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Crown Harbor Homeowner Association

Rental Restrictions

"Condominium and homeowners associations often find that (i) renters do not care for their rentals to the same degree as owner-occupants, (ii) renters tend to ignore the association's rules and regulations more than owner-occupants, and (iii) absentee owners have a higher delinquency rate than resident owners." ^{source: davis-stirling.com}

In addition, "Crown Harbor Homeowner Association wants to ensure that Units within the Complex continue to qualify for conventional mortgage financing and that current and future Association members can continue to obtain said financing, Crown Harbor Homeowner Association seeks to maximize the number of Units that are Owner occupied." ^{source: Crown Harbor CC&Rs}

Several sections of the Covenants, Conditions, & Restrictions (CC&Rs) specifically cover rules for renting units.

Owner Definition

Section 1.28:
Owner means the Person(s) shown as owning (i.e., holding fee simple title to) any Unit which is part of the Complex (and contract purchasers during the contract purchase period). However the term Owner does not include a Person who holds an interest in a Unit merely as security for the performance of an obligation (e.g., banks and other types of Mortgage lenders).

Tenant Definition

Section 1.33:
Tenant means any Person who pays rent to the Unit Owner (and/or resides in a Unit) that is not part of the Owner's immediate family or the Owner's significant other. The terms Tenant, Lessee, and Renter are interchangeable.

Notification Timelines

Section 2.5:
No later than five (5) days after the leasing of any Unit (or any portion of any Unit) and in all circumstances at least three (3) days prior to providing a Tenant with a key to (or possession of) any Unit, the leasing Owner must provide the Association with a copy of the executed lease and the following information in writing:

The name of each Tenant;
The Unit number and street address of the Unit to be leased;
The mailing address, phone number, and email address of each leasing Owner;
The start and end dates of the lease; and
The names and contact information for all Persons who will occupy the Unit.

The Board has the power to impose fines or other discipline for any failure to give timely notice.

No Time-shares

Section 3.1:
Use of any Unit for time-share purposes (and/or the existence of any time-share estate) is prohibited.

Association Responsibilities

Section 3.2:

The maximum percentage of Units which may be leased at any time is fifteen percent (15%) or eleven (11) units.
The Association shall keep a list of all leased Units.
If at any time the number of leased Units meets the maximum, the Association shall keep a waiting list. The Name(s) of Owners wanting to lease shall be placed upon the waiting list in the order that the Owner's written request is received by the Association. Subject to waiver exceptions, the Owner at the top of the waiting list shall be given the next available vacancy.
The Board has the power and authority and may, in its discretion, grant waivers and exceptions to the restriction on leasing to those Owners that request such a waiver/exception and demonstrate a special circumstances such as the Owner's illness, death, and/or extreme financial hardship such as loss of job or transfer that warrant the requested waiver. No waiver shall be granted by the Board to an Owner whose hardship is as a result of failure to read the Association's rental restrictions in its governing documents.

Owner Responsibilities

Section 3.2:

No Owner, contract purchaser, or Tenant shall be permitted to lease or sublease a Unit for transient or hotel purposes (i.e., a rental period less than sixty (60) days.
Once the Association has granted an Owner authority to lease the Owner's Unit, the Owner shall thereafter have the right to continue leasing the Unit to that Tenant as long as the Owner complies with the provisions in the CC&Rs.
No renting Owner shall be permitted to lease to more than one Tenant/group of Tenants per year without first re-applying for and receiving Association authority to re-lease said Unit.
All leases must be in writing.
Owners are responsible for ensuring that Tenants comply with the rules of the Association. Failure to comply is considered a breach of the lease supporting an eviction action.
Each Owner must notify the Association within five (5) days after an Owner's Tenant(s) terminate a lease and move out. If an Owner fails to comply with the notice provisions, the Association has the right to terminate that Owner's right to lease his Unit.

Steps

As a summary of what is in the CC&Rs, the rental process includes 6 steps involving the Owner, Management Company, Board, and Secretary.

process

The Owner makes a written request to the Management Company to rent the unit.
The Board considers the request at the next Board meeting.
- If the request is not in compliance with the CC&Rs, the Board rejects the request.
- If the Association is under the rental limit as defined in the CC&Rs, the Board approves the request with a 120 day window to obtain a signed lease.
- If the Association is at or over the rental limit, the Board denies the request, and the request is added to the Waiting List.
- If the situation warrants it (illness, death, job loss, transfer), and the Owner has requested a hardship waiver, the Board can approve the request via the waiver clause in the CC&Rs.
Meetings are held on the 4^th Wednesday of every month.
Management informs the Owner of the rejection, approval, or denial of the request. The Secretary adds the Owner to the List of Approved Rentals or the Waiting List based on the approval or denial. In the event that the unit is not rented within the 120 day limit, the approval expires and the Owner must resubmit. Owners already on the Waiting List are considered before the resubmission is considered.
The Owner obtains a written lease from the tenant and supplies a copy to the Management Company no later than 5 days after obtaining the lease and at least 3 days prior to providing the tenant with a key. The Owner supplies the information specified in Section 2.5 of the CC&Rs.
At the end of the lease, if the tenant renews, the Owner supplies Management with a copy of the new lease agreement no later than 5 days after obtaining the new lease. If the tenant does not renew, the Owner notifies the Management Company within 5 days.
In the event of a non-renewal, the Owner makes a new written request to rent the unit. An Owner should consider the Board meeting schedule to avoid lapses in rental income. Written requests to rent are recorded and processed in the order they are received. Although a non-renewal has the potential to put an Owner's rental request on the Waiting List, if an Owner fails to comply with the notice provisions, the Association has the right to terminate that Owner's right to lease the Unit. The Board ran the process by an Attorney whose opinion was that the process would withstand a legal challenge. In cases where the Association is at or over capacity, and a vacancy opens up via non-renewal, the Management Company will notify the Owner at the top of the Waiting List that their original request will be considered at the next Board meeting (back to step 2).

Current Statistics

The maximum percentage of Units which may be leased at any time is 15% which equals 11 units.

Type	Pct
Currently Approved Rentals In Use 1361 Crown Drive 1367 Crown Drive 1381 Crown Drive 544 Kings Road 574 Kings Road 580 Kings Road 592 Kings Road 540 Queens Road 562 Queens Road 568 Queens Road 570 Queens Road The count is 11. The total is 11.	14.47%
Limit	15%
Currently Approved Rentals Based on the Hardship Waiver None at this time The count is 0.
Available Rental Slots None at this time The count is 0.
Rental Applications On File on the Waiting List None at this time The count is 0.
Owner Occupied with Tenant Roommate[s] 536 Kings Road 542 Queens Road

City of Alameda Rent Program Fee

A Rent Program fee to administer the Rent Stabilization Ordinance is now in effect Property owners of rental units in the City of Alameda are now required to pay a Rent Program Fee. On June 6, 2017, the City Council adopted a resolution that sets the fee at $120 for each rental unit that was rented or available to rent as of July 1, 2017. Landlords receive a Registration Form/Invoice from the City. The Registration Form and payment must be returned to the City no later than January 1. The Rent Program Fee covers the cost of administering the Rent Review, Rent Stabilization, and Limitations on Evictions Ordinance, which provides a framework for reviewing rents, terminating tenancies, and paying relocation benefits for "no fault: terminations. Information regarding the Rent Program Fee can be found on the City of Alameda's website. Crown Harbor Owners can contact (510) 747-4881 or finance@alamedaca.gov if they have any questions.