1352-1353.9 Creating a HOA (CID)
CIVIL CODE
SECTION 1352-1353.9
1352. This title applies and a common interest development is
created whenever a separate interest coupled with an interest in the
common area or membership in the association is, or has been,
conveyed, provided, all of the following are recorded:
(a) A declaration.
(b) A condominium plan, if any exists.
(c) A final map or parcel map, if Division 2 (commencing with
Section 66410) of Title 7 of the Government Code requires the
recording of either a final map or parcel map for the common interest
development.
1352.5. (a) No declaration or other governing document shall
include a restrictive covenant in violation of Section 12955 of the
Government Code.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law or provision of the
governing documents, the board of directors of an association,
without approval of the owners, shall amend any declaration or other
governing document that includes a restrictive covenant prohibited by
this section to delete the restrictive covenant, and shall restate
the declaration or other governing document without the restrictive
covenant but with no other change to the declaration or governing
document.
(c) If after providing written notice to an association requesting
that the association delete a restrictive covenant that violates
subdivision (a), and the association fails to delete the restrictive
covenant within 30 days of receiving the notice, the Department of
Fair Employment and Housing, a city or county in which a common
interest development is located, or any person may bring an action
against the association for injunctive relief to enforce subdivision
(a). The court may award attorney's fees to the prevailing party.
1353. (a) (1) A declaration, recorded on or after January 1, 1986,
shall contain a legal description of the common interest development,
and a statement that the common interest development is a community
apartment project, condominium project, planned development, stock
cooperative, or combination thereof. The declaration shall
additionally set forth the name of the association and the
restrictions on the use or enjoyment of any portion of the common
interest development that are intended to be enforceable equitable
servitudes. If the property is located within an airport influence
area, a declaration, recorded after January 1, 2004, shall contain
the following statement:
NOTICE OF AIRPORT IN VICINITY
This property is presently located in the
vicinity of an airport,
within what is known as an airport influence
area. For that reason, the
property may be subject to some of the annoyances
or inconveniences
associated with proximity to airport operations
(for example: noise,
vibration, or odors). Individual sensitivities to
those annoyances can vary
from person to person. You may wish to consider
what airport
annoyances, if any, are associated with the
property before you complete
your purchase and determine whether they are
acceptable to you.
(2) For purposes of this section, an "airport influence area,"
also known as an "airport referral area," is the area in which
current or future airport-related noise, overflight, safety, or
airspace protection factors may significantly affect land uses or
necessitate restrictions on those uses as determined by an airport
land use commission.
(3) If the property is within the San Francisco Bay Conservation
and Development Commission jurisdiction, as described in Section
66610 of the Government Code, a declaration recorded on or after
January 1, 2006, shall contain the following notice:NOTICE OF SAN
FRANCISCO BAY CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION JURISDICTION
This property is located within the jurisdiction of the San
Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission. Use and
development of property within the commission's jurisdiction may be
subject to special regulations, restrictions, and permit
requirements. You may wish to investigate and determine whether they
are acceptable to you and your intended use of the property before
you complete your transaction.
(4) The statement in a declaration acknowledging that a property
is located in an airport influence area or within the jurisdiction of
the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission does
not constitute a title defect, lien, or encumbrance.
(b) The declaration may contain any other matters the original
signator of the declaration or the owners consider appropriate.
1353.5. (a) Except as required for the protection of the public
health or safety, no declaration or other governing document shall
limit or prohibit, or be construed to limit or prohibit, the display
of the flag of the United States by an owner on or in the owner's
separate interest or within the owner's exclusive use common area, as
defined in Section 1351.
(b) For purposes of this section, "display of the flag of the
United States" means a flag of the United States made of fabric,
cloth, or paper displayed from a staff or pole or in a window, and
does not mean a depiction or emblem of the flag of the United States
made of lights, paint, roofing, siding, paving materials, flora, or
balloons, or any other similar building, landscaping, or decorative
component.
(c) In any action to enforce this section, the prevailing party
shall be awarded reasonable attorneys' fees and costs.
1353.6. (a) The governing documents, including the operating rules,
may not prohibit posting or displaying of noncommercial signs,
posters, flags, or banners on or in an owner's separate interest,
except as required for the protection of public health or safety or
if the posting or display would violate a local, state, or federal
law.
(b) For purposes of this section, a noncommercial sign, poster,
flag, or banner may be made of paper, cardboard, cloth, plastic, or
fabric, and may be posted or displayed from the yard, window, door,
balcony, or outside wall of the separate interest, but may not be
made of lights, roofing, siding, paving materials, flora, or
balloons, or any other similar building, landscaping, or decorative
component, or include the painting of architectural surfaces.
(c) An association may prohibit noncommercial signs and posters
that are more than 9 square feet in size and noncommercial flags or
banners that are more than 15 square feet in size.
1353.7. (a) No common interest development may require a homeowner
to install or repair a roof in a manner that is in violation of
Section 13132.7 of the Health and Safety Code.
(b) Governing documents of a common interest development located
within a very high fire severity zone, as designated by the Director
of Forestry and Fire Protection pursuant to Article 9 (commencing
with Section 4201) of Chapter 1 of Part 2 of Division 4 of the Public
Resources Code or by a local agency pursuant to Chapter 6.8
(commencing with Section 51175) of Part 1 of Division 1 of Title 5 of
the Government Code, shall allow for at least one type of fire
retardant roof covering material that meets the requirements of
Section 13132.7 of the Health and Safety Code.
