Tag Archives: Rental Restriction

SB-677 (Wiener) Housing development: streamlined approvals.

Would make void and unenforceable any provision of a governing document that effectively prohibits or unreasonably restricts the construction of a housing development or urban lot split on a lot zoned for single-family residential use.

Current Status: Pending

FindHOALaw Quick Summary:

The Planning and Zoning Law requires a proposed housing development containing no more than 2 residential units within a single-family residential zone to be considered ministerially, without discretionary review or hearing, if the proposed housing development meets certain requirements.

This bill would amend Government Code Section 65852.21 to require ministerial approval for proposed housing developments containing no more than 2 residential units on any lot hosting a single-family home or zoned for 4 or fewer residential units, notwithstanding any covenant, condition, or restriction imposed by a common interest development association.

The Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act governs the management and operation of common interest developments. It makes void and unenforceable any covenant, restriction, or condition contained in any deed, contract, security instrument, or other instrument affecting the transfer or sale of any interest in a planned development, and any provision of a governing document, that effectively prohibits or unreasonably restricts the construction or use of an accessory dwelling unit or junior accessory dwelling unit on a lot zoned for single-family residential use that meets the above-described requirements established for those units.

This bill would amend Civil Code Section 4751 to additionally apply the above-described provisions to housing developments and urban lot splits receiving ministerial approval.

View more info on SB 677
from the California Legislature's website

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SB-1211 (Skinner) Land use: accessory dwelling units: ministerial approval.

Would prohibit a local agency from requiring replacement parking spaces when a carport, covered parking structure, or uncovered parking space is demolished or converted into an ADU. Would also allow for multiple ADUs on a lot that has an existing or proposed multi-family dwelling.

Current Status: Chaptered

FindHOALaw Quick Summary:

Existing law requires ministerial approval of accessory dwelling units (“ADUs”) if the local agency does not adopt an ordinance governing ADUs. Under existing law, a local agency is also required to ministerially approve an application for a building permit within a residential or mixed-use zone to create any of specified variations of ADUs. Existing law imposes various requirements and restrictions on a local agency in connection with the ministerial approval of an application for a building permit for an ADU under these specified variations. One of these variations requires a local agency to ministerially approve not more than 2 ADUs that are located on a lot that has an existing or proposed multifamily dwelling, but are detached from that dwelling, and are subject to a height limitation and rear yard and side setbacks.
This bill would amend Government Code 66323 to authorize, under that variation, up to 8 detached ADUs to be created on a lot within an existing multifamily dwelling, provided that the number of ADUs does not exceed the number of existing units on the lot, and up to 2 detached ADUs on a lot with a proposed multifamily dwelling.
Existing law prohibits a local agency from requiring replacement of offstreet parking spaces if a garage, carport, or covered parking structure is demolished in conjunction with the construction of, or is converted to, an ADU.
This bill would amend Government Code 66314 to additionally prohibit a local agency from requiring the replacement of offstreet parking spaces if an uncovered parking space is demolished in conjunction with the construction of, or conversion to, an ADU.
**AB 1211 was signed by the Governor on September 19, 2024 and takes effect January 1, 2025.
View more info on AB 1211
from the California Legislature's website

Related Links

California Legislature Further Limits a HOA’s Right to Restrict Rentals - Published on HOA Lawyer Blog (September 2020) Request for Installation of Accessory Dwelling Units - Published on HOA Lawyer Blog (March 2021) SB 9 Signed! Statewide Re-zoning of Single-Family Neighborhoods & Urban Parcel Splits - Published on HOA Lawyer Blog (September 2021)

Sale of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs)

Sale of ADUs as Condominiums
Government Code Section 65852.2 allows for a local agency to adopt an ordinance allowing for the separate sale of accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and the primary dwelling on the property as condominiums. Such an ordinance must contain the following requirements (among others):

