Bill Text: CA AB1738 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Common interest developments: dispute resolution.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2014-09-18 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 411, Statutes of 2014. [AB1738 Detail]

Download: California-2013-AB1738-Introduced.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 1738	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Chau

                        FEBRUARY 14, 2014

   An act to amend Sections 5910 and 5915 of the Civil Code, relating
to common interest developments.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1738, as introduced, Chau. Common interest developments:
dispute resolution.
   The Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act defines a
common interest development and requires it to be managed by an
association. The act requires an association to provide a fair,
reasonable, and expeditious procedure for resolving a dispute between
an association and a member involving their rights, duties, or
liabilities under the act, the Nonprofit Mutual Benefit Corporation
Law, or the association's governing documents. The act authorizes an
association to develop its own procedure for these purposes and
requires this procedure to satisfy specified minimum standards,
including, among others, providing a means by which the member and
the association may explain their positions.
   This bill would additionally require that an association's dispute
resolution procedure include a means by which the counsel for a
member or an association may explain their position.
   The act also establishes an alternative procedure applicable to an
association that does not otherwise provide a fair, reasonable, and
expeditious dispute resolution procedure as described above. Under
these provisions a procedure that, among other things, authorizes
either party to request, in writing, the other party to meet and
confer, prohibits the association from refusing a request to meet and
confer, and requires the parties to meet and confer in good faith in
an effort to resolve the dispute is deemed a fair, reasonable, and
expeditious dispute resolution procedure.
   This bill would additionally require the procedure to provide
either party the right to be represented by counsel when meeting and
conferring.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 5910 of the Civil Code is amended to read:
   5910.  A fair, reasonable, and expeditious dispute resolution
procedure shall at a minimum satisfy all of the following
requirements:
   (a) The procedure may be invoked by either party to the dispute. A
request invoking the procedure shall be in writing.
   (b) The procedure shall provide for prompt deadlines. The
procedure shall state the maximum time for the association to act on
a request invoking the procedure.
   (c) If the procedure is invoked by a member, the association shall
participate in the procedure.
   (d) If the procedure is invoked by the association, the member may
elect not to participate in the procedure. If the member
participates but the dispute is resolved other than by agreement of
the member, the member shall have a right of appeal to the board.
   (e) A resolution of a dispute pursuant to the procedure, which is
not in conflict with the law or the governing documents, binds the
association and is judicially enforceable. An agreement reached
pursuant to the procedure, which is not in conflict with the law or
the governing documents, binds the parties and is judicially
enforceable.
   (f) The procedure shall provide a means by which the member and
the association  , or their counsel,  may explain their
positions.
   (g) A member of the association shall not be charged a fee to
participate in the process.
  SEC. 2.  Section 5915 of the Civil Code is amended to read:
   5915.  (a) This section applies to an association that does not
otherwise provide a fair, reasonable, and expeditious dispute
resolution procedure. The procedure provided in this section is fair,
reasonable, and expeditious, within the meaning of this article.
   (b) Either party to a dispute within the scope of this article may
invoke the following procedure:
   (1) The party may request the other party to meet and confer in an
effort to resolve the dispute. The request shall be in writing.
   (2) A member of an association may refuse a request to meet and
confer. The association may not refuse a request to meet and confer.
   (3) The board shall designate a director to meet and confer.
   (4) The parties shall meet promptly at a mutually convenient time
and place, explain their positions to each other, and confer in good
faith in an effort to resolve the dispute.  The parties shall
have the right to be represented by counsel when meeting and
conferring. 
   (5) A resolution of the dispute agreed to by the parties shall be
memorialized in writing and signed by the parties, including the
board designee on behalf of the association.
   (c) An agreement reached under this section binds the parties and
is judicially enforceable if both of the following conditions are
satisfied:
   (1) The agreement is not in conflict with law or the governing
documents of the common interest development or association.
   (2) The agreement is either consistent with the authority granted
by the board to its designee or the agreement is ratified by the
board.
   (d) A member may not be charged a fee to participate in the
process.