Condo Law in California

QUESTION: Can homeowners install cameras on their balconies that point toward the front entrance of the building?

ANSWER: It is not against the law for a homeowner to point a camera toward the front entrance of the building. People entering and exiting the building have no expectation of privacy since they can be seen by anyone standing on their balconies as well as people on the street. However, the association can prohibit the attachment of CCTV cameras to common area railings, balconies, ceilings and walls. Boards can also adopt rules that require cameras to blend into the structure and be unobtrusive. The rules can also prohibit the pointing of cameras toward other owner’s windows and balconies.

PRIVATE HALLWAY CAMERAS

QUESTION: Is it legal for homeowners to install a camera at their door that covers the hallway entrance to their unit?

ANSWER: If the camera is inside the unit looking through the peephole, that would be no different than an owner looking through their peephole to see who is standing in the hallway. As long as the camera is located inside the owner’s unit, it is legal. If the camera is installed in the common area hallway, the installation must have the association’s permission.

DUMMY CAMERAS

QUESTION: Our association has security cameras by the garage gate and outside our entrance doors, but the cameras do not work. They are only there to deter thieves. Does this bring a false sense of security to owners who may sue if they are not working cameras?

ANSWER: I am not a fan of dummy cameras. Even if they deter some criminal activity, dummy cameras create potential liability for the association because they create an expectation in owners and visitors that the association is monitoring the common areas. In my opinion, it is better to spend the money to have working cameras. In addition, some insurance companies may offer discounts to associations that have working security cameras.

SECURITY CAMERA SIGNS

QUESTION: Our association recently decided to install security cameras on our property. Are we required to post signs on the property informing people that we have cameras?

ANSWER: As long as the cameras are in public areas where there is no expectation of privacy, you do not need signs. However, some associations choose to place signs on the property as an additional deterrent.

SPEEDING TICKETS

QUESTION: Can associations enforce a 5 mph speed limit on HOA property? People seem to fly down the street at excessive speeds regardless of the speed bumps or warning signs. If the board has a license plate number, could they issue a warning or fine?

ANSWER: Yes, associations can fine for speeding and reckless driving. Associations have the authority to make and enforce rules for common area use. If the association receives information about speeding or other violations, it should investigate and determine whether a violation occurred.

Before the association can impose penalties, the accused is entitled to due process, which means notice and a hearing where the owner can offer his/her version of the events. Since homeowners are entitled to challenge information about the violation, the board cannot rely on anonymous reports.

QUESTION: Can associations install surveillance cameras? Doesn’t it violate our privacy as owners?

ANSWER: Yes, associations can install surveillance cameras. However, there are limitations on where they can be installed. Cameras cannot be installed in areas where there is an expectation of privacy, such as restrooms and saunas. In addition, there are limitations on recording sound where owners might have expectation of privacy regarding their conversations.

SNOOPING DIRECTORS

QUESTION: The board installed security cameras but won’t tell us where they installed the monitors. Can they refuse to give us this information? We are concerned that snoops on the board are watching us from their own condos.

ANSWER: Unlike larger associations that have their cameras monitored by security personnel, smaller associations with limited budgets turn to volunteers to monitor the cameras. This creates an unfair burden on the volunteers and suspicion among owners. Sometimes, directors take their duties too far and become snoops.

Internet Cameras. To avoid such problems, more associations are installing security cameras that feed their signals to a website. This allows all owners to monitor cameras at any time day or night by simply logging onto the site. The website is password protected so that only members can review the cameras. This enhances security and eliminates suspicion about inappropriately aimed cameras. Owners who see breeches can immediately take appropriate action. Your association should explore this solution.

ENFORCING VEHICLE CODES

QUESTION: Can associations hire private security guards to stop vehicles in the community, enforce speed violations with a radar gun, and ticket for Vehicle Code violations?

ANSWER: Yes, associations can hire private security officers to patrol the association’s streets and issue tickets. However, boards should be careful about obligating the association to enforcement of California’s Vehicle Codes.

Security companies are not trained or equipped to handle the enforcement of state laws. There is more to the Vehicle Code than speed limits and stop signs. Registration, license requirements, vehicle safety and a host of driving and safety issues are included in the obligations assumed by such boards. Telling the community that the association enforces the Vehicle Code and then failure to do so could result in liability for the association.

The best policy is to adopt specific rules to fit the association’s needs. The rules should be reasonable and connected to the association’s role in maintaining and governing the common areas. The board can and should adopt rules about speeding, stop signs, parking, and the like. It is much easier and less risky for security companies to enforce a limited set of rules than to enforce the State’s Vehicle Code.

RECOMMENDATION. Boards should consult legal counsel when security issues arise. The association should also send an annual notice to the membership reminding homeowners to take common sense precautions to protect their own safety and security.

QUESTION: The language in my CC&Rs state that “there will be no RV parking on the public street within the development.” Can the HOA control public street parking?

