QUESTION: Our CC&Rs are 25 years old. Some want to update our documents to keep up with the Davis-Stirling Act but our management company said we should wait because the laws keep changing. What do you recommend?
ANSWER: If your CC&Rs are a quarter century old, it's time to restate them. Any document more than 15 years old should be reviewed for possible amendments. If you wait for the laws to stop changing, you will never update your documents because the laws are always changing. You're better off bringing your documents current now rather than letting them slip further out of date.
Amendments v. Restatement. Amendments are good when you only need a few. At some point, amendments are problematic because they are often overlooked by members and they don't address underlying structural problems with your documents. A restatement is a little more expensive but gives you a clean up-to-date document. It's a complete replacement of your existing CC&Rs and bylaws with an integrated set. Following are some of the major changes you should expect:
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