GOV SIGNS AB 2846: SMALL CLAIMS COURT AND DISPUTED SUMS

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2008OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA

The Governor signed AB 2846 today, legislation affecting all homeowners who want to dispute assessments or other charges levied by an association board. Assembly Member Mike Feuer [D-Los Angeles], who authored the bill, announced the signing Sunday night.

The new law allows homeowners to pay a disputed charge under protest and to set the matter before a small claims court. The disputed sum cannot exceed the jurisdictional limit of small claims, which is now $7500. The law takes effect January 2009.

This right of homeowners to "pay under protest" was deleted from the Civil Code two years ago. The state statute originally applied only to assessments. AB 2846 now allows homeowners to use small claims court to dispute fines and other charges, including collection costs.

The California Alliance for Retired Americans (CARA) was the sponsor of the measure and partnered with the Center for California Homeowner Association Law to find a lawmaker to carry the bill. Assembly Member Feuer agreed to author the legislation, because there are more than 12,000 homeowner associations in Los Angeles County, where his district is located.
He also wanted to carry the bill because of his long-standing commitment to Access to Justice issues. He sawAB 2846 as Access to Justice legislation, because it establishes small claims court as a neutral place where homeowners can get a fair hearing on disputed sums.

Currently, homeowners can only dispute the charges before the association board (or one of its vendors), i.e. the entity that levied the charges. Association boards and vendors -- property managers, law firms, and debt collectors -- are not neutral third parties in such disputes.
Feuer has just been appointed Chair of the Assembly Judiciary Committee, a post he will take up next session.

AB 2846 was also supported by the California Judicial Council, the policymaking body for the state courts, and by the Self-Help Legal Access Center of the Ventura Superior Court.
CCHAL urges homeowners throughout the state to thank Mike Feuer for carrying AB 2846. Please email your thanks to Feuer's staff member Scott Ogus at scott.ogus@asm.ca.gov.
You can read the entire text of the bill at www.leginfo.ca.gov.

If you have questions about the measure, email us at www.calhomelaw.org

Marjorie Murray, President
Center for California Homeowner Association LawA 501c3 nonprofit