*New Case Law In the case of Aldea Dos Vientos v. CalAtlantic Group, Inc., the Second District Court of Appeals overruled the Fourth District’s previous holding in Branches Neighborhood Corp. v. CalAtlantic Group, Inc. The Branches case found that homeowners associations forfeit their rights to pursue construction defect claims unless…
*New Legislation Senate Bill 326 (“SB 326”) was recently enacted by the California Legislature and will take effect January 1, 2020. The bill accomplishes 3 main objectives: 1) it requires associations to conduct mandatory inspections for exterior elevated elements, such as decks, balconies, and walkways; 2) it invalidates and prohibits…
*Unpublished Opinion We recently blogged about the importance of the the plain language of an association’s Declaration when following pre-litigation requirements to a construction defect claim. On March 18, 2019, the California Court of Appeal ruled that trial courts should not deny a homeowner of his right to submit a case…
It is well settled that an association’s CC&Rs (“Declaration”) establishes and controls, among other things, a board’s authority to govern an association provided that the CC&Rs do not conflict with California law and regulations (i.e., Davis-Stirling Act). In such cases, the plain language of the CC&Rs control. (Franklin v. Marie…
*New Case Law Civil Code Section 6150 requires that a homeowners association (“HOA”) make various disclosures to its membership in the context of construction defect litigation. The HOA is further required to hold a meeting of its membership to “discuss problems that may lead to the filing” of a construction…
*New Case Law California’s 1st District Court of Appeal recently ruled that “design professionals” may be liable under both common law and Senate Bill No. 800 (“SB 800”) to third party purchasers for construction defects. In Beacon Residential Community Association v. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP et al., the defendants…
Our annual “Legislative & Case Law Update” newsletter for the year 2013 is now available in our library! The Legislative & Case Law Update provides an overview of the new legislation and case law impacting California Homeowners Associations (“HOAs”) as we head into 2013. The new legislation includes, among other…
*New Case Law On August 16, 2012 the California Supreme Court announced its decision in a case that will undoubtedly impact homeowners associations (“HOAs”), developers, owners and insurers in disputes arising from construction defects. The ruling in Pinnacle Museum Tower Association v. Pinnacle Market Development (US) LLC sets the stage…
*New Resource As communities mature, the need for major repairs or renovations can become a major concern. Often because of unforeseen problems or insufficiently funded reserves, community associations (associations) are not capable of funding the necessary repairs immediately. In order to avoid a piecemeal repair effort in such situations, or…
Binding arbitration provisions contained in a HOA’s CC&Rs may not be enforceable in a construction defect action against the HOA’s developer… In Pinnacle Museum Tower Association v. Pinnacle Market Development (US), LLC, 187 Cal.App.4th 24 (2010), a HOA sued its developer for construction defects. Both the HOA’s CC&Rs and the…