The Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”), enacted in December 2020, aims to increase corporate ownership transparency to combat money laundering, terrorism financing, and other illegal activities. The CTA requires many small businesses, classified as “reporting companies,” to submit beneficial ownership information (“BOI”) reports to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”). This…
*New Legislation On September 22, 2023, Governor Newsom signed AB 648 into law to finally permit homeowners associations (“HOAs”) throughout California to conduct board meetings entirely be teleconference (aka “virtual meetings“). While existing law permits an HOA to conduct teleconference meetings, HOAs are still required to specify a “physical location”…
*New Case Law The Open Meeting Act (“OMA”) contains various provisions regulating how the board of directors of a homeowners association (“HOA”) may meet and conduct business. One of the most common questions we receive pertains to whether email exchanges between board members on items of HOA business constitute a…
*New Case Law The Court of Appeals recently ruled in Lake Lindero Homeowners Association, Inc. v. Barone that Corporations Code section 7616 may be used to validate a recall election removing the former board of a homeowners association (“HOA”), in addition to validating the election of a new HOA board.…
In case you missed it, Issue # 57 of our ‘Community Association Update’ newsletter is available now! Topics covered in this issue include: AB 1410 – Speech on Social Media; Room Rentals; Enforcement During Emergencies AB 1738 – EV Charging Stations in Existing Multi-Family Developments SB 897 – Accessory Dwelling…
In the State of California, most HOA’s are non-profit corporations managed by a board of directors composed of volunteer homeowners elected by the membership. Boards derive their authority from the governing documents including the Articles of Incorporation, Bylaws, and Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&Rs) that impose rules and restrictions on…
Board Members are tasked with the difficult job of enforcing the Association’s rules and regulations against non-compliant Members. Unfortunately, this often creates tension between Board Members and Members. In some circumstances, this tension turns into unlawful harassment. When this occurs, Board Members should consider the available legal remedies provided under…
Conflicts of interest present possible liabilities that homeowners associations (“HOAs”) should do their utmost to avoid. There are issues that need to be deliberated and decided upon by the Board of Directors; however, in some situations, not all Directors should take part in the decision-making. A common scenario includes a…
*Asked and Answered Asked – Can the Board reconsider a motion that was previously passed by a majority vote? One of the directors that voted in opposition to the motion would like the Board to reconsider. Answered – One of the Board’s primary responsibilities is to make decisions on behalf of…
*Asked & Answered Asked – We recently completed our annual meeting/election where approximately ninety-four percent (94%) of the membership participated. Almost immediately thereafter, we received a petition to recall the Board of Directors (“Board”). Must our association go forward with the recall election? What alternate options are available to the Board?…