(a)
(1) Except as provided in paragraph (4), unless otherwise provided in the declaration of a common interest development, the association is responsible for repairing, replacing, and maintaining the common area.
(2)
(A) Unless otherwise provided in the declaration of a common interest development, or unless the utility service that failed is required to be maintained, repaired, or replaced by a public, private, or other utility service provider, the association is responsible for repairs and replacements necessary to restore interrupted gas, heat, water, or electrical services that begin in the common area even if the matter extends into a separate interest or the exclusive use common area appurtenant to a separate interest.
(B) This paragraph does not change any legal duty or obligation of a utility company or local government to repair or replace components pertaining to gas, heat, water, or electrical services.
(3) Unless otherwise provided in the declaration of a common interest development, the owner of each separate interest is responsible for repairing, replacing, and maintaining that separate interest.
(4) Unless otherwise provided in the declaration of a common interest development, the owner of each separate interest is responsible for maintaining the exclusive use common area appurtenant to that separate interest and the association is responsible for repairing and replacing the exclusive use common area.
(b)
(1) An association’s board shall commence the process to make the repairs necessary to restore gas, heat, water, or electrical services, as required by this section, within 14 days of the interruption of services.
(2) If there are insufficient reserve funds available to cover the costs of repairs or replacements, as required by this section, an association may obtain competitive financing from a financial institution, in compliance with Section 5735, to pay for the costs of the repairs or replacements described in paragraph (1) without requiring a vote of the members and levy an emergency assessment to allow for the repayment of the loan. However, before obtaining that financing, the board shall pass a resolution containing written findings regarding the nature of the association’s expenses and how the association’s reserves do not cover the necessary costs. The resolution shall be distributed to the members with the notice of the emergency assessment and with notices otherwise required by law or governing documents pursuant to the board’s action, if any.
(3) Notwithstanding any other section of law or the association’s governing documents, if an association’s board is unable to meet a quorum within 14 days, pursuant to this section, then at the next duly noticed board meeting following the 14th day, the requirements for a quorum shall be reduced so that the total number of directors at that board meeting shall constitute a quorum. This reduced quorum shall only apply for the vote to commence the process specified in paragraph (1). The notice shall contain a provision indicating the use of a reduced quorum.
(4) Notwithstanding the requirements of Section 4910, if directors of an association are required to vote to initiate any repairs or replacements pursuant to this subdivision, voting may be performed by electronic means, including, but not limited to, email. All records of the vote shall be deemed association records and subject to the inspection and retention rules specified in Section 5210.
(c) The costs of temporary relocation during the repair, replacement, or maintenance of the areas within the responsibility of the association shall be borne by the owner of the separate interest affected.
(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to result in the personal liability of a director of an association.
(e) This section shall not apply if the association is in an area affected by one or more of the following conditions, and such condition or conditions materially affect the association’s ability to perform its responsibilities pursuant to this section:
(1) A state of disaster or emergency declared by the federal government.
(2) A state of emergency proclaimed by the Governor pursuant to Section 8625 of the Government Code.
(3) A local emergency proclaimed by a local governing body or official under Section 8630 of the Government Code.
Related Links
Limitation on HOA Tort Liability for Maintenance Failures
– Published on HOA Lawyer Blog (January 2020)
Civil Code Section 4645. Transfer of Exclusive Use Common Area.
Nothing in this article prohibits the transfer of exclusive use areas, independent of any other interest in a common interest subdivision, if authorization to separately transfer exclusive use areas is expressly stated in the declaration and the transfer occurs in accordance with the terms of the declaration.
Civil Code Section 4605. Enforcement of Section 4600.
(a) A member of an association may bring a civil action for declaratory or equitable relief for a violation of Section 4600 by the association, including, but not limited to, injunctive relief, restitution, or a combination thereof, within one year of the date the cause of action accrues.
(b) A member who prevails in a civil action to enforce the member’s rights pursuant to Section 4600 shall be entitled to reasonable attorney’s fees and court costs, and the court may impose a civil penalty of up to five hundred dollars ($500) for each violation, except that each identical violation shall be subject to only one penalty if the violation affects each member equally. A prevailing association shall not recover any costs, unless the court finds the action to be frivolous, unreasonable, or without foundation.
Civil Code Section 4600. Grant of Exclusive Use of Common Area.
