Allison L. Andersen

Ms. Andersen is an experienced attorney specializing in community association representation. With a focus on corporate governance, operational matters, transactions, and civil litigation, she offers comprehensive legal services to community associations.

In her association governance practice, Ms. Andersen diligently evaluates compliance with the Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act. She skillfully analyzes and interprets governing documents, making recommendations for necessary rewrites and amendments. Ms. Andersen ensures smooth election and secret ballot processes and adeptly negotiates and drafts recorded agreements impacting real property.

Taking a risk management perspective, Ms. Andersen addresses enforcement disputes promptly, efficiently, and with creative solutions to avoid costly legal proceedings. She strictly adheres to the association's self-help, discipline, dispute resolution, and enforcement procedures, providing members with a transparent process for resolving violations quickly and economically. When a member chooses to delay compliance, Ms. Andersen provides aggressive representation of the association and actively pursues the recovery of related expenses.

With her expertise in contract negotiations and drafting, Ms. Andersen handles a wide range of vendor agreements, including maintenance, reserve study, accounting, parking and towing, security, and communications contracts. She also possesses extensive knowledge in writing construction and repair contracts. Drawing on her comprehensive understanding of the design and construction process, construction scheduling, payment terms, liability issues, and insurance claims, Ms. Andersen provides invaluable guidance to her clients.

Ms. Andersen boasts over nineteen years of experience litigating various issues, such as insurance coverage, real estate fraud and disclosure, contract interpretation and compliance, complex construction defects, condominium conversions, free speech, and enforcement of covenants, conditions, and restrictions. She has successfully defended associations, directors, and officers against claims related to Fair Housing and disability laws, failure to maintain association property, Open Meeting Act violations, member election statute non-compliance, infliction of emotional distress, and breach of fiduciary duty. In uncertain litigation situations, Ms. Andersen utilizes her experience-based wisdom to guide associations through the legal process and achieve excellent results.

Ms. Andersen's expertise extends to complex construction defect matters. She represents homeowner associations, commercial real estate owners, and multi-family apartment house owners, providing guidance on property investigations, alternatives to defect litigation, repair budgeting, dispute resolution, and formal litigation.

Successfully mediating settlements for claims involving water intrusion, exterior cladding systems, roofing systems, windows, balconies, decks, stairways, entry landings, mechanical systems, structural systems, foundation systems, electrical systems, acoustical systems, and civil infrastructure, Ms. Andersen's expertise is highly regarded.

Ms. Andersen has also excelled in managing condominium conversion claims through settlement and trial. She skillfully evaluates developer compliance with relevant conversion laws, assesses the sufficiency of operating and reserve budgets prepared by developers, examines the adequacy of disclosures to associations and members, and investigates converters' construction practices.

In the realm of insurance, Ms. Andersen handles both prosecution and defense of community associations in insurance coverage matters. She has litigated policy provisions relating to coverage triggers, duties to defend and indemnify, named versus other insureds, separation of insureds, policy exclusions, and endorsements. Ms. Andersen has successfully defended against insurers' claims for rescission based on incomplete policy applications and fraud. In some cases, she has secured policy rights assignments from developers involved in underlying construction cases, enabling her to effectively prosecute bad faith claims against insurers.

Ms. Andersen's impressive educational background includes magna cum laude graduation from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, and the completion of her law degree at U.C. Davis, King Hall School of Law. She is admitted to practice before all courts in the State of California, the United States District Court for the Central, Eastern, Northern, and Southern Districts in California, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Currently, Ms. Andersen serves as a Legislative Co-Chair on the Executive Committee of CAI's California Legislative Action Committee. Her commitment to professional excellence is recognized with an AV-Preeminent rating by Martindale-Hubbell.

Admissions:

State Bar of California, 2002

U.S. District Court, Central District

U.S. District Court, Eastern District

U.S. District Court, Northern District

U.S. District Court, Southern District

U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit

Education:

Bowdoin College (magna cum laude)

U.C. Davis, King Hall School of Law