Thursday, May 20, 2004

Titus v. Canyon Lake POA: 4th DCA, California
Here's an appellate court decision from California (thanks to Fred Pilot for alerting me to this) that finds an HOA and a security service to have no possible legal liability for wrongful death where a drunk driver ran off the road and hit a tree, all on association property, and killed his passenger. The court sustained these defendants' demurrers where the plaintiff alleged that the association and security service had a "special relationship" to its members giving rise to a duty to protect them by getting the drunk driver--a young man living with his father, who was a unit owner--off the road or out of the community based on knowledge of his previous behavior.

The court says, "...we conclude that the allegations do not support the existence of a special relationship sufficient to justify the imposition of duties to eject or arrest Incorvia." The demurrer was sustained without leave to amend, and the opinion was published, so the case is over and it has precedential value. Significant win for HOAs in general, because it means that having security services doesn't mean you get sued when a crime is committed.

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