The law of mechanic’s liens has always been a complex, technical and confusing world for homeowners and contractors alike.  Under the California Constitution, contractors, material suppliers, equipment suppliers and laborers all have the right to place a foreclosable lien upon real property if they have not been paid for their services. In order to properly record and foreclose such a lien, the claimant must jump over a number of difficult hurdles including providing proper notice to the owners of the property the contractor wishes to lien. In the common interest development context, this notice hurdle has been very high and confusing to navigate. The California legislature has recently attempted to make things a bit clearer with the adoption of Assembly Bill (AB) 534, which will go into effect on January 1, 2018.

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Video surveillance systems are commonplace in homeowners associations. They are primarily used to allow after-the-fact investigation of crimes or violations of the governing documents. Video surveillance cameras are generally not used where residents and guests would have an expectation of privacy, such as the interior of homes or bathrooms. They are also not normally used to “spy” on association employees, because of the legal implications.

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Electric vehicles are more common today than they were ten years ago and they will be more common in ten years than they are today. California is home to the highest concentration of electric vehicles in the nation. With more automakers making a considerable effort towards manufacturing affordable electric vehicles, we can expect to see the number of electric vehicles on the road to continue growing.

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The Drought is Officially Over (Almost)! Today Governor Brown signed an executive order declaring that effective immediately the “Drought State of Emergency” is terminated in all of California counties, except Fresno, Tulare, Kings and Tuolumne. The executive order also had the effect of rescinding a previous emergency proclamation and four executive orders regarding the drought. And, the newest executive order affirmed one previous executive order regarding the drought. So what does it all mean? 

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Civil Code section 4270 sets forth what is needed to amend the CC&Rs. This Code has been amended to clarify that simplified procedures can be used for certain amendments, such as an amendment needed to remove a discriminatory covenant. Civil Code section 4750.10 related to clotheslines has been renumbered as Civil Code 4753. A few words were added to the Code, but will have no substantive impact. The Assessment and Reserve Funding Disclosure Summary form set forth in the Civil Code has changed slightly. The change will have no substantive effect other than to require that the updated form be used. The updated form can be found here. 

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