Chantiles v. Lake Forest II Master Homeowners Assn

Chantiles v. Lake Forest II Master Homeowners Assn. (1995) 37 Cal.App.4th 914, was decided in 1995, and has not been overruled or limited in its holding or reasoning that current director status is required to pursue current inspection rights. This line of cases will not allow enforcement of any absolute director's right of inspection to a former corporate director, when the reason for the inspection right (holding office and performing fiduciary duties as a director) no longer exists. These authorities strictly interpret standing rules in applying the language of section 1602. Under the law as we understand it, Wolf has lost the status and standing that are required to justify pursuit of his asserted director's inspection rights. The trial court correctly applied standing principles and interpreted the statute to find that Wolf was no longer under such fiduciary obligations, as a former director, to justify his claim to an ongoing and enforceable right to inspect corporate records. (Common Cause, supra, 49 Cal.3d at pp. 439-440.) In Chantiles, supra, 37 Cal.App.4th 914, 920-926, the court had before it an individual who was no longer on the board of a homeowners association, but who sought to assert a director's inspection rights, in the context of challenging election results (under 8334, creating association directors' inspection rights that are parallel to those of 1602). The Court of Appeal discussed the justification for considering the action not to be moot, in light of the director's leaving office during the appeal. The court ruled that the inspection demand represented an issue of recurring interest that should be decided. (Chantiles, supra, at pp. 920-926.)