RECENT CALIFORNIA DECISIONS

November 2005

To read this entire item of approximately 950 words online now in PDF format: Click here to read this item if you are an existing subscriber to this publication. Click here to purchase the full text of this item to read now (price: $25). To subscribe to this publication and immediately access all its archives including this item, select the relevant publication under 'Catalogue' in the left-hand column PLEASE NOTE: to read PDFs on www.argento.com you must be using Version 5 of Acrobat Reader or Adobe Reader. If you have an earlier version you can download the latest free of charge by clicking here

Fourth District Holds Subdivision Lands Act’s Regulation of Architectural Control Committees Inapplicable to Standard Subdivision, but Not a Bar to Suit
Property Owners of Whispering Palms, Inc. v. Newport Pacific, Inc

On September 8, 2005, in a dispute between residents and a subdivision developer over control of architectural committees in homeowners associations, the Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed a grant of summary judgment dismissing the plaintiff’s claim based on lack of standing, but sustained the trial court’s finding of inapplicability of California Code of Regulations, title 10, § 2792.28 (Regulation 2792.28), one of the implementing regulations for the Subdivided Lands Act (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code, §§ 11000-11200) to standard subdivisions (i.e., subdivisions without any commonly owned areas). Regulation 2792.28 relates to a developer’s obligation to turn over control of an architectural control committee to subdivision homeowners.