New Legislation Threatens Privacy In Homeowner Association Elections

February 26, 2019

On February 15, 2019 Senator Wieckowski (D – Fremont) re-introduced the bill vetoed by Governor Brown in September 2018. Senate Bill 323 threatens privacy in homeowner association elections.  Wherein some of the bill sounds reasonable, other portions set people up for identity theft by requiring the Association to provide voters’ names, parcel numbers, and copies of signatures from election envelopes if requested. It requires the Association to provide email addresses with membership lists (increasing your potential for spam), and removes the rights of the Association’s self-governance. This law will cost you money as it requires that an Association hire an outside party to count votes, instead of your association manager who already provides this service to the Associations without extra charge and is authorized to do so by your election rules.

Stop this threat!  Stop this bill.  We are working with the Community Associations Institute – California Legislative Action Committee (CAI-CLAK).  They will determine how to best proceed in removing the threats to homeowner privacy. You will be kept informed of the status of this bill on our website, and once it is determined how we should proceed, we may ask you to help us preserve your rights as homeowners living in a community development and ask you to take action.

For a summary of 2019 Bills that are opposed by Homeowner Associations, blog information, and the analysis of the bill, see the following link on CAI-CLAK’s website: Legislative Session Hot Bills. Stay informed and protect your rights.