FAQ – LFMWC

LFMWC has no authority to act as an HOA because its sole purpose is limited to the delivery of water to the Lake Francis Estates development, as established in Section One of the Articles of Incorporation. Therefore it cannot act an association under the Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act.

No and No. Neither LFMWC's Articles of Incorporation or its Bylaws allow for any oversight over Lake Francis Estates ACC or its CC&Rs. Additionally the Articles of Incorporation specifically state that "The only lawful act or activity, for which this corporation is formed, is to develop, distribute, supply, or deliver water for irrigation or domestic use, or both, to its members at actual cost, plus necessary expenses."

This shows that the only relationship between LFMWC and the Lake Francis Estates development is that LFMWC supplies drinking water to the Lake Francis Estates development.

Additionally, upon the text of the CC&Rs, LFMWC lacks any standing to enforce the provisions of the CC&Rs, and because it lacks standing, it is prohibited from enforcing violations of the CC&Rs.

Therefore, if LFMWC did attempt to enforce the CC&Rs, it exposes itself to legal risk violating its fiduciary duties, and the members of the LFMWC Board of Directors could even be held personally liable for these fiduciary duty violations.

The CC&Rs specifically state that the right to enforce the CC&Rs by legal remedy is up to individual subdivision property owners. Section 10 of the CC&Rs provides:

"Except as otherwise provided herein, any person or persons owning any property situated within said Subdivision shall have the right to prosecute at law or in equity any proceedings which may be appropriate against any person or persons violating or attempting or threatening to violate or failing to comply with any one of the restrictions, covenants or conditions hereof, and to maintain against any such person any action for injunction, damages or other relief which may be proper in the matter. "

Please also see the letter from the law office of BAYDALINE & JACOBSEN Re: Relationship Between Lake Francis Mutual Water Company and the Lake Francis Estates CC&Rs

There is nothing that prohibits the LFMWC from appointing an Assistant Vice President or Water Manager, but neither position has any express authority to act on behalf of the Board of Directors.

The Bylaws and Articles are silent on the question of providing compensation to individuals in exchange for service to LFMWC. This means LFMWC can provide compensation to individuals in exchange for service to LFMWC, so long as this compensation furthers the purpose of LFMWC to develop, distribute, supply, or delivery water to the people or entities entitled to receive water from LFMWC. LFMWC can also hire a third party to provide professional managerial experience and expertise to help the LFMWC Board achieve LFMWC's purpose.

The Fourth Section of the Articles of Incorporation addresses this question. It provides: "The memberships in the corporation shall be appurtenant to the land described in the certificate issued therefore." This provision establishes that a LFMWC membership share is attached to the land owned by the member. Therefore, each original subdivision lot is tied to 1 membership share. For example, if three lots are merged into one lot, this merger does not alter the definition of the land for which each membership certificate was issued. As a result, merging three lots into one does not also convert three LFMWC membership shares into one. Instead, the owner of the merged lot continues to own three LFMWC membership shares.

LFMWC has easements under and across LFMWC shareholder properties. These easements allow LFMWC to service its roads, wells, pumps, and water lines that it owns.

LFMWC does not actually own the property where its easements are located. Instead, the land that LFMWC easements run under and across is owned by the property owner. Therefore, according to California law, LFMWC can only use the property subject to these easements for the specific purpose of the easements — unless LFMWC is specifically undertaking the specific duties of the water company, such as performing improvements or repairs to its utility infrastructure located in the easement. When performing these maintenance duties, LFMWC has the right to cross a person's land only to the extent necessary to access its easement.

There have been instances in which LFMWC granted express permission to property owners to encroach on its easement, such as in the placement of a fence. Or there has been a known open & notorious encroachment of an easement for longer than 5 years, defined by law as a granted prescriptive easement.

In the above cases, LFMWC has no legal authority to require these encroachments be removed, until such encroachments interfere with LFMWC's use of its easement in order to service its utility infrastructure. An interference would occur if a fence crossing over an easement prevents LFMWC from performing repairs to the infrastructure located in its easement. In this situation, LFMWC has the right to seek a court order mandating the removal of the fence in order to access the easement. Unless LFMWC needs to perform emergency repairs to infrastructure in an easement, LFMWC will make an effort to make arrangements with owners or to provide notice to reduce any inconvenience to the owner when LFMWC needs to access its easement.

In the past, there has been much confusion about the proper role of the Lake Francis Mutual Water Company as it relates to the properties located in the Lake Francis Estates development. Because of this, rather than make a determination themselves, the Board of LFMWC consulted and vetted these answers with its retained legal counsel. Likewise, the Board will only welcome opposing opinions of the law unless they also come from an attorney. The letter must be sent via postal mail on the attorney's letterhead, specifically addressed to LFMWC, citing the legal arguments which have led them to a contrary opinion.