Question
Does the Brown Act apply to private Homeowners Associations or only to local and state gov’t? I want to discuss dismissing a management company and I’m being kept from discussing their removal except in their presence at a Board meeting by other Board members.
Answer
Under Government Code section 54952(c), the governing body of a homeowners association would be subject to the Brown Act under either of two circumstances:
1. The association is created by an elected legislative body in order to exercise authority that may lawfully be delegated by the elected governing body;
– OR –
2. The homeowners association (a) receives funds from a local agency (e.g., a county, city, town, etc) and (b) the membership of the governing body of the homeowners association includes a member of the legislative body of the local agency (e.g., if the agency is a city, a member of the city council) whom the legislative body appoints to the governing board of the homeowners association as a full voting member.
If the association is entirely private, which is typically the case with homeowners associations, it is under no obligation to follow the mandates of the Brown Act.
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