Why would we change California Law for less than 2% of Community Associations due to disgruntled homeowners?
By PR Chair
On June 19, 2019 the Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee heard Wieckowski’s testimony on S.B. 323. You can view the entire hearing below.
While we appreciate the changes Senator Wieckowski has made, this bill is frightfully similar to S.B. 1265 that was vetoed by Governor Brown last year for being a one-size fits all approach.
We heard the author state that we’re not talking about thousands of associations having trouble with their elections. There are over 55,000 associations in California and those elections happen on a regular basis. They are fair. They are transparent. The current election process is one of the most comprehensive and complex in the nation. It’s in the Davis-Stirling Act, as well as the Corporations Code because the public not-for-profit corporations are governed by both laws.
S.B. 1265 was vetoed because one size fits all simply does not work in California. As Governor Brown said, “If changes to an election process are needed, they should be resolved by the members of that specific community.”
With over 50,000 associations in the state, 70% are 50 units or less. And yet, we’re making significant changes to the entire process that in most cases are overseen by volunteers.
The primary purpose of a homeowners association is to ensure that an individual or group cannot negatively impact the market value of homes in the neighborhood. We’re working to protect the value of each property by advocating a reasonable balance between state statutory requirements and the ability for homeowners to govern themselves through their community associations.
According to the Foundation for Community Association Research, 89% of California homeowners living in community associations rate their experience as positive or neutral – that’s higher than the national average.
As we heard Assemblyman Tyler Diep state from personal experience:
“I’m not sure we want to prohibit an HOA from setting certain standards or guidelines on how candidates from these homes should or shouldn’t be allowed (or not) to run – especially when you have such a diverse group of HOAs. And, I don’t know if you’ve seen any problems or wrong doing, but at least from Orange County, I haven’t seen any HOA becoming a problem because they gain or rig the election in any way.”
Please help us STOP SB 323. The bill will be heard in the Assembly Judiciary Committee on July 9th. If you haven’t already, please send our updated advocacy letter to your Assembly Member AND call asking them to Vote NO on SB 323. Click here or more information: bit.ly/2Q3dgU9