Effective January 1, 2020, SB 234 expands the legal rights of owners to use their home as a daycare business, so long as the owner follows all necessary licensing requirements and provides care for not more than 14 children.
SB 234 also provides for remedies against associations which discriminate against such businesses. SB 234 only applies to residential and mixed-use common interest developments.
The CC&Rs of many developments contain provisions restricting in-home business. For some older communities, these restrictions are blanket. In other words, they restrict all in-home for-profit activities. Boards and management should be mindful that the rights provided by SB 234 trump such restrictions, and that attempting to restrict the growing list of legally-permissible in-home business, such as home day cares and adult care homes, can subject associations and management to legal liability.
Associations with blanket in-home business restrictions should consider an amendment or update permitting such businesses, as well as those whose effects are invisible from outside the home. This change will both reflect SB 234 and other controlling law, as well as our modern economy, which is increasingly untethered from physical offices, while ensuring your community's residential character is protected and preserved.
The CC&Rs of many developments contain provisions restricting in-home business. For some older communities, these restrictions are blanket. In other words, they restrict all in-home for-profit activities. Boards and management should be mindful that the rights provided by SB 234 trump such restrictions, and that attempting to restrict the growing list of legally-permissible in-home business, such as home day cares and adult care homes, can subject associations and management to legal liability.
Associations with blanket in-home business restrictions should consider an amendment or update permitting such businesses, as well as those whose effects are invisible from outside the home. This change will both reflect SB 234 and other controlling law, as well as our modern economy, which is increasingly untethered from physical offices, while ensuring your community's residential character is protected and preserved.