Our Associations Governance

Association Government
 
Each of our Associations is a California corporation formed to govern our community. When you purchased your home you became a part owner of your Association and became obligated to follow it's governing documents and rules and regulations. Those documents that formed the basis of your obligation include:
 
  1. CC&Rs (Declaration of Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions) that create the community HOA, contain the deed restrictions, and establish mandatory membership and payment of assessments.
  2. Articles of Incorporation that set forth the structure and basic governance of the corporate body.
  3. Bylaws that define how the HOA is operated.
  4. Master Drive Agreement that defines how our HOAs and related organizations use and maintain common property. (See explanation of the Master Drive Agreement below.)
 
In general, the duties and responsibilities of our three HOAs consist of managing any combination of:
 
  1. Common Areas. Generally green space, pool areas and facilities, streets and parking areas. (See Common Area Facilities below.)
  2. Deed Restrictions. These are designed to provide a common standard of conduct for the community and define rules concerning the size and number of pets, limitations on parking and types of vehicles, home rentals, home businesses, and property maintenance and appearance.
  3. Architectural Control. This ensures that we can maintain and protect the character and aesthetic harmony of our community and prevent any deterioration of standards. 
  4. Services & Maintenance. By coordinating maintenance and repair responsibilities, the three HOAs ensure quality and aesthetic harmony of appearance throughout the community, save time for members, and provide group purchasing power.
  5. Protection of Property Values. Although not specifically listed within the governing documents, a primary responsibility of our HOAs is to protect property values. Property deterioration of any home negatively impacts neighbors, as does deterioration of our Common Area Property. It simply makes sense to work together to keep our community looking well-kept, keep our homes marketable, and maintain maximum individual property values. Therefore, we maintain adequate reserves (below) to actively keep our Common Area Property well maintained and attractive.   
 
Board Responsibilities

Our three HOAs are governed by Boards of Directors, which consist of individuals elected by their memberships. Elections to the Board are held at each association's annual meeting, and members typically serve staggered, multi-year terms. 

HOA members elect people who they believe will devote adequate time and will best represent their interests. Board representatives have a fiduciary duty to use good business judgment and to put the best interests of the entire community ahead of their own personal interests.

Our boards are empowered to make all operational decisions affecting the HOAs, with the exception of certain powers that are reserved exclusively for the membership (such as approving special assessments, increasing annual assessments, or electing and removing directors).

One of the most important functions of our Boards is to establish the HOAs' organizational structure. This creates a chain of command that assigns tasks and duties to a management team and Board committees. The management team may include volunteers, employees or contract management companies.
 
A significant part of the organizational structure approved by your Boards is the formation of advisory committees which provide recommendations to the Board for decision making within the community. Each advisory Committee has it own charter of duties and responsibilities. The Master Association by agreement with the Ventanas Association and the Casitas Association takes responsibility for the overall formation and management of certain of these advisory committees as noted below. The current committees include:
 
  1. Architectural Review Committee (Master HOA committee for entire community)
  2. Landscape and Grounds Committee (Master HOA committee for entire community)
  3. Finance Committee
  4. Sports & Fitness Advisory Committee (Master HOA committee for entire community)
  5. Golf Advisory Committee (Master HOA committee for entire community)
The Boards are ultimately responsible for the oversight of the HOAs. While the Boards may retain and/or delegate some of their duties to volunteers, contractors or professionals, the "buck stops" with the Boards.
 
Master Drive Agreement
 
Within the walls of Rancho La Quinta there are multiple organizations that share the community boundaries. Where boundaries overlap, each organization shares the costs. To solve any controversy about who pays for what, the homeowners voted upon and approved what is now called the Master Drive Agreement. This agreement allocates costs to the following entities that operate inside our community walls:
 
  1. The Master Homeowner Association
  2. The Casitas Homeowner Association
  3. The Ventanas Homeowner Association
  4. The Kennel Club, separately supported by its users
  5. The Country Club Property owned by Master Homeowner Association
  6. The Real Estate Office owned by the Master Homeowner Association
  7. The Drive Cost Center (see below)

Generally speaking, shared expenses include all costs associated with gates, perimeter walls and landscaping, interior perimeter drives (Rancho La Quinta Drive, Mission Drive East and West), administrative costs, drive landscaping, security personnel, and the like. Since all of the shared costs border on these three internal perimeter drives, the accounting cost allocation became known as the Drive Cost Center. Under the terms of the Master Drive Agreement, the Master Association became responsible for tracking the common shared expenses and allocating those costs back to the participants. As a result, the Master Association budgets and maintains a Drive Cost Center within its accounting records and provides periodic reporting to the participants.
 
