1358-1362 Ownership Rights & Interests
CIVIL CODE
SECTION 1358-1362
1358. (a) In a community apartment project, any conveyance,
judicial sale, or other voluntary or involuntary transfer of the
separate interest includes the undivided interest in the community
apartment project. Any conveyance, judicial sale, or other voluntary
or involuntary transfer of the owner's entire estate also includes
the owner's membership interest in the association.
(b) In a condominium project the common areas are not subject to
partition, except as provided in Section 1359. Any conveyance,
judicial sale, or other voluntary or involuntary transfer of the
separate interest includes the undivided interest in the common
areas. Any conveyance, judicial sale, or other voluntary or
involuntary transfer of the owner's entire estate also includes the
owner's membership interest in the association.
(c) In a planned development, any conveyance, judicial sale, or
other voluntary or involuntary transfer of the separate interest
includes the undivided interest in the common areas, if any exist.
Any conveyance, judicial sale, or other voluntary or involuntary
transfer of the owner's entire estate also includes the owner's
membership interest in the association.
(d) In a stock cooperative, any conveyance, judicial sale, or
other voluntary or involuntary transfer of the separate interest
includes the ownership interest in the corporation, however
evidenced. Any conveyance, judicial sale, or other voluntary or
involuntary transfer of the owner's entire estate also includes the
owner's membership interest in the association.
Nothing in this section prohibits the transfer of exclusive use
areas, independent of any other interest in a common interest
subdivision, if authorization to separately transfer exclusive use
areas is expressly stated in the declaration and the transfer occurs
in accordance with the terms of the declaration.
Any restrictions upon the severability of the component interests
in real property which are contained in the declaration shall not be
deemed conditions repugnant to the interest created within the
meaning of Section 711 of the Civil Code. However, these restrictions
shall not extend beyond the period in which the right to partition a
project is suspended under Section 1359.
1359. (a) Except as provided in this section, the common areas in a
condominium project shall remain undivided, and there shall be no
judicial partition thereof. Nothing in this section shall be deemed
to prohibit partition of a cotenancy in a condominium.
(b) The owner of a separate interest in a condominium project may
maintain a partition action as to the entire project as if the owners
of all of the separate interests in the project were tenants in
common in the entire project in the same proportion as their
interests in the common areas. The court shall order partition under
this subdivision only by sale of the entire condominium project and
only upon a showing of one of the following:
(1) More than three years before the filing of the action, the
condominium project was damaged or destroyed, so that a material part
was rendered unfit for its prior use, and the condominium project
has not been rebuilt or repaired substantially to its state prior to
the damage or destruction.
(2) Three-fourths or more of the project is destroyed or
substantially damaged and owners of separate interests holding in the
aggregate more than a 50-percent interest in the common areas oppose
repair or restoration of the project.
(3) The project has been in existence more than 50 years, is
obsolete and uneconomic, and owners of separate interests holding in
the aggregate more than a 50-percent interest in the common area
oppose repair or restoration of the project.
(4) The conditions for such a sale, set forth in the declaration,
have been met.
1360. (a) Subject to the provisions of the governing documents and
other applicable provisions of law, if the boundaries of the separate
interest are contained within a building, the owner of the separate
interest may do the following:
(1) Make any improvements or alterations within the boundaries of
his or her separate interest that do not impair the structural
integrity or mechanical systems or lessen the support of any portions
of the common interest development.
(2) Modify a unit in a condominium project, at the owner's
expense, to facilitate access for persons who are blind, visually
handicapped, deaf, or physically disabled, or to alter conditions
which could be hazardous to these persons. These modifications may
also include modifications of the route from the public way to the
door of the unit for the purposes of this paragraph if the unit is on
the ground floor or already accessible by an existing ramp or
elevator. The right granted by this paragraph is subject to the
following conditions:
(A) The modifications shall be consistent with applicable building
code requirements.
(B) The modifications shall be consistent with the intent of
otherwise applicable provisions of the governing documents pertaining
to safety or aesthetics.
(C) Modifications external to the dwelling shall not prevent
reasonable passage by other residents, and shall be removed by the
owner when the unit is no longer occupied by persons requiring those
modifications who are blind, visually handicapped, deaf, or
physically disabled.
