Question
Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions of a Common Interest Development covered under the Davis Stirling Act are public records, available at the county clerk’s office. Can copies of Covenants Conditions and Restrictions be posted on a website?
Answer
Although we cannot provide specific legal advice on this situation, as a general matter, information from public records can be freely disseminated. See Florida Star v. B. J. F., 491 U.S. 524 (1989) (imposing damages on newspaper for publishing name of rape victim lawfully obtained from police records violated First Amendment); Smith v.Daily Mail Publishing Co., 443 U.S. 97 (1979) (state law punishing publication of name of juvenile offender unconstitutional where name was lawfully obtained by publisher). If there is some agreement in place as to what can and can’t be published on the website, though, and if the agreement would prohibit posting the documents on the website, then there might be some sort of contractual liability for the posting.
Asked & Answered posts should not be relied on as legal advice, and FAC makes no guarantees about their completeness or accuracy. All posts carry a date of publication that readers should take note of in assessing their usefulness, given that laws and interpretations of them may change over time. Posts predating Jan. 1, 2023, that discuss the California Public Records Act may contain statute numbers no longer in use. Please see this page for a table showing how the California Public Records Act has been renumbered.