2026 2nd Quarter CAI-CLAC Legislative Update
By: Amy K. Tinetti, Esq., CCAL Fellow and California Bay Area/Central Chapter Delegate
CAI’s California Legislative Action Committee (“CLAC”) held its annual Advocacy Days in Sacramento on April 7 and 8, 2026. The event set a record for attendance with 83 registered in-person attendees, over a third of which (29, to be exact) were first-time attendees. The event also set a record for advocacy with 104 in-person office visits with legislators and staffers. It was great to see so many familiar faces, but also wonderful to see so many new attendees excited to advocate on behalf of community associations.
CLAC’s role is to monitor bills, take positions on bills before the legislature, and educate legislators on how bills impact community associations. There seem to be more bills that impact community associations in this legislative session than ever before, many of which would adversely affect community associations. This meant there was plenty to discuss with our legislators and their staff members. For the purposes of meeting with the legislators and their staff members, we focused on one Senate Bill (SB 1007) and four Assembly Bills (AB 1892, AB 2050, AB 2579 and AB 1903).
We have already seen the results of our efforts and our Call-to-Action campaigns following Advocacy Days. Senate Bill 1007 (Menjivar), had it been enacted, would have changed longstanding California law that allows boards to increase regular assessments up to 20% from the previous fiscal year without a member vote. Instead, it would have significantly limited the ability of boards to levy assessments sufficient to meet the financial obligations of their associations. Thanks to CLAC’s advocacy efforts, Senator Menjivar pulled the bill right before it was scheduled to be heard by the California Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee and, as of the date of this writing, the bill is likely dead.
When we met with legislators in early April, we advocated in favor of three bills sponsored by CAI-CLAC. The first, Assembly Bill 1892 (Davies), would streamline the elections process by changing the timeline for elections by acclamation (most notably the 90-day nomination period) such that there would only be one timeline for all director elections. Although we narrowed our focus in Sacramento to this issue, Assembly Bill 1892 is an omnibus bill that would make two other needed corrections to existing law. The first would clarify that an association is responsible for repairing and restoring interrupted gas, heat, water, or electrical services when the interruption originates in the common area, unless a utility provider or the Association’s governing document state otherwise. The second would clarify that notices regarding electronic voting need only be sent to those voting electronically. Assembly Bill 1892 continues to work its way through the legislature and does not have any opposition.
The second CAI-CLAC sponsored bill is Assembly Bill 2050 (Caloza), which would update reserve study requirements and require associations to fund reserves so the reserve balance is not projected to fall below zero over 30 years. The bill includes a January 1, 2032 operative date to give associations several years to effectuate the required funding. Stacie Donnelly, the other Bay Area/Central California Chapter Delegate and Chair of CLAC, has testified several times before committees on Assembly Bill 2050. The bill, and Stacie’s testimony, have been well-received and the bill continues to make its way through the legislature with great momentum.
The third CAI-CLAC sponsored bill discussed was AB 2579 (Petrie-Norris), which proposed changes to the law that went into effect on January 1, 2025, and limited associations’ rights to impose fines to encourage compliance with the governing documents. The bill died in committee, but the issue will likely be considered in future legislative sessions.
Finally, we explained to legislators and their staff members why CAI-CLAC opposes Assembly Bill 1903 (Wicks), which would make significant changes to California’s longstanding construction defect law and transfer much of the risk (both actual and financial) for construction defects from the builders to the owners. Among other things, the bill makes owners responsible for inspection costs to identify defects, requires actual damage to occur before a claim can be pursued, and requires approval by a significant percentage of the members to file a lawsuit against the builder. The author is working with the various entities opposed to the bill and is considering several amendments proposed by CLAC and other groups. Assembly Bill 1903 continues to be heard in committee, and advocates from chapter across the state continue to vigorously advocate against it.
CAI-CLAC is tracking, and advocating on, many other proposed pieces of legislation, including Assembly Bill 2439 (Rubio), which would require associations to notify every member by certified return receipt mail when there is a change in the person authorized to receive assessment payments. The bill also includes civil penalties for violations. Additionally, Senate Bill 1238 (Wahab) would legislate that managing agents owe a duty of care to the association and to its members. I encourage each of you to follow the Hot Bills on CAI-CLAC’s website (caiclac.com), sign up for legislative updates, and participate in CAI-CLAC’s advocacy efforts. Additionally, please consider joining us for Advocacy Days in 2027.
2026 2nd Quarter CAI-CLAC Legislative Update