ANSWER: Yes. Even though local ordinances may allow RV parking on public streets, such ordinances do not invalidate private restrictions unless the ordinance specifically provides otherwise. Your CC&Rs are recorded covenants (promises) made by each owner to the other owners and to the association. If the owners covenant not to park their RVs on streets within the community or adjacent to it, the promise can be enforced by the other owners or the association or both.

Restrictions. Associations cannot restrict the general public but it can restrict the actions of its members, and members’ family, guest, and invitees. That is the nature of living in a common interest development. If the CC&Rs restrict parking, and owners buy into the development, such owners automatically become members of the association and are bound by the association’s restrictions.

Reasonableness. By statute, restrictions are fully enforceable if they are reasonable. Civil Code §1354(a) The reasoning behind parking restrictions is to preserve property values by regulating aesthetics. A number of cases, including one Supreme Court case, have recognized the authority of governmental entities to control “visual blight.” The cases specifically dealt with the right to restrict the parking of recreational vehicles, motor homes, trailers, boats, commercial vehicles, inoperable vehicles, and the like. Such reasoning extends to community associations.

REPLACING OLD LINES

Dear Adrian, I manage a 35 year old, 3 story, wood frame condo. There were no washing machines before I arrived because the prior manager (and owner) would not allow them because of the old pipes. Typically a 35 year old, 1-1/2″ diameter cast iron drain line was corroded to a diameter of 3/4″ with associated reduced capacity.

Washing machines are a great asset. I encouraged the addition of washers and now 2/3rds of the owners have them. Eventually we will have 100% and eliminate the community laundry machines and have use of the laundry room [for other purposes].

The encouragement [that owners install washers] came with a caveat. The laundry drain had to drain into a larger line or new piping, properly sized for the number of fixtures it serves (per code). This prevents suds. Basically this meant upsizing the 1-1/2″ old lines to 2″. The condition of the common piping warranted replacement anyway, and the request for a washer was encouragement to perform the preventative maintenance.

I made the suggestion, and the Board agreed, that whenever there was a request for a washer, or a serious plumbing problem, we would solve the WHOLE problem by replacing the entire “stack” served by that line. Thus instead of waiting for the next disaster, we began a replacement program triggered by the request or a problem. After 8 years, all but one kitchen stack has been replaced and we sleep better at night. The majority of the piping cost was paid by the association. This approach solved the gridlock question of when and how and where should an association start a drain pipe replacement program.

We also use this strategy whenever there is a renovation: we will replace the common piping generally up and down from the unit being renovated. It will never be cheaper to do. -Michael Gruby, Association Manager

COMMENT: This is a good solution to a common problem. Other associations should consider adopting the same approach.

QUESTION: I own a FedEx delivery van and park it in my driveway at night in a gated community. State and city laws say I can do this. My HOA says their rules trump city and state law. True or false?

ANSWER: True.

OLD PIPES

Dear Adrian: I am glad you submitted the articles on appliance flooding. It’s a real problem that effects many condominium associations and drags on for months after it happens.

I am a building manager for 9 properties in Chicago and I have a lot of experience with this situation. In my case, most of the buildings I manage are “vintage” meaning they have old galvanized pipes (average 35 years before needing replacement) that are 80-100 years old. These buildings were never intended to have washing machines, garbage disposals, or dishwashers hooked up to their plumbing.

For example if you have a washing machine, a designated drain pipe is supposed to be run from the washer to the ground. Many people get their “handyman” to hook up their washer to drain down the same pipe their kitchen sink drains down. The unit owners on the floors right below often get the soapy suds in their kitchen sink when the neighbors above are doing their laundry. Having all the kitchen lines cleaned out by a licensed plumber annually or bi-annually helps keep the pipes clearer, however this is not the drain a washing machine is supposed to be hooked up to.

Some of my vintage buildings have banned the use of garbage disposals, dish washers, and washing machines. The problems that have crept in over the years have been with condominium conversions in buildings that used to be rental buildings. The new owners coming in grew up in single family homes in the suburbs where all the conveniences mentioned were part of everyday living. When the apartments get rehabbed, the new conveniences are installed without any consideration that the appliances are being hooked up to very old plumbing.

Before the eventual flood takes place, before the insurance claims begin, condominium boards need to take preventative steps to write and enforce Rules & Regulations about what homeowners are allowed to have in the first place. Inviting a knowledgeable licensed plumbing contractor to a meeting to inform boards about what their building’s pipes can handle has been educational and helpful in making rules that are necessary to avoid future plumbing floods. -Marcia Grubb, Grubb Property Management, Inc.

COMMENT: Well said.

WASHING MACHINE
FINES AND LEGAL ACTION

QUESTION: I read with interest the last two Davis-Stirling newsletters about washing machine overflow. What if a homeowner installed a washing machine without a building permit or HOA approval? Our condo was built in 1954. Our Board would like to prohibit use of the illegally installed washing machine but the owner will not comply.

ANSWER: After a hearing, the board can levy daily fines against the owner until he removes the clothes washer. If he continues to ignore the association, you can go into court to have it removed. It is only a matter of time before the washing machine causes a flood. If the board does nothing and neighbors are damaged by a flood from the washer, the association could be sued for knowingly allowing the violation to continue.