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Question:
I am a homeowner in a Common Interest Development, commonly known as a condominium or town home. My question involves the management - specifically, I have not received notification of association board meetings. Is that legal?
Answer: You didn’t mention where you lived, but under California law, Home owners associations are required to both send out a notice of a meeting and post an agenda in a common area. Both are designed to help foster participation and communications in an association.
The legislation that establishes notification concepts for meetings was SB 528 by Senator Aanestad. To view a copy of the legislation, please click here.
Specifically, current law, entitled the Common Interest Development Open Meeting Act and provides that any member of the governing association of a common interest development may attend meetings of the board of directors of the association, except as specified. Additionally, the act requires that the notice of the time and place of a meeting be given to members at least 4 days prior to the meeting, except in the case of an emergency meeting. SB 528 does a variety of things that important to your rights, with the largest being that it requires that the notice also contain an agenda for the meeting and prohibits the directors from discussing or taking action on any item at a nonemergency meeting unless the item was placed on the agenda included in the notice.
The measure also:
- States that those provisions do not prohibit a resident who is not a member of the board from speaking on issues not on the agenda.
- Requires that the board of directors, an agent of the board, or a member of the board's staff, to briefly respond to statements made or questions posed by a person speaking at a meeting, ask a question for clarification, make a brief announcement, or make a brief report on his or her own activities, as specified.
- Permits the board of directors or a member of the board of directors, subject to rules or procedures of the board of directors, to provide a reference or factual information to its managing agent or other agents or staff, request its managing agent or other agents or staff to report back to the board of directors at a subsequent meeting or to place a matter of business on a future agenda, or direct its managing agent or other agents or staff to perform administrative tasks that are necessary to carry out these provisions.
- Permits the board of directors to take action on any item of business not appearing on the agenda posted and distributed if (1) a majority of the board of directors present at the meeting determines that an emergency situation exists, (2) the board determines, by a specified vote, that there is a need to take immediate action and that the need for action came to the attention of the board after the agenda was posted and distributed, or (3) the item appeared on an agenda that was posted and distributed for a prior meeting that occurred not more than 30 calendar days before the date that action is taken on the item and, at the prior meeting, action on the item was continued to the meeting at which the action is taken.
- Requires that the board, before discussing any item pursuant to these provisions, to openly identify the item to the members in attendance at the meeting.
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