(a) Unless the governing documents specify a different percentage, the affirmative vote of members owning at least 67 percent of the separate interests in the common interest development shall be required before the board may grant exclusive use of any portion of the common area to a member.
(b) Subdivision (a) does not apply to the following actions:
(1) A reconveyance of all or any portion of that common area to the subdivider to enable the continuation of development that is in substantial conformance with a detailed plan of phased development submitted to the Real Estate Commissioner with the application for a public report.
(2) Any grant of exclusive use that is in substantial conformance with a detailed plan of phased development submitted to the Real Estate Commissioner with the application for a public report or in accordance with the governing documents approved by the Real Estate Commissioner.
(3) Any grant of exclusive use that is for any of the following reasons:
(A) To eliminate or correct engineering errors in documents recorded with the county recorder or on file with a public agency or utility company.
(B) To eliminate or correct encroachments due to errors in construction of any improvements.
(C) To permit changes in the plan of development submitted to the Real Estate Commissioner in circumstances where the changes are the result of topography, obstruction, hardship, aesthetic considerations, or environmental conditions.
(D) To fulfill the requirement of a public agency.
(E) To transfer the burden of management and maintenance of any common area that is generally inaccessible and not of general use to the membership at large of the association.
(F) To accommodate a disability.
(G) To assign a parking space, storage unit, or other amenity, that is designated in the declaration for assignment, but is not assigned by the declaration to a specific separate interest.
(H) To install and use an electric vehicle charging station in an owner’s garage or a designated parking space that meets the requirements of Section 4745, where the installation or use of the charging station requires reasonable access through, or across, the common area for utility lines or meters.
(I) To install and use an electric vehicle charging station through a license granted by an association under Section 4745.
(J) To install and use a solar energy system on the common area roof of a residence that meets the requirements of Sections 714, 714.1, and, if applicable, Section 4746.
(K) To comply with governing law.
(c) Any measure placed before the members requesting that the board grant exclusive use of any portion of the common area shall specify whether the association will receive any monetary consideration for the grant and whether the association or the transferee will be responsible for providing any insurance coverage for exclusive use of the common area.
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 4220. Boundaries of Units.
In interpreting deeds and condominium plans, the existing physical boundaries of a unit in a condominium project, when the boundaries of the unit are contained within a building, or of a unit reconstructed in substantial accordance with the original plans thereof, shall be conclusively presumed to be its boundaries rather than the metes and bounds expressed in the deed or condominium plan, if any exists, regardless of settling or lateral movement of the building and regardless of minor variance between boundaries shown on the plan or in the deed and those of the building.
Civil Code Section 4185. “Separate Interest” Defined.
(a) “Separate interest” has the following meanings:
(1) In a community apartment project, “separate interest” means the exclusive right to occupy an apartment, as specified in Section 4105.
(2) In a condominium project, “separate interest” means a separately owned unit, as specified in Section 4125.
(3) In a planned development, “separate interest” means a separately owned lot, parcel, area, or space.
(4) In a stock cooperative, “separate interest” means the exclusive right to occupy a portion of the real property, as specified in Section 4190.
(b) Unless the declaration or condominium plan, if any exists, otherwise provides, if walls, floors, or ceilings are designated as boundaries of a separate interest, the interior surfaces of the perimeter walls, floors, ceilings, windows, doors, and outlets located within the separate interest are part of the separate interest and any other portions of the walls, floors, or ceilings are part of the common area.
(c) The estate in a separate interest may be a fee, a life estate, an estate for years, or any combination of the foregoing.
Civil Code Section 4145. “Exclusive Use Common Area” Defined.
(a) “Exclusive use common area” means a portion of the common area designated by the declaration for the exclusive use of one or more, but fewer than all, of the owners of the separate interests and which is or will be appurtenant to the separate interest or interests.
(b) Unless the declaration otherwise provides, any shutters, awnings, window boxes, doorsteps, stoops, porches, balconies, patios, exterior doors, doorframes, and hardware incident thereto, screens and windows or other fixtures designed to serve a single separate interest, but located outside the boundaries of the separate interest, are exclusive use common area allocated exclusively to that separate interest.
(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of the declaration, internal and external telephone wiring designed to serve a single separate interest, but located outside the boundaries of the separate interest, is exclusive use common area allocated exclusively to that separate interest.