HOA Law Blog

September 24, 2014

Nevada Supreme Court Rules that Super Priority Lien Extinguishes First Deed of Trust; Too Bad California Does NOT Have Super Liens

By David Swedelson, Partner, SwedelsonGottlieb, Community Association Attorneys

The Nevada Supreme Court recently ruled that a super priority lien held by a Nevada homeowners association can extinguish a first deed of trust on a property. The Court stated: “With limited exceptions, this lien is ‘prior to all – other liens and encumbrances’ on the homeowner’s property, even a first deed of trust recorded before the dues became delinquent”

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that this decision will create a windfall for some real estate investors in Las Vegas who picked up properties for pennies on the dollar.
I have previously written an article that addressed assessment super priority liens. 19 states have them. Unfortunately, we do not have super liens in California.
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September 17, 2014

Say No to the Amateur Radio Parity Act at Condominium and Homeowner Associations; Support CAI’s Call To Action

by David C. Swedelson

By David Swedelson, Partner, SwedelsonGottlieb, Community Association Attorneys

Growing up, there was a home in our neighborhood that had a massive radio antenna, much like the one in the photograph that is part of this blog post. As a kid, I was fascinated by the antenna. It was so big. Actually, I was captivated by the thought that I could talk to people around the world via a ham radio.

As an adult, while I may still be enamored by the prospect of communicating with people around the world, these days I do that via email, twitter and the telephone. While I have no problem with others wanting to be ham radio operators, I would not want to see one of these radio antennas on the roof of a home at my community association. And I know that many of you feel the same way about not allowing radio antennas, like the one in the photograph, at the associations you live in, manage or work with.

September 17, 2014

LA City Council Adopts System of Fines For Minor “Quality of Life” Crimes; Too Bad Your Condo/HOA Cannot Follow The Same Procedure

by David C. Swedelson

By David Swedelson, Partner, SwedelsonGottlieb, Community Association Attorneys

The LA Times reports that the Los Angeles City Council has adopted a new system that allows police officers to issue citations for minor “quality of life” crimes that would typically be resolved with a warning. Read the article here.

According to the article, “a pilot program, called Administrative Citation Enforcement, gives the Los Angeles Police Department and the Department of Animal Services a new enforcement tool that bypasses the court system. It allows city officials to impose fines for offenses such as urinating in public, having dogs off leashes or dumping garbage in public streets.”

September 3, 2014

Oppose AB 1738 So We HOA Lawyers Don’t Make More Money; IDR Should Be An Informal Dispute Resolution Process

by David C. Swedelson

Benefits_of_Alternative_Dispute_Resolution___Lawyers_com.png Who said you can’t trust lawyers? You can certainly trust SwedelsonGottlieb, as we are actively opposing proposed new legislation that would make us more money, AB 1738. This bill concerning internal dispute resolution (IDR) in common interest developments (Civil Code Sections 5900-5920) was recently passed by the the California State Assembly and the Senate unopposed. It’s clear that the legislators do not understand the implications of what may happen if this legislation is signed into law by the Governor. If signed into law, this new law will most certainly make more work for us community association attorneys, as owners will be bringing their attorneys to IDR meetings, and many boards will opt to do the same.

Review the proposed revised language to Civil Code Sections 5910 and 5915 by following this link. On its face, the revised language is pretty innocuous. However, those with real-world experience with IDR in community associations (such as board members, managers and the attorneys that guide them) realize that AB 1738 will end up costing community associations more money for legal fees if this bill becomes law. Why? Because, as CAI’s California Legislative Action Committee (CAI-CLAC) suggested in its Call To Action on this Bill, “AB 1738 encourages members to bring attorneys and others to their first meeting with a single board member who has volunteered to help work out the member’s problem or concern. These simple ‘meet-and-confer’ conversations over coffee most often resolve an issue. When they occasionally don’t, either party may pursue a more formal Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) process that does involve lawyers. Nothing in law prevents lawyers from attending IDR right now, but AB 1738 actually promotes having them present to argue the issue(s). This will invariably make the discussion adversarial.”
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August 26, 2014

40 Foot Hedge View Obstruction Dispute Between Condo Owner and Neighboring Property Owner Going to Trial

by David C. Swedelson

By David Swedelson, Partner, SwedelsonGottlieb, Community Association Attorneys

We deal with a lot of view obstruction disputes. We are able to resolve most of these disputes, as they are subject to CC&Rs which set out what view is protected. And the CC&Rs and the Civil Code provide that the prevailing party is entitled to collect their attorneys’ fees. That usually convinces most people that the fight is not worth the cost.

Sometimes, these view disputes cannot be resolved. For example, in July of 2013, I blogged about a case I had tried and won that dealt with a homeowner who was not part of the association she sued, claiming her cherished view of the association’s lake was obstructed by the trees in the association’s park; she claimed it was a spite fence. Follow this link to read that story.

So, I found an article about a lawsuit involving a 40 foot hedge to be interesting. The legal battle over the hedge is between two Santa Monica properties. Follow this link to read the Daily Journal article.

