HOA Law Blog
It’s that time of year again — time to get the community association’s budget together and ensure you’re making all the proper disclosures under the Annual Budget Report and Annual Policy Statement, as required by the California Civil Code. In order to assist you with this process and other required notices and disclosures, we have again updated our disclosure checklist reference.
Download the new 2014-2015 disclosure checklist here.
Not much has changed in the most recent legislative session with regard to community association disclosures, other than some clarifying language that was added regarding property transfer disclosures. To review our prior blog post regarding that legislation, follow this link.
New legislation amending two of the transfer disclosure sections of the Davis-Stirling Act, Sections 4528 and 4530, will be effective January 1, 2015. 
The body of statutory law (as opposed to case law) governing California Community Associations, known as the Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act, went into effect on January 1, 1986. As the industry developed and matured over the last 27 years, approximately 50 changes and amendments were made to the Act. While those adjustments were well-intended, the net effect yielded a disorganized and confusing body of law. To address this problem, a multi-year effort was launched to rewrite the Davis-Stirling Act. This “new” Davis-Stirling Act, signed into law in 2012, becomes the guiding law for California residential community associations on January 1, 2014. So you are probably asking what are the major changes and how does the re-write affect reserve funding issues? The answer is no major changes have been made regarding reserve funding. For the most part, the new updated law amounts to new set of Civil Code references for reserve funding matters. Fortunately, the majority of the changes are just re-organization and renumbering. But there have been changes made to the Act as it applies to reserves.
Have you heard the latest regarding new required pool signage at California community association pools? Our attorneys have been receiving a lot of inquiries about whether a new “poop sign” is required to be posted at community associations that have pools. We have to report that a diarrhea sign is now required. In 2012, the California Building Standards Code (the “Code”) was amended, effective September 1, 2012. The Code states that it applies to “public pools.” At first glance, one would think that just as the Americans with Disabilities Act does not generally apply to community associations, 
Unless you have been sleeping with Rip Van Winkel for 20+ years (and if you have been, then maybe you have a disability), you are likely aware that there are a number of laws that deal with the rights of disabled individuals to be accommodated. This would include the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and the Federal Fair Housing Act (“FFHA”) as well as California Fair Housing Act (“CFHA”). These laws deal with public and private facilities, and to some extent include condominium and homeowner associations. These laws address who is responsible for making modifications or changes to common area to accommodate individuals with disabilities – the owner or the association. It is important to understand the distinctions in the law, as many disabled individuals may insist that their community association is obligated to comply with the ADA, and that can be expensive as well as complicated. The fact is that the ADA likely does not apply to your association. See my prior article entitled 
Blog Post by David Swedelson, Founding Partner SwedelsonGottlieb