Assembly committee advances narrow fix to let very large senior HOAs seek court approval for CC&R updates

Assemblymember Diane Dixon asked the Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee on March 27 to advance AB 2,035, a bill that would let very large senior homeowners associations petition the superior court to approve amendments to covenants, conditions and restrictions (CC&Rs) if 37% of all homeowners vote affirmatively.

The bill responds to what the author and witnesses described as a chronic turnout problem at Laguna Woods Village, a senior development with more than 6,000 separate interests. "Since 2019, the HOA has spent over $140,000 trying to turn out the vote in two separate elections," said a sponsor's witness, Cathy Van Austin of MBM Strategy Group, describing repeated attempts and professional election administration that still fell short of the existing thresholds.

Why it matters: supporters said the measure is a narrow fix to a procedural barrier that has kept many CC&Rs from being updated for decades. The bill would preserve the superior courtapproval step but lower the percentage of affirmative votes that allows an HOA to ask the court to approve an amendment to 37% of homeowners, provided that the development meets strict criteria: it is a senior-citizen housing development; it has more than 6,000 separate interests; at least 25% of interests are occupied by non-owner tenants; and the declaration has not been amended in at least 35 years.

Support and questions: Van Austin told the committee that in one recent election the associationwith a 47% turnoutsaw 85% of those who voted favor the changes, but the association still fell short of the 50% affirmative threshold required under the current court-approval process. Members asked whether other HOAs beyond Laguna Woods might be affected and how the 37% figure was selected. Dixon and counsel said the measure is tightly tailored to the cited circumstances and that they would confirm any broader applicability with stakeholders.

Process and next steps: a motion to pass the measure out of committee was made and taken on a roll call; committee members indicated support while noting they would follow up on the concern about any broader impact. The bill was moved out of the committee to the next assigned committee for additional review.

The committee did not take any final court-level action today; the change in the statute would still require superior-court approval for any CC&R amendments under the new threshold.