This year’s legislative session was unlike any other, as the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic forced the State of California and its 2020 legislative session to suspend its routine schedule. As a consequence, the focus of the Legislature shifted to pandemic relief, and for our State’s 40,000+ common interest developments, this means changes to combat issues caused or exacerbated by the pandemic (see Assembly Bill 3182, for example).

What follows is a summary of noteworthy legislation, court decisions, news, and current events from this past year, which impact common interest developments. 

ENACTED LEGISLATION
The bills below have been signed and approved by Governor Gavin Newsom and will take effect January 1, 2021, as “New Law.”

SB 326: Exterior Elevated Elements

This Bill revises the Civil Code to require a condominium association with three (3) or more units to have a licensed structural engineer conduct an inspection of the building’s exterior elevated elements, at least once every nine (9) years.

As you have probably already heard, Assembly Bill 3182 (“AB 3182”) was approved by the Governor on September 28, 2020. With this Bill comes changes to the law which will undoubtedly alter the character of California’s homeowners’ associations.

Starting January 1, 2021, the California Civil Code will be amended to encourage rentals and, in many ways, discourage property ownership. Any provision in your governing documents which prohibits or “unreasonably restricts” renting will be considered void and unenforceable, with two (2) exceptions:

1. Associations can prohibit short-term rentals of thirty (30) days or less;
2. Associations can limit the total number of rental homes in the community, to twenty-five percent (25%), but no less.

Moreover, the law will require homeowners’ associations to amend their governing documents to reflect these changes, by December 31, 2021.
Read more . . .

Undoubtedly, the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has interrupted the normal routines and operations of associations and their boards and management. While state and local health officials' orders may be lifted or relaxed (or tightened in some cases), depending on the rise and fall of the infection rate, we can expect many of the last several months' changes to association operations to stay intact for some time. The board's and management's due diligence and consideration for how to mitigate the possible transmission of the virus within their communities will continue to be relevant, even once virus related orders are completely lifted.

With this in mind, a common question that boards and managers might have is, "What do we do if there has been a suspected or confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 or some other communicable disease within the community?”

At the outset, given the unprecedented nature of this pandemic, and the health and safety risks posed by COVID-19, the board is entitled to require members and residents to inform the association (via phone or email) if in fact they have contracted or tested positive, or have traveled to what health organizations (the CDC, WHO or others) might consider a "high-risk" location. Note that while boards must be sensitive to confidentiality and privacy, associations are not subject to the privacy protections in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). These protections apply to healthcare providers only, such as doctors, hospitals, pharmacies, dentists and the like.

Addressing Homeowner Delinquencies in the Era of COVID-19