## Facts

- Ronald F. White owned a unit in the Merrywood condominium project and held a fractional interest in the project’s common areas.
- By virtue of ownership, White was a member of “Merrywood Apartments,” a nonprofit unincorporated association responsible for maintaining the common areas through elected officers and a board.
- White alleged he tripped and fell over a water sprinkler in a common area that was negligently maintained by the association.
- The complaint did not allege that White participated in, authorized, or ratified the negligent maintenance.

## Issues

1. Whether a member of an unincorporated condominium owners’ association may sue the association in negligence for injuries caused by alleged negligent maintenance of common areas.

## Decision

- The Court of Appeal reversed the judgment of dismissal.
- The court held that a condominium owner who is a member of an unincorporated owners’ association may maintain a tort action against the association for negligent common-area maintenance.
- The court limited member recovery to situations where the plaintiff-member did not personally participate in, authorize, or ratify the negligent conduct.
- The trial court erred by sustaining the demurrer without leave to amend because the complaint stated a viable negligence claim.

## Legal Principles

- Modern unincorporated associations that act through elected officers and boards may be treated as separate entities for tort purposes, rather than as aggregates in which every member is automatically a principal for all association acts.
- Partnership or joint-enterprise concepts should not be rigidly applied where individual members have little control over day-to-day association operations.
- A member’s tort claim against an unincorporated association is not barred solely because membership entails shared interests in association property and governance.
- A member generally cannot recover for injuries caused by negligence the member personally participated in, authorized, or ratified; otherwise, the association may be liable for negligent acts of its officers, agents, or managers in conducting association affairs.

## Conclusion

The court allowed a condominium unit owner to sue the unincorporated owners’ association for negligent maintenance of common areas, treating the association as a suable entity in tort when the plaintiff-member neither caused nor approved the alleged negligence.


White v. Cox, 17 Cal. App. 3d 824, 95 Cal. Rptr. 259 (Cal. Ct. App. 1971)