Bill Text: CA AB1738 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
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
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
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.