2-Minute Video
A common interest development (CID), sometimes called common interest communities (CIC), is the umbrella term used in California for commercial and residential developments with common areas.
How Common Interest Developments Are Created
"A common interest development is created with the recording of a declaration and other required documents, and there is a conveyance of a separate interest coupled with an interest in the common area or membership in the association. Each owner in a condominium project is a member of the association." (Treo @ Kettner v. Sup. Ct.) The court in Mount Olympus POA v. Shpirt (1997) described the essential elements of a common interest development as follows:
For a development to fall within the governance of the [Davis-Stirling] Act, the statutory requirements are clear: (1) there must exist a common area owned either by the association or "by the owners of the separate interests who possess appurtenant rights to the beneficial use and enjoyment of the common area" [Civ. Code, § 4175; § 4201; (2) there must have been recorded "[a] declaration," "[a] condominium plan, if any exists," and "[a] final map or parcel map" [Civ. Code § 4200]; and (3) there must have been conveyed "a separate interest coupled with an interest in the common area or membership in the association"
Types of Common Interest Developments
Variety of CID Developments. CIDs can be grouped into four broad categories.
- Residential. Single-family master planned communities, recreational communities (lake, equestrian, golfing, etc.), condominium highrises, active adult retirement communities, artisan lofts, etc. A residential CID can be a 2-unit or 20,000-unit development (or larger).
- Commercial & Industrial. Commercial and industrial developments often take the legal form of condominiums or planned developments. Instead of homeowners, they consist of business owners who use their space for business or industrial purposes.
- Mixed Use. If commercial properties are included in the same development as residential units, it becomes a mixed-use development.
- Time-Share Developments. A time-share development may or may not be a CID, depending on how it was structured. In general, a time-share is a form of ownership in which each owner has an interval use, i.e., a right to use a unit for a specified number of weeks during a year. A time-share interest may be in the form of fee simple ownership or a lease granting the right to use a unit for a predetermined lease term.
Associations are Created to Manage Common Interest Developments
An "association," whether incorporated or unincorporated, is the entity that manages a CID. California's Supreme Court described the importance of CC&Rs as follows:
Use restrictions are inherent in any common interest development and are crucial to the stable, planned environment of any shared ownership arrangement. (Nahrstedt v. Lakeside Village (1994) 8 Cal.4th 361, 372.) ... [S]ubordination of individual property rights to the collective judgment of the owners association together with restrictions on the use of real property comprises the chief attributes of owning property in a common interest development. ... [I]nherent in the condominium concept is the principle that to promote the health, happiness, and peace of mind of the majority of the unit owners since they are living in such close proximity and using facilities in common, each unit owner must give up a certain degree of freedom of choice which he [or she] might otherwise enjoy in separate, privately owned property. (Id. at 374.)
Retroactive Application of Davis-Stirling Act to CIDs
The Davis-Stirling Act applies to all residential common interest developments in California, including those in existence prior to the Act. "[The Davis-Stirling] Act governs common interest developments that predate its enactment." (Nahrstedt v. Lakeside Village (1994) 8 Cal.4th 361, fn. 8.) "Although Villa De Las Palmas was created before the enactment of the Davis-Stirling Act, the Act applies to common interest developments in existence before its enactment." (Villa De Las Palmas v. Terifaj (2004) 33 Cal.4th 73, 95, fn.2.) "The Davis-Stirling Act, by its terms, applies to all common interest developments, even those created before the Act was adopted." (Bear Creek v. Edwards (2005) 130 Cal.App.4th 1470, 1480.)
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