Association Reserves for Replacements
 
One way that your Associations protect your property value is to ensure that Common Area Property is regularly maintained and updated. It does you no good to keep up your property if the general area around your home is deteriorating. Your Associations assess fees and assign a portion of them to reserves for replacements. This assessment authority is granted through the CC&Rs, and was codified in the California Common Interest Development Act (ACT) enacted in 1985.
The ACT allows your HOA to perform as a quasi-government organization. Your HOA assumes responsibilities that a local government agency would otherwise be responsible for, including street repair and maintenance, walk ways, etc. Under the ACT, the HOA estimates the fees (comparable to taxes) that it must collect to keep the common area in good shape. These fees are collected into a reserve fund and can be used only for repairs and maintenance of common areas.
 
To determine the amount needed in the reserve fund, the HOAs periodically must obtain a qualified reserve study. (California Reserve Study Guidelines.) You may access these studies each time they are issued, along with the annual HOA financial statement that discloses the reserves on hand and discusses the qualified reserve study. You may also see the studies and the financial statements on this site in DOCUMENTS. 

Homeowner Responsibilities

When you purchase a property within an HOA, you automatically become a member of the HOA, and continue to be a member until you no longer own the property.
 
Just as our HOAs have responsibilities to their members, you also have certain legal responsibilities to your HOA. These include:
 
  1. Comply with deed restrictions and rules and regulations
  2. Comply with architectural control restrictions
  3. Pay homeowner’s proportionate share of expenses to operate the HOA
  4. Comply with the HOAs Code of Conduct
  5. Respect the rights of other homeowners
 
Common Area Facilities exclusive of the Country Club 
 
The Rancho La Quinta HOAs own what is referred to as "Common Area Properties", which include all property leased, owned or maintained by the three HOAs. The common area is for the sole use and benefit of the members of the Associations. It includes private streets and alleys, signs, fountains, statuary, swimming pools and adjacent buildings, landscaping, sprinkler systems, walls, green belts, parking lots, median islands in cul-de-sac streets, and centralized mail boxes. In general, it's all the property that isn't yours or is a part of the Country Club Property.
 
Except for the homeowners in the Casitas Association, you own your front yard, but the HOAs are responsible for maintaining the Lot Landscape Maintenance Areas,  in other words, the landscaping and irrigation systems within these Areas. The HOA does not maintain your driveway, courtyard walls, the exterior of your lot or any other structure located on your lot. The Casitas Association does own everything on the exterior of your residence walls and maintains all of those facilities.
 
Country Club Common Area Facilities (requires a separate fee for access)
 
Country Club Common Area Facilities means the real property inside our gates commonly known as the Rancho La Quinta County Club that consists of golf courses, golf practice facilities, a clubhouse complex (including dining facilities, a golf shop, golf club storage facilities, locker room facilities, golf cart storage facilities, covered and uncovered patio and deck areas), a sports & fitness complex (including tennis & pickle ball facilities, exercise facilities, main swimming facilities, locker room facilities, dining facilities), maintenance yard, parking area, landscape areas, golf outbuildings and related facilities. Access to Country Club Property is by membership only.
 
Who Has Access To The Common Areas
 
All homeowners have access to the common area of their respective Association. In addition, homeowners of the Master Association and the Casitas Association have access to the non-golf portion of the Country Club Property. Homeowners of the Ventanas Association, for a separate fee, have the option to join and have access to the non-golf portion of the Country Club Property. Homeowners of all three Associations have the option, for a separate fee, to join and have access to the golf portion of the Country Club Property.
 
If you are not a member of the Country Club Property, you do not have access. Please respect the rights of those that are members.