  1. Created pursuant to the Davis Stirling Act. The condominiums must be created pursuant to the Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act, the body of Civil Code sections governing the creation and operation of homeowners associations. This requires the separate interests to have an interest in common area, a recorded declaration (CC&Rs), a recorded condominium plan, and a recorded final map or parcel map (if required under the Subdivision Map Act). (Gov. Code § 65852.2(a)(10)(A); Civ. Code § 4200.)
  2. Created in Conformance with Subdivision Map Act & Local Ordinances. The condominiums must be created in conformance with all applicable objective requirements of the Subdivision Map Act and all objective requirements of a local subdivision ordinance. (Gov. Code § 65852.2(a)(10)(B).)
  3. Safety Inspection & Certification. Before recordation of the condominium plan, a safety inspection of the ADU must be conducted and evidenced either through a certificate of occupancy or a certified housing quality standards report. (Gov. Code § 65852.2(a)(10)(C).)
  4. Lienholder Consent. Neither a subdivision map nor a condominium plan may be recorded (or subsequently modified) without the consent of each lienholder of the property. Written evidence of each lienholder must be included on the condominium plan or attached to the condominium plan and recorded together with the condominium plan. (Gov. Code § 65852.2(a)(10)(D).)
  5. Authorization of Existing HOA. If the property is within an existing planned development that has an existing homeowners association, the owner may not record a condominium plan without written approval by the association’s board of directors in a board meeting, and (if required by the association’s governing documents), approval by the association’s membership. (Gov. Code § 65852.2(a)(10)(G).)

Sale of ADUs as Low Income Housing 
Qualified nonprofit corporations have the right to sell ADUs separately from the private residence on a property, subject to several requirements which include, among others, that the buyer of the ADU be a person or family of low or moderate income. (Gov. Code § 65852.26.)

SB-477 (Committee on Housing) Accessory Dwelling Units

Would reorganize the various statutes relating to Accessory Dwelling Units into one chapter of the Government Code.

Current Status: Chaptered

FindHOALaw Quick Summary:

Existing law provides for the creation by local ordinance, or by ministerial approval if a local agency has not adopted an ordinance, of accessory dwelling units to allow single-family or multifamily dwelling residential use. Existing law also provides for the creation of junior accessory dwelling units by local ordinance, or, if a local agency has not adopted an ordinance, by ministerial approval.
This bill would make nonsubstantive changes and reorganize various provisions relating to the creation and regulation of accessory dwelling units and junior accessory dwelling units into Government Code Sections 66310-66341 and would make related nonsubstantive conforming changes.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
View more info on SB 477
from the California Legislature's website

Related Links

California Legislature Further Limits a HOA’s Right to Restrict Rentals - Published on HOA Lawyer Blog (September 2020) Request for Installation of Accessory Dwelling Units - Published on HOA Lawyer Blog (March 2021) SB 9 Signed! Statewide Re-zoning of Single-Family Neighborhoods & Urban Parcel Splits - Published on HOA Lawyer Blog (September 2021)

AB-1033 (Ting) Accessory dwelling units: local ordinances: separate sale or conveyance

Would allow ADUs to be sold separately from the primary residence.

Current Status: Chaptered

FindHOALaw Quick Summary:

The Planning and Zoning Law authorizes a local agency, by ordinance or ministerial approval, to provide for the creation of accessory dwelling units in areas zoned for residential use. Existing law prohibits the accessory dwelling unit from being sold or otherwise conveyed separate from the primary residence.

This bill would amend Government Code Section 65852.2 provide that an accessory dwelling unit may be sold or otherwise conveyed separate from the primary residence as provided by specified law or by ordinance.

**AB 1033 was signed by the Governor on October 11, 2023 and takes effect January 1, 2024.

View more info on AB 1033
from the California Legislature's website

Related Links

California Legislature Further Limits a HOA’s Right to Restrict Rentals - Published on HOA Lawyer Blog (September 2020) Request for Installation of Accessory Dwelling Units - Published on HOA Lawyer Blog (March 2021) SB 9 Signed! Statewide Re-zoning of Single-Family Neighborhoods & Urban Parcel Splits - Published on HOA Lawyer Blog (September 2021)

AB-976 (Ting) Accessory dwelling units: owner-occupancy requirements.

Would eliminate an owner-occupancy requirement on any accessory dwelling unit.

Current Status: Chaptered

FindHOALaw Quick Summary:

The Planning and Zoning Law provides for the creation of accessory dwelling units by local ordinance, or, if a local agency has not adopted an ordinance, by ministerial approval. Existing law requires a local ordinance to require an accessory dwelling unit to be either attached to, or located within, the proposed or existing primary dwelling, or detached from the proposed or existing primary dwelling and located on the same lot as the proposed or existing primary dwelling.

Existing law, beginning January 1, 2025, authorizes a local agency to impose an owner-occupancy requirement on an accessory dwelling unit, provided that the accessory dwelling unit was not permitted between January 1, 2020, and January 1, 2025.

This bill would amend Government Code Section 65852.2 This bill would instead prohibit a local agency from imposing an owner-occupancy requirement on any accessory dwelling unit.

