AB 3182: Removing barriers to more residential infill development

Designed to help combat the housing crisis in California, Assembly Bill 3182 added a new section to the Davis-Stirling Act as Civil Code Section 4741, furthering the Legislature's efforts to encourage the creation of new housing by removing barriers to more residential infill development.

Section 4741 bars any provisions in the governing documents for homeowners' associations and other common interest developments that have the effect of unreasonably restricting the rental or leasing of owner units and individual lots. This pertains to regulations governing the rental of the main residence and also any rules pertaining to the rental of any accessory dwelling unit (known as an ADU), and/or junior accessory dwelling unit (known as a JADU). These respectively refer to housing units that may be attached to or detached from the main residence with a maximum permissible floor area of typically no more than 1,200 square feet and discrete housing units of no more than 500 square feet (that are contained within the walls of a residence).

Specifically, an association may not enact any restrictions limiting rentals to less than 25% of the total lots or units in the planned development although a higher percentage is allowed, and the rental of an ADU or JADU in a planned development will not count toward this cap. The property may not be counted as a rental unit at all if the owner lives anywhere on the property, including within an ADU or JADU. This means that owner-occupied properties are essentially exempt from these restrictions.

As for the required duration of a lease, an association may only limit short-term rentals by imposing a minimum lease term of 30 days or less, and may not require owners to enter into long-term leases. Again, this does not apply to the rental of ADUs and JADUs.

Section 4741 requires common interest developments to comply with the new law as of Jan. 1, and to amend their governing documents as needed by Dec. 31. This year-long compliance period means that if the governing documents currently prohibit less than 25% of the total number of lots or units from being rented or leased, and require leases of more than 30 days, as well as require a waiting period before a unit can be leased or contain any other offensive provisions, then associations may find themselves without compliant rules and restrictions to enforce as of Jan. 1. It is also possible that owners could exploit this uncertainty to offer their units as vacation rentals.

Section 4741 also provides that an association that "willfully violates" this new law could be liable for actual damages and a civil penalty of up to $1,000 payable to the successful complainant.

AB 3182 also amended certain provisions of the Government Code to allow for both an ADU and JADU to be constructed on the same lot and for applications for government permits for construction of ADUs and JADUs to be deemed approved if not acted upon within 60 days. However, this deadline does not apply to owners' associations.