Woodkirk Stone
Q: At our recent HOA meeting, a question was raised: “Why aren’t our CC&Rs on the HOA website?” Our manager’s response was, “Someone might hack our website and see our CC&R.” I find this hard to believe as CC&R must be registered with the county registrar’s office and, as such, are a public record. It seems to me that putting the CC&R on the website shouldn’t be that difficult and would work much better than the current requirement to call the association and email them a copy. I would really appreciate your thoughts on this. – SH, San Clemente
A: CC&R are by definition commitments recorded on HOA property, which means they constitute public notice. Anyone can get a copy by searching for it with the local county registrar or by contacting customer service at your preferred title insurance company. Policy documents do not normally contain any confidential information.
It is a good idea to post the governing documents (condominium plan or plan of subdivision, CC&R, bylaws and all HOA rules) online. As someone still considers the governing documents to be confidential, they could be placed in the “members only†section of the website. HOAs and their managers are increasingly using websites as a communication tool and to post the various documents that members request from time to time.
While the HOA documents required by Section 4525 of the Civil Code (items that sellers must give to potential buyers) are available electronically, Section 4530 (b) (1) of the Civil Code prohibits the HOA from charging the electronic copy. Websites and electronic document delivery make HOAs and managers more efficient and improve communication with the community. So managers, HOAs, and members all win by embracing technology.
Q: Hope you can give us some hints about these issues. Our CC&R requests financial information every month. We haven’t received them for almost two years. We get an annual budget and reserve accounts, but that’s it. Also, we try to bring people together for a meeting but it will not allow us to use the pavilions. – EA, San Jacinto
A: Your board is required by Article 5500 of the Civil Code to review several important financial items on a monthly basis, including a current reconciliation of operating and reserve accounts, actual operating income and expenses of the current year versus current budget, the latest account statements with banks holding HOA funds, a statement of income and expenses for association accounts, check register, monthly general ledger, and reports of ‘assessment of bad debts.
However, these are not necessarily all the documents that an owner is entitled to request from the association. There is a slight overlap between this list of financial documents and the financial documents that a member may request to review under Article 5200 of the Civil Code. The board should insist that the manager provide the necessary reports so that he can meet the financial review requirements imposed by law.
Regarding the meeting room request, Article 4515 (b) (3) of the Civil Code allows members to reserve the clubhouse on an available date for members to meet and discuss their concerns regarding HOA issues. While the HOA cannot require a deposit, it can hold the Host Member liable for any violation of facility rules or for any damage resulting from the event.
Kelly G. Richardson CCAL is a partner at Richardson Ober DeNichilo LLP, a California law firm known for its advice to community associations. Send your questions for review to [email protected].