** **AB 976 was signed in to law on October 11, 2023 and takes effect January 1, 2024.

View more info on AB 976
from the California Legislature's website

Related Links

California Legislature Further Limits a HOA’s Right to Restrict Rentals - Published on HOA Lawyer Blog (September 2020) Request for Installation of Accessory Dwelling Units - Published on HOA Lawyer Blog (March 2021) SB 9 Signed! Statewide Re-zoning of Single-Family Neighborhoods & Urban Parcel Splits - Published on HOA Lawyer Blog (September 2021)

AB 1584 (Committee on Housing and Community Development) Housing Omnibus.

Would allow the board of directors to amend the governing documents to remove any prohibitive rental restrictions without a vote of membership and would extend the deadline to July 1, 2022.

Current Status: Chaptered

FindHOALaw Quick Summary:

Existing law prohibits a common interest development from adopting or enforcing a provision in a governing document, or amendment to a governing document, that restricts the rental or lease of separate interests within a common interest to less than 25 percent of the separate interests. The act requires a common interest development to comply with the prohibition on rental restrictions regardless of whether the common interest development has revised its governing documents to comply with the act and requires a common interest development to amend its governing documents no later than December 31, 2021.
This bill would amend Civil Code Section 4741 to require the common interest development board, without approval of the members, to amend any declaration or other governing document no later than July 1, 2022, that includes a prohibited restrictive covenant, as provided. The bill would require a board to provide general notice of the amendment at least 28 days before approving the amendment and would require any decision on the amendment to be made at a board meeting, after consideration of any comments made by association members.

**UPDATE:  AB 1584 was signed by the Governor on September 28, 2021.  Its changes to the law take effect January 1, 2022.

View more info on AB 1584
from the California Legislature's website

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AB-1410 (Rodriguez) Associations: declared emergency: protected uses.

Would make changes to several sections of the David-Stirling Act affecting use restrictions, enforcement, elections, and speech.

Current Status: Chaptered

FindHOALaw Quick Summary:

Existing law regulates governing documents and protects certain uses of a homeowner’s separate property. That law, among other things, prohibits an association from restricting a homeowner’s right to rent or lease a separate interest unless the governing document or amendment that restricts a homeowner’s right to rent or lease their separate interest existed prior to the homeowner acquiring title to the separate interest. Existing law also prohibits the governing documents of an association from establishing unreasonable restrictions on the use of a homeowner’s backyard for personal agriculture.
This bill would amend Civil Code Section 4740 to prohibit the governing documents from restricting a homeowner’s right to rent or lease their separate interest, or any portion thereof, without regard to whether such restriction existed at the time the homeowner acquired title to the separate interest. This bill would also amend Civil Code Section 4750 to extend the provision protecting a homeowner’s right to use their backyard for personal agriculture to include all of the homeowner’s separate interest.
Existing law authorizes an association to restrict a member’s actions and speech while in the common development. This bill would add Civil Code Section 4754 to prohibit any restrictions on discussions critical of the association.
Existing law regulates the election and necessary qualifications for a member to serve as a director of an association. This bill would add Civil Code Section 5101 to require every director and full-time employee of an association completes a course in ethics and harassment prevention.
Existing law authorizes associations to establish penalties for violation of the governing documents, and regulates how an association may enforce such penalties.
This bill would add Civil Code Section 5870 to prohibit an association from taking any enforcement action regarding landscaping of a homeowner’s separate interest during a declared emergency, or on days where the air quality is unhealthy, as determined by the State Air Resources Board. This bill would add Civil Code Section 5875 to prohibit an association from taking enforcement actions for the violation of governing documents during, and for 30 days after, a declared emergency, evacuation, shelter in place order, or quarantine. This bill would also add Civil Code Section 5880 to require any physical evidence used in determining a violation of the governing documents has occurred be made available to the member accused of violating the governing documents if the association seeks to impose a monetary penalty. Any photographs used to determine a violation of the governing documents has occurred would be required to contain either a time and date stamp, or digital metadata that clearly states the time and date the photograph was taken.
**AB-1410 was signed in to law September 30, 2022 and takes effect January 1, 2023.
View more info on AB 1410
from the California Legislature's website

Related Links

SB 323 Signed!  The New State of HOA Election Laws - Published on HOA Lawyer Blog (October 2019) SB 407 Signed!  Legislation Broadens Assembly and Speech Rights Within HOAs - Published on HOA Lawyer Blog (September 2017) Complaining about your HOA is a Constitutionally Protected Activity - Published on HOA Lawyer Blog (March 2011)

SB-60 (Glazer) Residential short-term rental ordinances: health or safety infractions: maximum fines.

Would raise the maximum fines by a city or county for short-term rentals and provides a definition for “short-term rental.”

