Open Meetings Act

CIVIL CODE
SECTION 4900-4955

4900.  This article shall be known and may be cited as the Common
Interest Development Open Meeting Act.

4910.  (a) The board shall not take action on any item of business
outside of a board meeting.
   (b) (1) Notwithstanding Section 7211 of the Corporations Code, the
board shall not conduct a meeting via a series of electronic
transmissions, including, but not limited to, electronic mail, except
as specified in paragraph (2).
   (2) Electronic transmissions may be used as a method of conducting
an emergency board meeting if all directors, individually or
collectively, consent in writing to that action, and if the written
consent or consents are filed with the minutes of the board meeting.
These written consents may be transmitted electronically.

4920.  (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), the association
shall give notice of the time and place of a board meeting at least
four days before the meeting.
   (b) (1) If a board meeting is an emergency meeting held pursuant
to Section 4923, the association is not required to give notice of
the time and place of the meeting.
   (2) If a nonemergency board meeting is held solely in executive
session, the association shall give notice of the time and place of
the meeting at least two days prior to the meeting.
   (3) If the association's governing documents require a longer
period of notice than is required by this section, the association
shall comply with the period stated in its governing documents. For
the purposes of this paragraph, a governing document provision does
not apply to a notice of an emergency meeting or a meeting held
solely in executive session unless it specifically states that it
applies to those types of meetings.
   (c) Notice of a board meeting shall be given by general delivery
pursuant to Section 4045.
   (d) Notice of a board meeting shall contain the agenda for the
meeting.


4923.  An emergency board meeting may be called by the president of
the association, or by any two directors other than the president, if
there are circumstances that could not have been reasonably foreseen
which require immediate attention and possible action by the board,
and which of necessity make it impracticable to provide notice as
required by Section 4920.


4925.  (a) Any member may attend board meetings, except when the
board adjourns to, or meets solely in, executive session. As
specified in subdivision (b) of Section 4090, a member of the
association shall be entitled to attend a teleconference meeting or
the portion of a teleconference meeting that is open to members, and
that meeting or portion of the meeting shall be audible to the
members in a location specified in the notice of the meeting.
   (b) The board shall permit any member to speak at any meeting of
the association or the board, except for meetings of the board held
in executive session. A reasonable time limit for all members of the
association to speak to the board or before a meeting of the
association shall be established by the board.


4930.  (a) Except as described in subdivisions (b) to (e),
inclusive, the board may not discuss or take action on any item at a
nonemergency meeting unless the item was placed on the agenda
included in the notice that was distributed pursuant to subdivision
(a) of Section 4920. This subdivision does not prohibit a member or
resident who is not a director from speaking on issues not on the
agenda.
   (b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a director, a managing agent
or other agent of the board, or a member of the staff of the board,
may do any of the following:
   (1) Briefly respond to statements made or questions posed by a
person speaking at a meeting as described in subdivision (b) of
Section 4925.
   (2) Ask a question for clarification, make a brief announcement,
or make a brief report on the person's own activities, whether in
response to questions posed by a member or based upon the person's
own initiative.
   (c) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), the board or a director,
subject to rules or procedures of the board, may do any of the
following:
   (1) Provide a reference to, or provide other resources for factual
information to, its managing agent or other agents or staff.
   (2) Request its managing agent or other agents or staff to report
back to the board at a subsequent meeting concerning any matter, or
take action to direct its managing agent or other agents or staff to
place a matter of business on a future agenda.
   (3) Direct its managing agent or other agents or staff to perform
administrative tasks that are necessary to carry out this section.
   (d) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), the board may take action on
any item of business not appearing on the agenda distributed pursuant
to subdivision (a) of Section 4920 under any of the following
conditions:
   (1) Upon a determination made by a majority of the board present
at the meeting that an emergency situation exists. An emergency
situation exists if there are circumstances that could not have been
reasonably foreseen by the board, that require immediate attention
and possible action by the board, and that, of necessity, make it
impracticable to provide notice.
   (2) Upon a determination made by the board by a vote of two-thirds
of the directors present at the meeting, or, if less than two-thirds
of total membership of the board is present at the meeting, by a
unanimous vote of the directors present, that there is a need to take
immediate action and that the need for action came to the attention
of the board after the agenda was distributed pursuant to subdivision
(a) of Section 4920.
   (3) The item appeared on an agenda that was distributed pursuant
to subdivision (a) of Section 4920 for a prior meeting of the board
that occurred not more than 30 calendar days before the date that
action is taken on the item and, at the prior meeting, action on the
item was continued to the meeting at which the action is taken.
   (e) Before discussing any item pursuant to subdivision (d), the
board shall openly identify the item to the members in attendance at
the meeting.


4935.  (a) The board may adjourn to, or meet solely in, executive
session to consider litigation, matters relating to the formation of
contracts with third parties, member discipline, personnel matters,
or to meet with a member, upon the member's request, regarding the
member's payment of assessments, as specified in Section 5665.
   (b) The board shall adjourn to, or meet solely in, executive
session to discuss member discipline, if requested by the member who
is the subject of the discussion. That member shall be entitled to
attend the executive session.
   (c) The board shall adjourn to, or meet solely in, executive
session to discuss a payment plan pursuant to Section 5665.
   (d) The board shall adjourn to, or meet solely in, executive
session to decide whether to foreclose on a lien pursuant to
subdivision (b) of Section 5705.
   (e) Any matter discussed in executive session shall be generally
noted in the minutes of the immediately following meeting that is
open to the entire membership.



4950.  (a) The minutes, minutes proposed for adoption that are
marked to indicate draft status, or a summary of the minutes, of any
board meeting, other than an executive session, shall be available to
members within 30 days of the meeting. The minutes, proposed
minutes, or summary minutes shall be distributed to any member upon
request and upon reimbursement of the association's costs for making
that distribution.
   (b) The annual policy statement, prepared pursuant to Section
5310, shall inform the members of their right to obtain copies of
board meeting minutes and of how and where to do so.


4955.  (a) A member of an association may bring a civil action for
declaratory or equitable relief for a violation of this article by
the association, including, but not limited to, injunctive relief,
restitution, or a combination thereof, within one year of the date
the cause of action accrues.
   (b) A member who prevails in a civil action to enforce the member'
s rights pursuant to this article shall be entitled to reasonable
attorney's fees and court costs, and the court may impose a civil
penalty of up to five hundred dollars ($500) for each violation,
except that each identical violation shall be subject to only one
penalty if the violation affects each member equally. A prevailing
association shall not recover any costs, unless the court finds the
action to be frivolous, unreasonable, or without foundation.