HOA Homefront: Can a board mandate vaccinated or masks at the pool?

Q: Can our HOA necessitate vaccinations and masks successful the excavation country and/or clubhouse? There are signs posted requiring both, but impervious of vaccination has not yet been asked for. Do they person the authorization to mandate them? — M.P., Desert Hot Springs

A: HOA boards usually tin walk regulations regarding the usage of a communal area.

However, however volition the HOA constabulary these issues? Will unit beryllium placed successful the clubhouse controlling each introduction points?

HOA lawyers person been debating the ineligible enforceability of specified requirements, but I deliberation the larger question is whether specified requirements are practically enforceable. I inactive judge the champion attack is to instrumentality tenable precautions portion reminding each members that the HOA cannot warrant the wellness presumption of others and residents should marque their ain decisions regarding their idiosyncratic risk.

HOA boards are successful uncharted waters, with 1 radical of homeowners demanding entree to amenities, portion different radical of owners demands shutdowns oregon strict controls for wellness information reasons. As with astir HOA governance questions, the reply is astir apt determination successful the middle.

Thanks and enactment healthy, Kelly.

Q: With the governor’s enforcement orders connected COVID-19 rescinded successful June, is determination thing preventing boards from conducting in-person meetings again? The members privation an unfastened yearly meeting, but the committee president wants to lone bash Zoom. — M.R., San Diego.

A: Once Gov. Gavin Newsom rescinded each the assorted authorities wellness orders successful mid-June 2021, that rescinded immoderate authorities bans connected in-person meetings. Individual counties person their abstracted wellness orders that tin beryllium stricter than the state, but I americium unaware of immoderate region presently banning HOAs from holding indoor meetings.

But a crippled changer happened Sept. 23, erstwhile Newsom signed into instrumentality Senate Bill 391, which adds a caller Civil Code Section 5450(a) that took effect instantly arsenic an urgency statute. It allows HOAs during a clip of declared exigency to clasp meetings that are purely virtual. California remains successful the authorities of emergency, which Newsom declared connected March 4, 2020.

Now, truthful agelong arsenic the authorities of exigency continues, HOAs tin conscionable wholly virtually, taxable to immoderate conditions. The announcement of the archetypal virtual gathering indispensable beryllium individually mailed to each member, including each the method accusation for idiosyncratic to articulation the gathering and a telephone fig and email code of a idiosyncratic who tin assistance with log successful problems.

All votes successful wholly virtual meetings indispensable beryllium by rotation telephone vote.

Lastly, if the gathering is simply a gathering astatine which subordinate votes are to beryllium counted, a camera indispensable beryllium placed truthful that attendees tin ticker the ballot counting.

While it would person been large to person this instrumentality passed aboriginal successful the pandemic, it inactive helps HOAs. Since March 2020, HOAs that met wholly virtually had been violating the Civil Code Section 4090(b) request that determination beryllium a carnal determination wherever members could take to attend.

Lastly, arsenic to the signifier of the HOA meeting, that is simply a committee matter, not the president’s decision.

Kelly G. Richardson, Esq. is simply a Fellow of the College of Community Association Lawyers and Partner of Richardson Ober DeNichilo LLP, a instrumentality steadfast known for assemblage relation advice. Submit questions to Kelly@rodllp.com.