Legislative Wrap Up

LEGISLATIVE WRAP UP

The Legislature adjourned on September 11, and the Governor’s deadline to sign or veto legislation was October 11. Just under 3,000 bills made their way through the legislative process this year, and with it being the first year of a two-year session, more will likely be in the pipeline next year. For the community management industry, CACM worked on a number of bills with significant impact.

Assembly Bill 596 (Daly) requires the annual budget report of a condominium project to also include a separate statement describing the status of the CID as a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and/or a federal Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) approved condominium project. This bill originally would have required additional disclosures every time an FHA or VA certification changed, but CACM worked with the author and sponsor to have these additional burdens removed. It also obtained clarification in the bill that the requirements only apply to condominium projects and obtained a delayed implementation date of July 1, 2016. The Governor has signed this bill into law. We intend to monitor implementation of this legislation and to work with the bill’s sponsor to ensure any complications going forward are addressed.

Senate Bill 328 (Hueso) was signed into law. This bill requires a landlord or the landlord’s authorized agent to provide a tenant, and in some cases tenants of adjacent units, with specified notice of the use of pesticides at the dwelling unit if the landlord or authorized agent apply pesticide without a licensed pest control operator. The bill imposes similar requirements for the application of pesticides to common areas. CACM expressed concerns about the bill’s application to HOAs and the practical difficulties in applying the bill to CIDs. After extensive negotiations, the author agreed to exempt associations from the bill; however, asked that we continue to work with him on this issue going forward.

For the common interest development industry at large, the theme of the year was water conservation. Assembly Bill 349 (Gonzalez) was signed into law, which makes void and unenforceable any provision of an association’s governing documents or architectural or landscaping guidelines that prohibit the use of artificial turf or any other synthetic surface that resembles grass. It is important to note, however, that the provision in existing law that allows an HOA to apply landscaping rules would still apply to artificial turf or synthetic grass.

A late breaking piece of legislation dealing with lawn watering was pushed through the process at the end of session that dealt with fines for the reduction of watering in an HOA where recycled water is used. Existing law allows HOAs that are using recycled water to continue to fine homeowners in certain instances but the author argued that some HOAs have used this as a loophole and have interpreted it to mean that if the HOA itself is using some recycled water on common areas, then it can continue to fine homeowners that let their lawns go brown. Assembly Bill 786 (Levine) addresses this by clarifying that an HOA

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For a complete list of bills tracked by CACM, see www.cacm.org/legislation/legislative-status-report.html

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949.322.6838 • 619.327.9026 • 760.529.5211 www.AttorneyforHOA.com may only impose a fine for reducing or eliminating watering of vegetation or lawns during a drought, where, prior to the imposition of a fine, the homeowner receives recycled water from a retail water supplier and fails to use that recycled water for landscaping irrigation. This bill has been signed into law.

Another bill signed by the Governor is Assembly Bill 1448. This bill makes any provision of a governing document void and unenforceable if it effectively prohibits or unreasonably restricts the use of a clothesline or a drying rack in an owner’s backyard. This bill was amended to clarify that reasonable restrictions are allowed and the provisions only apply to backyards that are designated for the exclusive use of the owner.

Reading the tea leaves for 2016, expect more water conservation and environmental bills to arise. CID legislation will surely be introduced and CACM will be there to safeguard the community management industry.

Jennifer Wada is an attorney, legislative advocate and principal of The W Group, LLC in Sacramento. She has received accolades for her lobbying in Capitol Weekly and was voted “One of Sacramento’s 15 People to Watch” by Sacramento Magazine.

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achieving professional excellence

Congratulations Managers

It is with pride that we recognize managers who have taken the next step in their professional career by pursuing advanced educational opportunities. Congratulations to our newest Certified Community Association Manager (CCAM) and Specialty Certificate recipients for the third quarter of 2015.

NEW CCAMs

Elle Alan, CCAM Kristin E. Amarillas, CCAM Stacey Anderson, CCAM Larry Anthony, CCAM Christina Ayala, CCAM John T. Barnes, CCAM Sarah E. Blumer, CCAM Mark Borson, CCAM Nafisa Braimah, CCAM Susan Calhoun, CCAM Demetrius L. Collier, CCAM Menalyn Cornejo, CCAM Wendy C. Coyne, CCAM Ashley N. Cypert, CCAM Cynthia L. Doane, CCAM Sharyn Edwards, CCAM Dennis Elam, CCAM Eric R. Foote, CCAM Geoff B. Frederick, CCAM Elisa Garibay, CCAM William C. Gorham, CCAM Jeffrey T. Greene, CCAM Mary G. Hall, CCAM David C. Holbrook, CCAM Patricia A. Hooper, CCAM Kristy D. Hoover, CCAM Emily J. Jauregui, CCAM Mehjabeen Khan, CCAM Crystal Machado, CCAM Judith Mandic, CCAM Jenny O. Mann, CCAM Lawrence D. Mellberg, CCAM Danyelle M. Morgado, CCAM Edna Nado, CCAM Patricia Orlando, CCAM Rita Petrekova, CCAM John C. Plemons Jr., CCAM Joan Pilar, CCAM Carrie Rivera, CCAM Ramon Rivera, CCAM Scott A. Sears, CCAM Mary B. Shields, CCAM Antoinette M. Stratton, CCAM Kari L. Swanberg, CCAM Tracie Sweetman, CCAM Cherlyn A. Taylor, CCAM Danielle Torres, CCAM Jenna M. Warriner, CCAM Kathryn Wayne, CCAM Kapree A. Wiekamp, CCAM Scott Williams, CCAM Brian M. Yohn, CCAM Dan K. Young, CCAM

SPECIALTY CERTIFICATES

High Rise Community Management

Karen Goodwin, CCAM-HR

Portfolio Management

Leanne Anderson, CCAM-PM Tom Connell, CCAM-PM Nancy Fisher, CCAM-PM Karen Goodwin, CCAM-PM.HR Dianne Lortie-Dudasik, CCAM-PM Kathleen Wright, CCAM-PM

New Development Community Management

Corinne Crawford, CCAM-ND Selina Guillermo, CCAM-ND