Current Status: Chaptered

FindHOALaw Quick Summary:

Existing law authorizes the legislative body of a city or a county to make, by ordinance, any violation of an ordinance subject to an administrative fine or penalty and limits the maximum fine or penalty amounts for infractions, to $100 for the first violation, $200 for a 2nd violation of the same ordinance within one year of the first violation, and $500 for each additional violation of the same ordinance within one year of the first violation. Existing law also sets specific monetary limits on the fines that may be imposed by city or county authorities for any violation of local building and safety codes that is an infraction, as prescribed. Existing law requires a city or county levying fines pursuant to these provisions to establish a process for granting a hardship waiver in certain cases.
This bill would amend Government Code 25132 to raise the maximum fines for violation of an ordinance relating to a residential short-term rental, as defined, that is an infraction and poses a threat to health or safety, to $1,500 for a first violation, $3,000 for a 2nd violation of the same ordinance within one year, and $5,000 for each additional violation of the same ordinance within one year of the first violation.

**UPDATE:  SB 60 was signed by the Governor on September 24, 2021.  Its changes to the law take effect immediately.

View more info on SB 60
from the California Legislature's website

Related Links

California Legislature Further Limits a HOA's Right to Restrict Rentals - Published on HOA Lawyer Blog (September 2020) HOA Short-term Rental Rule Violated California Coast Act - Published on HOA Lawyer Blog (April 2018) Court Concludes Rental Restrictions are Reasonable - Published on HOA Lawyer Blog (July 2017) Expanded Scope of 'Judicial Deference' - Authority to Impose Short-term Renter FeesPublished on HOA Lawyer Blog (April 2015)

Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs)

Civil Code Section 4751 makes any provision in an HOA’s governing document that “effectively prohibits” or “unreasonably restricts” the construction or use of an accessory dwelling unit (an “ADU”) or a junior accessory dwelling (a “JADU”) on a lot that is zoned for single-family residential use is void and unenforceable under California law. (Civ. Code § 4751(a).)

Definitions of ADU and JADU

“Accessory Dwelling Unit” (ADU) means an attached or a detached residential dwelling unit which provides complete independent living facilities for one or more persons. It must include permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking, and sanitation on the same parcel as the single-family dwelling is situated. An ADU also includes the following (Gov. Code § 65852.2(i)(4).):

      • An “efficiency unit,” as defined under the Section 17958.1 of the Health & Safety Code.  Efficiency units must have (a) living area of at least 150 square feet, (b) a kitchen sink, cooking appliance and refrigeration facilities, and (c) a separate bathroom containing a water closet, lavatory and bathtub or shower.
      • A manufactured home, as defined in Section 18007 of the Health & Safety Code.

“Junior Accessory Dwelling Unit” (JADU) means a unit that is no more than 500 square feet in size and contained entirely within an existing single-family structure. A JADU may include separate sanitation facilities, or may share sanitation facilities with the existing structure.  (Gov. Code § 65852.22(g)(1).)

Reasonable Restrictions by an HOA
Section 4751 does not apply to provisions of an HOA’s governing documents that impose “reasonable restrictions” on ADUs or JADUs.  “Reasonable restrictions” means restrictions that do not unreasonably increase the cost to construct, effectively prohibit the construction of, or extinguish the ability to otherwise construct, an accessory dwelling unit or junior accessory dwelling unit consistent with the provisions of Government Code Sections 65852.2 or 65852.22. (Civ. Code § 4751(b).)  The types of reasonable restrictions on ADUs and JADUs are set forth in Government Code Sections 65852.2 and 65852.22, respectively.  They generally include the following:

Reasonable Restrictions on ADUs (Gov. Code § 65852.2)

  •  The ADU may be rented separate from the primary residence.
  • The total area of floorspace of an ADU attached to the primary dwelling shall not exceed fifty percent (50%) of the existing primary dwelling area
  • The total floorspace of aa detached ADU shall not exceed 1,200 square feet.
  • Parking requirements for ADUs may be imposed but not exceed one parking space per unit or per bedroom, whichever is less.

Reasonable Restrictions on JADUs (Gov. Code § 65852.22)

  • Limit the number of JADUs to one per lot.
  • Require owner-occupancy in the single-family residence in which the JADU will be located. The owner may reside in either the remaining portion of the structure or the newly created JADU.
  • Require the JADU to be constructed within the walls of the proposed or existing single-family residence.
  • Require the JADU to include a separate entrance from the main entrance to the proposed or existing single-family residence.
  • Require the JADU to include an efficiency kitchen, which must include a sink, cooking facility with appliances, a food preparation counter and storage cabinets.