Carolinian
TUG Member
Like many states, corporate law (HOA's are organized as non-profit corporations) in California requires HOA's to give a membership list to any member who requests it for use in contacting other members on HOA governance. This is an essential requirement of homeowner democracy to be able to communicate with other timeshare owners at your resort. Many developers and some incumbent HOA leaders, however stonewall on providing these lists in order to entrench themselves in power.
Worldmark, faced with members who wanted a real member voice on the governing board was one developer which played this game, thumbing its nose at California law that required they turn over the list. Management whined that they were ''protecting privacy'' when their real gambit was trying to protect their own control. Members sued to obtain the lists they were entitled to under the law.
Now the Caifornia Supreme Court, in Worldmark v. Miller has let stand an earlier court ruling which ordered Worldmark to turn over the lists, and even included the email addresses of members, which had not been explicitly covered in the statute. That will make member communication to try to elect a member-friendly board to replace the developer's placemen much cheaper and easier.
This court victory strikes a major blow for timeshare homeowner democracy and should be a wakeup call to timesharers as other resorts to demand their rights under the law. It should be a warning to overbearing developers against stonewalling on providing lists they are legally obligated to provide.
Worldmark, faced with members who wanted a real member voice on the governing board was one developer which played this game, thumbing its nose at California law that required they turn over the list. Management whined that they were ''protecting privacy'' when their real gambit was trying to protect their own control. Members sued to obtain the lists they were entitled to under the law.
Now the Caifornia Supreme Court, in Worldmark v. Miller has let stand an earlier court ruling which ordered Worldmark to turn over the lists, and even included the email addresses of members, which had not been explicitly covered in the statute. That will make member communication to try to elect a member-friendly board to replace the developer's placemen much cheaper and easier.
This court victory strikes a major blow for timeshare homeowner democracy and should be a wakeup call to timesharers as other resorts to demand their rights under the law. It should be a warning to overbearing developers against stonewalling on providing lists they are legally obligated to provide.
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