CASE LAW

CC&R ARBITRATION PROVISIONS

Developer, having sold all units in condominium, lacks standing to enforce CC&R arbitration provision.

The Court of Appeal, Second District, affirmed a trial court’s denial of a developer’s motion to compel arbitration where a CC&R provision mandated such arbitration for a construction defect case. The Court noted that CC&Rs are equitable servitudes, not contracts. Further, equitable servitudes are generally unenforceable by one who no longer holds an interest in the land. Thus, because the developer had sold all of its interest in the project, it lacked standing to enforce the arbitration provision in the CC&Rs.

Promenade at Playa Vista Homeowners Association v. Western Pacific Housing, Inc.
(2011) ___ Cal.Rptr.3d ___, 11 C.D.O.S. 13705, 2011 WL 5344311.

SOLAR ENERGY SYSTEMS

Strict compliance with internal architectural review procedures essential for successful enforcement.

The Court of Appeal, Second District upheld an Association's right to require removal of a solar energy system which was constructed without Association approval and in violation of the community's CC&Rs and Architectural Design Guidelines. The owners had applied to install a solar energy system on a steep slope and installed the system after the Architectural Control Committee denied their application. Because the existing CC&Rs and Design Guidelines were reasonable and compliant with California's solar energy statute and because the Association followed its own procedure in considering the owner's application, the court affirmed a jury verdict in favor of the Association.

Tesoro Del Valle Master Homeowners Association v. Griffin, et al.
(2011 WL 5142962).

PREMISES LIABILITY

Under “trivial defect” rule, homeowners association not liable for injuries resulting from owner’s fall caused by sidewalk separation.

The “trivial defect” rule provides that a property owner is not liable for minor or trivial defects in the property, even if the owner has actual notice of them. The Court of Appeal, Second District applied that rule to find that a roughly 3/4” sidewalk separation was trivial and, accordingly, the homeowners association charged with maintaining the sidewalk was not liable for an owners’ injury when she tripped and fell. The Court noted that the fall occurred at noon on a sunny day, the sidewalk separation was not obscured and the owner admitted not seeing the separation because she “wasn’t looking at [it].”

Cadam v. Somerset Gardens Townhomes HOA et al.
(2011 WL 5110249).