If you would like to stay up to date with the new laws applicable to community associations, meet other association board members, and get some free legal advice, please contact Sharon Glenn Pratt at (408) 369-0800 or spratt@prattattorneys.com to be put on our invitation list.

Our annual roundtable will allow your directors to stay knowledgeable about new laws, and give you an opportunity to ask questions and get free legal advice in an informal setting. (more…)

Do you worry about liability when you see people, who are neither owners nor residents, using your property for recreation?  Are they using the common area walking or hiking paths?  Playing on your lawns and playground?  Skateboarding on your streets?  Taking a short-cut to the beach?  Here’s some good news from attorneys, for a change, which should put your mind at ease.

Immunity from liability for Recreational Use of Association Property

The California Legislature, in its desire to promote and encourage owners of private property to allow the public to access their land for recreation purposes, has enacted statutes which give you, the property owner, immunity from liability.

In 1963, the Legislature enacted Civil Code section 8461, which provides that landowners are not required to and/or have no duty “to keep the premises safe for entry or use by others for any recreational purpose.”  Neither is it required “to give any warning of hazardous conditions, uses of structures, or activities” to those entering for recreation purposes.

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Attorney Sharon Glenn Pratt of Pratt & Associates recently won a six figure attorney’s fee award against Bridgestone/Firestone for a landowner/homeowner client in Monterey County who had been accused of land and water contamination in a case brought in San Jose Federal Court. Bridgestone/Firestone had illegally dumped toxics at the Crazy Horse dump in Monterey County, California for years. When Bridgestone was sued by homeowners and residents of the area, who claimed illness and wrongful death as a result of the toxic dumping, Bridgestone cross-claimed against the neighboring landowner/homeowner represented by Ms. Pratt. Pratt & Associates successfully defended the allegations against its client, obtained a dismissal, tracked down a long lost insurance policy which finally provided coverage for the defense of the lawsuit, and ultimately won the attorney’s fees award against Bridgestone/Firestone.

Sharon Glenn Pratt was recently successful in bringing a motion to strike a lawsuit filed against her Morgan Hill homeowner client. The court found the lawsuit to be a “strategic lawsuit against public participation” (SLAPP lawsuit) and struck the pleading in response to an anti-SLAPP argument made by Ms. Pratt. The court also awarded Ms. Pratt’s client her attorney fees incurred for the motion.