1353.8. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, a provision of any of
the governing documents of a common interest development shall be
void and unenforceable if it does any of the following:
(1) Prohibits, or includes conditions that have the effect of
prohibiting, the use of low water-using plants as a group.
(2) Has the effect of prohibiting or restricting compliance with
either of the following:
(A) A water-efficient landscape ordinance adopted or in effect
pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 65595 of the Government Code.
(B) Any regulation or restriction on the use of water adopted
pursuant to Section 353 or 375 of the Water Code.
(b) This section shall not prohibit an association from applying
landscaping rules and regulations established in the governing
documents, to the extent the rules and regulations fully conform with
the requirements of subdivision (a).
1353.9. (a) Any covenant, restriction, or condition contained in
any deed, contract, security instrument, or other instrument
affecting the transfer or sale of any interest in a common interest
development, and any provision of a governing document, as defined in
subdivision (j) of Section 1351, that either effectively prohibits
or unreasonably restricts the installation or use of an electric
vehicle charging station in an owner's designated parking space,
including, but not limited to, a deeded parking space, a parking
space in an owner's exclusive use common area, or a parking space
that is specifically designated for use by a particular owner, or is
in conflict with the provisions of this section is void and
unenforceable.
(b) (1) This section does not apply to provisions that impose
reasonable restrictions on electric vehicle charging stations.
However, it is the policy of the state to promote, encourage, and
remove obstacles to the use of electric vehicle charging stations.
(2) For purposes of this section, "reasonable restrictions" are
restrictions that do not significantly increase the cost of the
station or significantly decrease its efficiency or specified
performance.
(c) An electric vehicle charging station shall meet applicable
health and safety standards and requirements imposed by state and
local authorities as well as all other applicable zoning, land use or
other ordinances, or land use permits.
(d) For purposes of this section, "electric vehicle charging
station" means a station that is designed in compliance with the
California Building Standards Code and delivers electricity from a
source outside an electric vehicle into one or more electric
vehicles. An electric vehicle charging station may include several
charge points simultaneously connecting several electric vehicles to
the station and any related equipment needed to facilitate charging
plug-in electric vehicles.
(e) If approval is required for the installation or use of an
electric vehicle charging station, the application for approval shall
be processed and approved by the association in the same manner as
an application for approval of an architectural modification to the
property, and shall not be willfully avoided or delayed. The approval
or denial of an application shall be in writing. If an application
is not denied in writing within 60 days from the date of receipt of
the application, the application shall be deemed approved, unless
that delay is the result of a reasonable request for additional
information.
(f) If the electric vehicle charging station is to be placed in a
common area or an exclusive use common area, as designated in the
common interest development's declaration, the following provisions
apply:
(1) The owner first shall obtain approval from the association to
install the electric vehicle charging station and the association
shall approve the installation if the owner agrees in writing to do
all of the following:
(A) Comply with the association's architectural standards for the
installation of the charging station.
(B) Engage a licensed contractor to install the charging station.
(C) Within 14 days of approval, provide a certificate of insurance
that names the association as an additional insured under the owner'
s insurance policy in the amount set forth in paragraph (3).
(D) Pay for the electricity usage associated with the charging
station.
(2) The owner and each successive owner of the charging station
shall be responsible for all of the following:
(A) Costs for damage to the charging station, common area,
exclusive use common area, or separate interests resulting from the
installation, maintenance, repair, removal, or replacement of the
charging station.
(B) Costs for the maintenance, repair, and replacement of the
charging station until it has been removed and for the restoration of
the common area after removal.
(C) The cost of electricity associated with the charging station.
(D) Disclosing to prospective buyers the existence of any charging
station of the owner and the related responsibilities of the owner
under this section.
(3) The owner and each successive owner of the charging station,
at all times, shall maintain a homeowner liability coverage policy in
the amount of one million dollars ($1,000,000), and shall name the
association as a named additional insured under the policy with a
right to notice of cancellation.
(4) A homeowner shall not be required to maintain a homeowner
liability coverage policy for an existing National Electrical
Manufacturers Association standard alternating current power plug.
(g) Except as provided in subdivision (h), installation of an
electric vehicle charging station for the exclusive use of an owner
in a common area, that is not an exclusive use common area, shall be
authorized by the association only if installation in the owner's
designated parking space is impossible or unreasonably expensive. In
such cases, the association shall enter into a license agreement with
the owner for the use of the space in a common area, and the owner
shall comply with all of the requirements in subdivision (f).
(h) The association or owners may install an electric vehicle
charging station in the common area for the use of all members of the
association and, in that case, the association shall develop
appropriate terms of use for the charging station.
(i) An association may create a new parking space where one did
not previously exist to facilitate the installation of an electric
vehicle charging station.
(j) An association that willfully violates this section shall be
liable to the applicant or other party for actual damages, and shall
pay a civil penalty to the applicant or other party in an amount not
to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000).
(k) In any action to enforce compliance with this section, the
prevailing plaintiff shall be awarded reasonable attorney's fees.