Civil Code Definitions & Foundations
Individual Delivery to Members
Chapter 1 · General Provisions · Preliminary Provisions
Text current as of 2026-07-07 · Last amended by SB 392, eff. 2023-01-01
The code says CIV §4040
(a) (1) If a provision of this act requires an association to deliver a document by “individual delivery” or “individual notice,” the association shall deliver that document in accordance with the preferred delivery method specified by the member pursuant to Section 4041.
(2) If the member has not provided a valid delivery method pursuant to Section 4041, the association shall deliver the document by first-class mail, registered or certified mail, express mail, or overnight delivery by an express service carrier addressed to the recipient at the address last shown on the books of the association.
(b) Upon receipt of a request by a member identifying a secondary email or mailing address for delivery of notices, pursuant to Section 5260, the association shall deliver an additional copy of both of the following to the secondary address identified in that request:
(1) The documents to be delivered to the member pursuant to Article 7 (commencing with Section 5300) of Chapter 6.
(2) The documents to be delivered to the member pursuant to Article 2 (commencing with Section 5650) of Chapter 8 and Section 5710.
(c) For the purposes of this section, an unrecorded provision of the governing documents providing for a particular method of delivery does not constitute agreement by a member to that method of delivery.
(d) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2023.
(Repealed (in Sec. 1) and added by Stats. 2021, Ch. 640, Sec. 2. (SB 392) Effective January 1, 2022. Operative January 1, 2023, by its own provisions.)
In plain English
Editorial summary — not the statute’s text.
When the Act says a document needs “individual delivery,” you must use the delivery method each member chose — email or mail — and fall back to first-class mail (or better) at their address of record if they never chose one. Members can also register a second address and get a duplicate copy of key financial and collection notices there.
What this means for you
Editorial summary — not the statute’s text.
- Track each member’s preferred delivery method from the annual §4041 solicitation and honor it.
- If a member registers a secondary address, budget-report and collection documents go to both.
- A delivery method buried in unrecorded governing documents doesn’t count as member consent.
How courts have read this
No case law is mapped to this section yet. As decisions are added, they’ll appear here.
Cites (5)
Cited by (20)
§4041 §4045 §4055 §4153 §4230 §4275 §4620 §4785 §5105 §5115 §5205 §5260 §5305 §5310 §5320 §5450 §5615 §5810 §5850 §5855
References whole articles
- Article 7 — Annual Reports (4 sections, commencing §5300)
- Article 2 — Assessment Payment and Delinquency (11 sections, commencing §5650)