Southern California: HOA's obligation to provide docs for escrow

Dennis per the statute you cited, you are not an owner nor by your own admission did you mail the request. If the seller is motivated s/he needs to make the document request. Most HOA's have Management Companies that handle such things with a minimum of fuss and muss. The president may be an a$$ or he could simply be gone on vacation.

CIVIL CODE 1368
(1) Upon written request, the association shall, within 10 days of the mailing or delivery of the request, provide the owner of a separate interest, or any other recipient authorized by the owner, with a copy of the requested documents specified in paragraphs (1) to (10), inclusive, of subdivision (a).

Now I'm sure you may be the authorized recipient but you would need to prove it. Delivery of the request, e-mail might count but the president could claim it was his personal e-mail not the HOA's. As far as that goes, I know of no statute that requires an e-mail to be opened and read in a timely manor or at all.

Fred I agree with you but by the posters own admission it has only been six days and ten are allowed. Just because e-mail is instantaneous does not mean that what is important to you is important to me and that I have to drop everything to attend to it. Now the president may be an a$$, he may be playing power games, he may be gathering the requested information, the follow up e-mails from the sender may have been caught by the spam filter or a myriad of other things may be going on.

To get the ball rolling, Dennis, doesn't your seller have any documents to provide to the prospective buyer???

Dennis (& JM), please note that CA Civ. Code will not be renumbered as 4525 until 1/1/14.

Dennis as the listing agent, I'd do everything possible to get the docs you need to close escrow. You probably should have done this the minute the seller signed the listing with you. Even if the current deal goes sideways for lack of docs, at least you'll have them for future perspective buyers.

As others have pointed out, the statute says that you must have seller's written permission. And, it may not be the president that you should be dealing with. If it's a small HOA, drive on over and start knocking on doors if you can't get the info any other way. Meantime, it's strange that the seller seems to be so ignorant of his/her HOA. Don't they have any closing parers from when they purchased for you to review.

MelissaP,

I expect that California Statute is similar to the other states that require that “Resale Certificates”. I found this information,dated as of 2009, published by the Community Associations Institute.

States that require resale certificates/disclosures for purchases of CONDOMINIUMS: Twenty-Five states currently impose a resale/disclosure packet for the resale of a condominium unit:
AL, AK, AZ, CA, CT, DC, FL, IL, ME, MD, MN, MO, NB, NV, NH, NM, NC, PA, RI, TX, VT, VA, WV, WI, WA

States that require resale certificates/disclosures for units in HOAs: Twelve states currently impose a resale certificate requirement for the resale of units within a homeowners association:
AK, CA, CT, FL, MD, MN, NV, PA, TX, VT, VA, WV
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For those interested the resale certificate/disclosure requirements - from the 2008 UCIOA, which is often the “template” used for the State Statute: Bold added, and In part only, the first 10 of the 16 requirements under (a), plus sections (b) and (c):

SECTION 4-109. RESALES OF UNITS.

(a) Except in the case of a sale in which delivery of a public offering statement is required, or unless exempt under Section 4-101

(b), a unit owner shall furnish to a purchaser before the earlier of conveyance or transfer of the right to possession of a unit, a copy of the declaration, other than any plats and plans, the bylaws, the rules or regulations of the association, and a certificate containing:

(1) a statement disclosing the effect on the proposed disposition of any right of first refusal or other restraint on the free alienability of the unit held by the association;

(2) a statement setting forth the amount of the periodic common expense assessment and any unpaid common expense or special assessment currently due and payable from the selling unit owner;

(3) a statement of any other fees payable by the owner of the unit being sold;

(4) a statement of any capital expenditures approved by the association for the current and succeeding fiscal years;

(5) a statement of the amount of any reserves for capital expenditures and of any portions of those reserves designated by the association for any specified projects;

(6) the most recent regularly prepared balance sheet and income and expense statement, if any, of the association;

(7) the current operating budget of the association;

(8) a statement of any unsatisfied judgments against the association and the status of any pending suits in which the association is a defendant;

(9) a statement describing any insurance coverage provided for the benefit of unit owners;

(10) a statement as to whether the executive board has given or received notice in a record that any existing uses, occupancies, alterations, or improvements in or to the unit or to the limited common elements assigned thereto violate any provision of the declaration;
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(b) The association, within 10 days after a request by a unit owner, shall furnish a certificate containing the information necessary to enable the unit owner to comply with this section. A unit owner providing a certificate pursuant to subsection (a) is not liable to the purchaser for any erroneous information provided by the association and included in the certificate.

(c) A purchaser is not liable for any unpaid assessment or fee greater than the amount set forth in the certificate prepared by the association. A unit owner is not liable to a purchaser for the failure or delay of the association to provide the certificate in a timely manner, but the purchase contract is voidable by the purchaser until the certificate has been provided and for [five] days thereafter or until conveyance, whichever first occurs.
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And from the 2008 UCIOA Comments – Comment 2.

2. While the obligation to provide the information required by this section rests upon each unit owner (since the purchaser is in privity only with that unit owner), the association has an obligation to provide the information to the unit owner within 10 days after a request for such information. Under Section 3-102(a)(12), the association is entitled to charge the unit owner a reasonable fee for the preparation of the certificate. Should the association fail to provide the certificate as required, the unit owner would have a right to action against the association pursuant to Section 4-117.

I wonder if either the escrow company or the bank requires the docs from the HOA itself. The owner supplying them to the buyer complies with state laws, but the former entities may have their own requirements?

That you, Ellie, for again providing the list of what many states require. I think it's very, very useful