Prior to the adoption of the Davis-Stirling Act in 1985, there were a myriad of statutes pertaining to homeowners associations, but in piecemeal throughout the entire CA Civil Code book.  The Davis-Stirling Act served to bring all of the provisions into one place.

The 80 page act has six key provisions (listed below) and is geared towards protecting association members’ rights. However, it also details both homeowners’ and the associations’ obligations to one another.

• Annual Disclosure Requirements
• Alternative Dispute Resolutions
• Assessments Collection
• Voting Requirements
• Operating Rules
• Board Meetings

Assembly Bill 805, which re-codified the act, was adopted in 2013 and went into effect on January 1, 2014.  Although the intent was to make the act more user friendly, it also meant getting accustom to all of the new code numbers.

Despite efforts to improve the act over time, there are still concerns that exist.  Perhaps the biggest contention is a lack of differentiation between small buildings, high-rises and single-family housing developments – all of which function very differently.  Some housing developments operating similar to that of a small government, while most small condominium complexes are constantly challenged by a lack of participation when attempting to conduct a director’s election.  For the smaller groups, many of the civil codes are onerous which is one of the reasons why the act is amended so frequently.