A obscure expiration clause buried in decades-old condo paperwork nearly derailed the rebuilding of an entire Pacific Palisades community after last year’s firestorm — and now a new California law is meant to make sure it never happens again. Assembly Bill 2692, signed as an urgency measure on August 24, 2026, and effective immediately, gives Los Angeles County homeowners associations with expired CC&Rs a temporary path to revive their governing documents without needing every single owner to agree.
The law was written specifically with the 107-unit Via de la Paz condominium community in Pacific Palisades in mind, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. More than half of that complex’s homes burned in the January 2025 Palisades Fire, but rebuilding stalled because the community’s CC&Rs had expired shortly before the disaster, leaving the community unable to administer its $40 million insurance payout and blocked from Small Business Administration and Habitat for Humanity assistance, per the Office of Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin.
Via de la Paz homeowners had actually done the hard part already: 101 of 107 unit owners, more than 94%, agreed to reinstate their CC&Rs before AB 2692 even existed. But California law at the time required unanimous, 100% owner consent to revive an expired declaration, according to an analysis from the California State Senate Judiciary Committee. Ninety-four percent support wasn’t enough — the law demanded everyone.
How the New Reinstatement Process Works
AB 2692 created a temporary Civil Code Section 4276 that allows Los Angeles County HOAs with expired CC&Rs to hold a membership vote to reinstate their documents, per the Union-Tribune’s reporting. The required vote threshold matches whatever the expired CC&Rs originally specified, or a simple majority of all members if the old documents don’t state an approval percentage…