• Guides to walk board through owner requests for: records, assistance animal (disability), satellite dish, solar device. Avoid violating federal and Utah law!
• Guides to walk a homeowner through making request for records and to keep an assistance animal for a person with a disability.
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The 2023 general session of the Utah Legislature was January - March 2023, and the general effective date for legislation from the session is May 3, 2023.
Senate Bill 191 (2023) clarifies the Nonprofit Act regarding which records an owner is entitled to see if the owner follows the process specified in Subsection 16-6a-1602(2). The statute now specifies that the records that may be viewed after following that particular process are the "other records" listed in Utah Code Subsections 16-6a-1601(2) through (5), namely: "appropriate" accounting records and a membership list with the names and addresses of all members in alphabetical order and showing the number of votes of each member. A different process is required for certain other records and other records must be available on the HOA's website (or office). (Since Subsection 16-6a-1602(1) specifies the process to view the records listed in Subsection 16-6a-1601(5), the process specified in Subsection 16-6a-1602(2) only applies to the records listed in 16-6a-1601(2) through (4), which, again are "appropriate" accounting records and the membership list).
The bill also defines the term "corporate records" in the definitions section of the Utah Revised Nonprofit Corporation Act, to mean the records described in Section 16-6a-1601, and to exclude "correspondence, communications, notes, or other similar information, regardless of format or method of storage, that are not an official decision, published document, or record of the corporation." However, the Nonprofit Act never uses the term "corporate records" in any substantive way, so the definition has limited usefulness, if any at all. See Utah Code Section 16-6a-102(13).
The law prohibits a condo and community association from requiring an owner who rents out their home to pay an additional assessment or fee because the home is a rental. Senate Bill 191 (2023) amends the statute to provide that an association that permits at least 35% of the units in the association to be rental units may charge an owner who rents their unit an annual fee of up to $200 to defray the association's additional administrative expenses directly related to that rental unit, as detailed in an accounting provided to the owner. See Utah Code Sections 57-8a-209(9)(c) and 57-8-10.1(9)(c).
Senate Bill 191 (2023) amends the law to provide that an association may, through governing documents or the board's internal procedures, disqualify an individual from serving as a director because the individual has either been convicted of a felony or is required to register with the sex offender registry due to a conviction for an offense committed against a person under 18 (a.k.a. a "sex offender"). See Utah Code Sections 57-8a-501 and 57-8-59.
The bill further provides that an association rule may restrict an adult or juvenile who is required to register with the sex offender registry due to a conviction for an offense committed against a person under 18 (a.k.a. a "sex offender") from accessing a swimming pool, park or playground that is maintained, operated, or owned by the association (a "protected area"), except an association cannot restrict such access when that person must be in a protected area to perform their parental responsibilities. See Utah Code Sections 57-8a-218(18) and 57-8-8.1(10).
The law contains restrictions against association rules restricting political signs, except reasonable regulations on the time, place, and manner of posting a political sign. But, the law never defined what constituted a political sign. Senate Bill 191 (2023) defines a "political sign" to mean "any sign or document that advocates: (1) the election or defeat of a candidate for public office, or (2) the approval or defeat of a ballot proposition." See the new definitions in Utah Code Sections 57-8a-102(25) and 57-8-3(34). See the restrictions against rules governing political signs in Utah Code Sections 57-8a-218(4) and 57-8-8.1(8).
Water-efficient Landscaping
Under Senate Bill 191 (2023), community associations must adopt required rules regarding water efficient landscaping before June 30, 2023. The requirement for associations to adopt rules supporting water-efficient landscaping, including allowance for low water use on lawns during drought conditions, was made law in 2022. This new law requires those rules to be adopted by June 30, 3023. Additionally, the bill explicitly provides that a rule may not prohibit low water use on lawns during drought conditions. See New 2022 HOA Laws and What They Mean For Your HOA. See also Utah Code Sections 57-8a-218(16) and 57-8-8.1(9).
House Bill 450 (2023) modifies Utah Code Section 57-8a-231 in the Community Association Act, which was enacted last year and states that an association may not enforce a governing document that prohibits a lot owner of a detached home (aka single family home) from incorporating water wise landscaping on the owner's lot, except in certain instances. The bill clarifies that an association may restrict or prohibit the use of specific plant materials other than water wise plant materials (as defined in the statute). Additionally, the provision in the statute that said an association could adopt a requirement that imposes minimum or maximum vegetative coverage was deleted. Now the statute says an association may not require an owner to have more than 50% vegetative coverage that is not water wise landscaping on the owner's lot.
Rules
The law that's been in place for several years in Utah Code Section 57-8a-217 requires that before a board in a community association adopts or amends a rule, the board must: (1) deliver notice to the owners that the board is considering a change to a rule, (2) provide an open forum at the board meeting giving owners an opportunity to be heard at the board meeting before the board adopts or amends a rule, and (3) deliver a copy of the change in the rules within 15 days after the date of the board meeting.
Senate Bill 152 (2023) amends the law to say that if a board fails to do any of those things, a lawsuit must be brought within 18 months in order to challenge the board action. See Subsection 57-8a-217(7).
Definition of "Rule"
Both the Condo and Community Association Acts have long had provisions governing "rules" in an association but neither act ever defined what constitutes a rule (other than that a rule is adopted by a board and the provisions of CC&Rs and bylaws are not rules).
