Citizenship Test
Q: We have many Canadians who own condominiums in our complex and live here six months a year. One board member thinks they can't serve on the board because they aren't U.S. citizens. We have teleconferencing during the off-season months. Is it possible for Canadian citizens to be directors of a California condominium?—Palm Springs, Calif.
A: Neither California's Common Interest Development Act nor the Corporations Code requires directors in community associations or in nonprofit corporations to be U.S. citizens or imposes any particular residency restrictions on the directors.
A high percentage of community associations in California—probably more than 95 percent—are incorporated as nonprofit mutual benefit corporations. For such community associations, the state's Corporations Code provides that participation in a meeting by using a conference telephone or electronic video screen communication qualifies as presence at the meeting. Since California's Open Meetings Act requires that association members be entitled to attend board meetings (other than executive sessions), the director who is participating electronically should be able to hear any comments made by members during the time they are permitted to speak and vice versa.
Someone could raise the issue of whether the association or director should pay for teleconferencing. If the absent director pays any additional costs for the electronic communication, there should be no objection from either the homeowners or the other directors. There are also free or low-cost Internet-based services that allow two parties using the service's software to communicate with one another, free of charge, from one computer to another. Even if the association does not have a computer or an Internet connection available, some of these services enable a remotely located director to set up a phone line close to the association and the on-site directors could call using a speaker phone. The phone call would connect via the Internet directly to the Canadian director's computer, and then only the Canadian director would need to have a computer and an Internet connection.
Since there is no legal requirement that directors be U.S. citizens or have any other residency requirement, Canadian citizens or other remotely located owners are eligible to serve on the board. If the members don't like that, they are free to vote for someone else. Statutes in other states may differ, and an association's governing documents may also affect the conclusion.
Jay Hansen is an attorney with Epsten, Grinnell & Howell in San Diego and a member of CAI's College of Community Association Lawyers.
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