The article tells us that while they tried to settle the dispute, the “Santa Monica neighbors – well-known local plaintiffs’ attorney Browne Greene and former California state treasurer Phillip N. Angelides – are instead opting to go to court in September over the 40-foot hedge between their two homes.”
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August 22, 2014

Homeowner Apathy, Quorum and Prizes to Get Owners to Vote

by David C. Swedelson

By: David Swedelson, Partner at SwedelsonGottlieb, Community Association Attorneys

It is an old problem. Many California community associations cannot motivate their owners to participate or even vote at association elections. We have had clients that have been unable to obtain a quorum for director elections for more than 20 years. Even my own association recently reported a failure to achieve a quorum and decided not even to bother holding a second meeting, knowing that the chances of obtaining a quorum was remote.

Some condominium and homeowner associations have the ability under their governing documents to reduce the required percentage for a quorum at adjourned meetings, often from 50% to 25%, but even then some of those associations cannot get 25% of the owners to vote.

Many board members and managers have told me that they believe this is a problem with community associations in general. The fact is that this is not just a problem for community associations; it is a problem for federal, state and local elections as well. A recent Los Angeles Times article stated that “alarmed that fewer than one fourth of voters are showing up for municipal elections, the Los Angeles Ethics Commission voted… to recommend that the City Council look at using cash prizes to lure more people to the polls.”
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August 20, 2014

Another California City to Ban Smoking in Condominiums – What is Your Association Waiting For?

by David C. Swedelson

By David Swedelson, Partner, SwedelsonGottlieb, Community Association Attorneys

I was alerted to a proposed smoking ban in apartments and condominiums by the City Council in Culver City, California. Follow this link to read an article from the Culver City Observer that tells us that the City Council directed the City Staff to prepare a draft proposed ordinance that would ban smoking in any complex of 2 or more units.

We have reported previously about cities banning smoking in multiunit housing – see our prior posts here and here. If a city can ban smoking, so can a condominium or homeowners association. In fact, some of our clients are moving forward with smoking prohibitions in their CC&Rs and have been able to successfully enforce the prohibitions without having to file any lawsuits.

August 19, 2014

Community Associations, Like the City of Los Angeles, Face Difficult Questions: Who Pays To Fix Broken Sidewalks And Other Common Area Components?

by David C. Swedelson

By David Swedelson, Partner, SwedelsonGottlieb, Community Association Attorneys

An article in the LA Times tells us that the City of Los Angeles is facing an interesting dilemma; one that we find is often faced by California community associations. The City’s sidewalks are in terrible shape, broken up by tree roots. The question is, who should pay the cost of the repairs? According to the article, “state law is ‘crystal-clear’ in leaving property owners responsible for fixing and maintaining their sidewalks.”

Case law also holds that if the owner of the property adjacent to the sidewalk has planted or is maintaining a street tree, even though the sidewalk is the responsibility of the City, the owner can be responsible for injuries suffered as a result of a trip and fall accident. See our prior blog post entitled “California Community Associations May Be Liable for Injuries Suffered in Trip and Fall Accidents on City Sidewalks.”

The broken up sidewalks have generated a lot of personal injury trip and fall claims against the City from injured persons walking on the sidewalks. They have also generated claims by disabled individuals who argue that the broken up sidewalks violate their rights to public access.
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August 14, 2014

Noisy Nuisance or Mass Movement? Public Dancing Disturbs Quiet Enjoyment in China’s Condos

by David C. Swedelson

By David Swedelson, Partner at SwedelsonGottlieb, Community Association Attorneys

Dance_Craze__In_China__Retirees_Raise_a_Ruckus_by_Getting_Down_-_Google_Search-1.png We often get calls from Board members and managers asking us to help them with noise problems. Usually, the complaints involve hard surface flooring, loud stereos or TVs, prolonged or loud dog barking, or a tenant who plays a musical instrument for several hours a day, especially on the weekend or in the evenings.

In China, which is apparently experiencing a condominium-building boom, they have a different kind of noise problem: public dancing to loud music. These aren’t raves; they’re daily occurrences. And the rowdy crowd isn’t twenty-something millennials. They’re grandmothers, women in their 50s and 60s, about 100 million of them. Even in China, this is not an inconsequential number. This was the subject of a recent article in the Wall Street Journal.

The dancing – whether it’s traditional, patriotic, or China’s version of rap or hip-hop, is a problem for people who choose to relax in quieter ways, and whose quiet enjoyment of their units is disturbed. Some paid extra for their units for the peace and quiet. Terms to buy a condo can be stiff in China. For example, in one complex, a $300,000 unit required 50% up front, and the balance within three years. These owners are arming themselves with decibel meters, and working to get laws passed to create “Quiet Zones”.
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August 12, 2014

Many HOA Owners Could Learn From Robin Williams and the No Asshole Rule

by David C. Swedelson

By David Swedelson, Senior Partner, SwedelsonGottlieb, Community Association Attorneys

Robin Williams is dead. We lost a great talent, a very funny man. As one commentator wrote, the world is a lot less funny today.

I read an interesting article about Robin Williams and the No Asshole Rule. Not surprising, it is reported that Robin Williams was NOT an asshole. Apparently he treated others with warmth and respect. If only homeowners at community associations followed the No Asshole Rule. Just saying…