Gorenberg v. Emerson Maintenance Assn. CA4/3

Filed 5/3/23 Gorenberg v. Emerson Maintenance Assn. CA4/3

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION THREE

ALAN GORENBERG,

Plaintiff and Appellant, G061121

v. (Super. Ct. No. 30-2021-01185703)

EMERSON MAINTENANCE OPINION ASSOCIATION,

Defendant and Respondent.

Appeal from an order of the Superior Court of Orange County, Deborah C. Servino, Judge. Reversed and remanded. Lubin Pham + Caplin, Namson N. Pham, JC Chimoures, and Elaine T. Ding for Plaintiff and Appellant. No appearance for Defendant and Respondent.

INTRODUCTION Today we reaffirm a bedrock principle of corporate law; “the simple reality that an entity acts through its board and/or agents[.]” (Ritter & Ritter, Inc. Pension & Profit Plan v. The Churchill Condominium Assn. (2008) 166 Cal.App.4th 103, 124 (Ritter).) This case requires us to apply this rule to the governing association of a common interest development, which was ordered by the trial court to produce certain documents to a homeowner pursuant to a writ of mandate. After an insufficient production, the trial court granted the homeowner’s motion to enforce the writ against the association, but refused to compel the individual board members to comply because they were not named defendants in the matter. We reverse this decision and align ourselves with Ritter and other similar cases in concluding that individual members of the governing association’s board are obligated to secure and ensure the board’s compliance with court orders and judgments, and “are properly included within its scope and directions.” (Ibid.) FACTS Appellant Alan Gorenberg owns a home in the common interest development managed by respondent Emerson Maintenance Association. In early 2021, he requested access to association records as well as its membership list under Civil Code sections 5205 and 5225.1 Respondent failed to make the records available so appellant filed a petition for peremptory writ of mandate to force respondent’s compliance with its statutory obligation. After serving the petition on respondent, appellant filed a motion for judgment on the peremptory writ pursuant to Civil Code section 5235 and Code of Civil