It is fall, and for most California community associations, it is budget season and boards and managers are in the process of preparing budgets for the 2022 fiscal year. Along with the next fiscal year’s budget, boards and managers need to be thinking of all of the disclosures that California law requires be made. That is why SwedelsonGottlieb annually publish this Checklist. The good news is that there are no major changes in the law relating to disclosures. But that does not mean that there are no other issues or disclosure requirements to consider.
There are issues that we discussed last year that need to be considered, if the association has not already taken action, including the now required balcony inspections, election rules, rental restriction changes, and accounting for bad debt associated with COVID-19.
In addition, economists are projecting inflation to hit associations in the coming year. We have already seen increased cost for materials, utilities, and insurance. Employees all over the state are demanding higher wages to return to work, which will have a trickle-down effect in every service the association receives, be it janitorial, landscape, management, or pool. Associations really need to contact their service providers, contractors and insurance broker to discuss potential increases in next years fees and costs. To respond to homeowner outcry that usually follows an increase in assessments, boards should be prepared to educate homeowners on the rising costs and the plan to keep the association financially stable.
Please catch Sandra L. Gottlieb’s article Dealing with Assistance Animals regarding processing reasonable accommodation requests for assistance animals featured in the CACM Fall Law Journal. In the article, Sandra discusses different types of requests, animal rules, and planning for accommodations. To read the full article, 
I was forwarded an article on flying the American flag at community associations that appeared in the Wall Street Journal which motivated this blog post. According to the article, Flag Day commemorates the adoption in 1777 of the U.S. flag. The article (
Most California community association common area recreational amenities like pools, gyms, and tennis courts remain closed since March 2020, even though some restrictions have lifted. As the number of people who have been vaccinated increases, schools reopen, the state reopens, and more counties are opening throughout California, many associations wonder if it is time to revisit opening their amenities.
California community association attorneys, managers and others in the industry have differing opinions on how to properly and legally proceed with uncontested elections — elections in which the number of candidates is less than or equal to the number of board positions needed to be filled. Prior to 2020 when the election process and procedures were changed, the civil code did not expressly address voting by acclamation. Since 2020, the law has changed, permitting a vote by acclamation in narrow circumstances. Specifically, if an association is over six thousand units. We have heard that some attorneys are telling clients that they can still hold a vote by acclamation if their association has less than 6,000 units. We disagree.
