The full text of a bill is available at www.leginfo.ca.gov.
No Fee Bundling for HOA Disclosures: Beginning January 1, 2012, another CAR-sponsored bill requires a home owner’s association (HOA) to, upon written request, give an estimate of the fee for providing a prospective buyer with the governing documents of the common interest development and other required HOA disclosures. The fee must be reasonable based upon the HOA’s actual cost for procuring, preparing, reproducing, and delivering the HOA documents. If the fee is paid, the HOA cannot withhold the required HOA disclosures for any reason. Moreover, the HOA cannot bundle the fee for providing required HOA disclosures with any other fees, fines, or assessments. This law will prevent an HOA’s third-party document preparation company from bundling together both mandatory and non-mandatory HOA documents, and charging a higher fee for providing all the documents. The HOA is also prohibited from charging any additional fees for electronic delivery of HOA documents, which must be available to a requesting party if the HOA maintains the documents electronically. Additionally, at a buyer’s request, the HOA must provide 12 months of approved minutes of the association’s board of directors meetings (excluding executive sessions). Delivery of the required HOA documents must be accompanied by a cover sheet itemizing the documents required by law and those provided. In November 2011, CAR intends to release a revised CAR standard form Homeowner Association Information Request that complies with this requirement. Assembly Bill 771.