(D) Any owner who intends to modify a unit pursuant to this
paragraph shall submit his or her plans and specifications to the
association of the condominium project for review to determine
whether the modifications will comply with the provisions of this
paragraph. The association shall not deny approval of the proposed
modifications under this paragraph without good cause.
(b) Any change in the exterior appearance of a separate interest
shall be in accordance with the governing documents and applicable
provisions of law.
1360.2. (a) An owner of a separate interest in a common interest
development shall not be subject to a provision in a governing
document or an amendment to a governing document that prohibits the
rental or leasing of any of the separate interests in that common
interest development to a renter, lessee, or tenant unless that
governing document, or amendment thereto, was effective prior to the
date the owner acquired title to his or her separate interest.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, an owner of a
separate interest in a common interest development may expressly
consent to be subject to a governing document or an amendment to a
governing document that prohibits the rental or leasing of any of the
separate interests in the common interest development to a renter,
lessee, or tenant.
(c) For purposes of this section, the right to rent or lease the
separate interest of an owner shall not be deemed to have terminated
if the transfer by the owner of all or part of the separate interest
meets at least one of the following conditions:
(1) Pursuant to Section 62 or 480.3 of the Revenue and Taxation
Code, the transfer is exempt, for purposes of reassessment by the
county tax assessor.
(2) Pursuant to subdivision (b) of, solely with respect to probate
transfers, or subdivision (e), (f), or (g) of, Section 1102.2, the
transfer is exempt from the requirements to prepare and deliver a
Real Estate Transfer Disclosure Statement, as set forth in Section
1102.6.
(d) Prior to renting or leasing his or her separate interest as
provided by this section, an owner shall provide the association
verification of the date the owner acquired title to the separate
interest and the name and contact information of the prospective
tenant or the prospective tenant's representative.
(e) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to revise, alter, or
otherwise affect the voting process by which a common interest
development adopts or amends its governing documents.
(f) This section shall apply only to a provision in a governing
document or a provision in an amendment to a governing document that
becomes effective on or after January 1, 2012.
1360.5. (a) No governing documents shall prohibit the owner of a
separate interest within a common interest development from keeping
at least one pet within the common interest development, subject to
reasonable rules and regulations of the association. This section may
not be construed to affect any other rights provided by law to an
owner of a separate interest to keep a pet within the development.
(b) For purposes of this section, "pet" means any domesticated
bird, cat, dog, aquatic animal kept within an aquarium, or other
animal as agreed to between the association and the homeowner.
(c) If the association implements a rule or regulation restricting
the number of pets an owner may keep, the new rule or regulation
shall not apply to prohibit an owner from continuing to keep any pet
that the owner currently keeps in his or her separate interest if the
pet otherwise conforms with the previous rules or regulations
relating to pets.
(d) For the purposes of this section, "governing documents" shall
include, but are not limited to, the conditions, covenants, and
restrictions of the common interest development, and the bylaws,
rules, and regulations of the association.
(e) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2001, and
shall only apply to governing documents entered into, amended, or
otherwise modified on or after that date.
1361. Unless the declaration otherwise provides:
(a) In a community apartment project and condominium project, and
in those planned developments with common areas owned in common by
the owners of the separate interests, there are appurtenant to each
separate interest nonexclusive rights of ingress, egress, and
support, if necessary, through the common areas. The common areas are
subject to these rights.
(b) In a stock cooperative, and in a planned development with
common areas owned by the association, there is an easement for
ingress, egress, and support, if necessary, appurtenant to each
separate interest. The common areas are subject to these easements.
1361.5. Except as otherwise provided in law, an order of the court,
or an order pursuant to a final and binding arbitration decision, an
association may not deny an owner or occupant physical access to his
or her separate interest, either by restricting access through the
common areas to the owner's separate interest, or by restricting
access solely to the owner's separate interest.
1362. Unless the declaration otherwise provides, in a condominium
project, or in a planned development in which the common areas are
owned by the owners of the separate interests, the common areas are
owned as tenants in common, in equal shares, one for each unit or
lot.