Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

By what means may I, the Cross-Complainant, demand exterior inspections of "3rd-party" private single family homes within an HOA, the Cross-Defendant? Obtaining actual dimensions, locations, materials of certain architectural modifications (windows, skylights, attic vents, paint...) are necessary to show improvements were allowed for others while capriciously denied for me. By what means or authority may inspections be ordered or demanded? These facts are necessary to counter the Opposition's Superior Authoritarian Rhetorical Sophistry.


Asked on 1/18/13, 10:04 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Bryan Whipple Bryan R. R. Whipple, Attorney at Law

Sounds as though the inspections you need are of non-party property. The California Civil Discovery Act does not provide any mechanism for demanding inspections of non-party property per se. See Code of Civil Procedure sections 2020.010 to 2020.510. You are pretty much limited to demanding "business records" from non-parties.

I suppose there is a possibility that you could obtain some limited inspection of some items of interest by staying on HOA property and looking at the private homes, but there are some risks in snooping and taking data in this manner.

Other possibilities include (a) making selected homeowners parties by naming them as Doe defendants (not recommended), or (b) giving them deposition subpoenas and demanding production of communications with the HOA as "business records" and complying with CCP 1985.3 as well. No one is going to be very happy about being subpoenaed.

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Answered on 1/18/13, 12:41 pm


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