Following up on this discussion from 2005 regarding CC&R, it appears the bill (AB 394) that went to the Governor’s desk was put into law last year. From cbs13.com:
County clerk recorder Craig Kramer said residents can buy the official CC&R and strike the clause, making it good for all properties in the subdivision. The Morris’s plan to do that, as a happy 21st century family, they say some sometimes history needs a little rewriting.
As discussed in the earlier post, this law went into effect on January 1, 2006. So why is it only getting press in 2007? And can one person “buy” the official CC&R and strike the clause for the whole neighborhood? And if so, how?
Well, loyal reader, you’ve come to the right place.
Here’s what you need to know. From the Sacramento County Web site:
The County Clerk/Recorder has assigned the following staff member to assist citizens with processing a Restrictive Covenant Modification under the provisions of Assembly Bill 394.
Contact: Wanda Dark, Telephone (916) 874-8884 or email: AB394
A property owner should take the following action to modify unlawful Restrictive Covenant language as provided in AB 394.
Contact the staff member listed above, who will work with the property owner to:
- Obtain a copy of the original Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (CC&Rs)
- Identify the unlawful language and strike out (line through) the restrictive language
- Obtain Restrictive Covenant Modification form, complete the form, and obtain notary acknowledgement
- Submit the modification document for recording
Notes: The modified document may not be recorded unless approved as to form by County Counsel. Common interest developments are excluded from the new provisions of AB 394.
Thanks to Assemblyman Roger Niello who authored the bill:
From a personal standpoint, I was happy to have had two bills make it to the Governor’s desk. I am extremely proud of the work that was accomplished with AB 394, legislation that came about as a result of constituents in the Arden Park region of Sacramento discovering that illegal, racist language, banning certain races from living in the neighborhoods still existed in their Covenants, Codes, and Restrictions, 60-70 years after it was written and decades after it was made illegal. AB 394 provides a way for them to remove the actual language from their documents.
The Sac Rag 
And how! This process is so easy, a child could do it (a child who was a registered notary and had the patience to fill forms out in triplicate and had access to large red pen for “striking”).
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When I bought my Tahoe Park home in 1989, the paperwork came complete with language in effect restricting the neighborhood to Caucasian Christians … but someone had stamped a note over the top noting that such language was invalid.
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Same here. Our recent purchase of a Del Paso Manor (formerly Freeport Manor) home also contained language that wold have only allowed my wife to live there had she been a domestic servant (unless of course she tried to pass and didn’t have any pictures of her father around the house). It made me warm all over.
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