Senate Bill 191 (2023) defines "rule" for Community Associations (but, strangely, not for Condos):
"Rule" means a policy, guideline, restriction, procedure, or regulation of an association that:
(1) is not set forth in a contract, easement, article of incorporation, bylaw, or declaration; and
(2) governs the conduct of persons, or the use, quality, type, design, or appearance of real property or personal property.
"Rule" does not include the internal business operating procedures of a board.
Applicability of the Community Association Act
To avoid any confusion and curtail any argument that the Community Association Act doesn't apply to a given association just because the association was formed before a certain provision of the act was enacted, Senate Bill 152 (2023) amends the law to provide that the act applies to an association that registers or updates the association's registration with the Utah HOA Registry. Of course, registering and updating an association's registration with the HOA Registry is required by the law. See Utah Code Section 57-8a-105(7).
The 2022 general session of the Utah Legislature was January - March 2022, and the general effective date for legislation from the session is May 4, 2022.
Senate Bill 152 (2022) added new statutes to both the Condo Act and Community Association Act that provide:
Senate Bill 152 (2022) requires an association to adopt rules supporting water-efficient landscaping, including allowance for low water use on lawns during drought conditions and prohibits an association from restricting the conversion of a grass park strip to water-efficient landscaping. See Utah Code Sections 57-8a-218(16) and 57-8-8.1(9).
House Bill 282 enacts a new section of the Community Association Act, Utah Code Section 57-8a-231. An association may not prohibit an owner of a lot with a detached dwelling (aka single family home) from incorporating water wise landscaping on the owner's lot. "Water wise landscaping" means any of the following: (1) installation of plant materials suited to the microclimate and soil conditions that can remain healthy with minimal irrigation once established or be maintained without the use of sprinklers, (2) use of water for outdoor irrigation through proper and efficient irrigation design and water application, or (3) the use of other landscape design features that either minimize the need of the landscape for supplemental water from irrigation or reduce the landscape area dedicated to lawn.
However, an association can require a lot owner to comply with a site plan review process, to maintain plants in a healthy condition, and to follow specific water wise landscaping design requirements adopted by the association, and can restrict the use of mulches considered detrimental to the association's operations, impose minimum or maximum vegetative coverage, and restrict the use of specific plant materials.
Finally, an association may not require a lot owner to install or keep in place lawn in an area with a width less than eight feet.
Senate Bill 152 (2022) amends and enacts provisions in Utah Code Sections 57-8a-218 and 57-8-8.1 regarding rules an association may establish regarding an owner's display of a religious or holiday sign, symbol, or decoration the display of a for-sale sign or a campaign sign in a window of the owner's unit; the content or design criteria of a political sign.
Senate Bill 152 (2022) limits the records that owners are entitled to see to just the main records, such as minutes, governing documents, financials, etc. This is a change from prior law where owners were entitled to view and copy virtually all records of their HOA. Specifically, an association is required to keep and make available to lot owners a copy of the governing documents, most recent approved minutes, most recent budget and financial statement, most recent reserve analysis, and certificate of insurance for each insurance policy the association holds, plus the records listed in Utah Code Subsections 16-6a-1601(1) through (5).
Additionally, the association must now have all of its governing documents on its website, including the CC&Rs (declaration), articles of incorporation, bylaws, plat and rules. Previously, just the declaration and bylaws were required to be on the website. If the association doesn't have a website, then it must make the documents available to lot owners free of charge during regular business hours at the association's address listed with the Utah HOA Registry. See Utah Code Section 57-8a-227 and Section 57-8-17.
The 2021 general session of the Utah Legislature was January - March 2021, and the general effective date for legislation from the session is May 5, 2021.
Senate Bill 75 (2021) modified both the Condo Act and Community Association Act to:
Senate Bill 31 (2021) prevents an association rule from prohibiting an owner from installing a personal security camera on or near the owner's dwelling unit (note that the new bill does not affect the provisions of CC&Rs).
House Bill 82 (2021) prevents CC&Rs from restricting the rental, and prevents board-adopted rules from restricting the construction, of a separate, "habitable living unit" created within an owner-occupied, detached dwelling for the purpose of rental for 30 days or longer. A "habitable living unit" is generally a separate, additional living unit (such as a basement apartment or an apartment over a garage) that includes a kitchen and sleeping and bathroom facilities. The effective date of the law is October 1, 2021. Utah Code § 57-8a-209(10) and 57-8a-218(15).
Utah HOAs can breathe a little easier because associations are now protected generally from lawsuits and claims relating to COVID-19. A new law went into effect August 18, 2020, that provides immunity from civil liability for damages or an injury resulting from exposure of an individual to COVID-19 on the premises owned or operated by an HOA, or during an activity managed by the HOA. Immunity does not apply if an association purposely does something wrong or is reckless. Specifically, immunity does not apply "to willful misconduct, reckless infliction of harm, or intentional infliction of harm." The new law is important because claims relating to communicable diseases and viruses are usually excluded from association insurance policies.
The 2020 general session of the Utah Legislature was January - March 2020, and the general effective date for new legislation is May 12, 2020. Two HOA bills were passed this year, House Bill 155 and Senate Bill 183.
The 2019 general session of the Utah Legislature was January - March 2019, and the general effective date for new legislation was May 14, 2019.