Court Opinion

ID: 9792404
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 02:28:58.490985+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:37:42.649095
License: Public Domain

Opinion
KAUS, J.
These consolidated appeals involve the validity and enforceability of an age restriction in the covenants, conditions and restrictions (CC & Rs) of a condominium development which limits residency to persons over the age of 18. In Marina Point, Ltd. v. Wolfson (1982) 30 Cal.3d 721 [180 Cal.Rptr. 496, 640 P.2d 115], we recently condemned such an age restriction in an apartment complex as violative of the Unruh Civil Rights Act (Civ. Code, § 51). We conclude that the age restriction in the CC & Rs of a condominium development also violates the act.
The Village Green is a housing complex of 629 units in the Baldwin Hills area of Los Angeles. It was built in 1942 and was operated as an apartment complex until 1973 when it was converted to a condominium development. As *793part of the condominium conversion the developer drafted and recorded a declaration of CC & Rs which run with the property and which contain a prohibition against residency by anyone under the age of 18.1 The CC & Rs also establish the Village Green Owners Association (association) and authorize it to enforce the regulations set forth therein. The association is a nonprofit organization whose membership consists of all owners of units at Village Green.
John and Denise O’Connor bought a two-bedroom unit in Village Green in 1975. On July 4, 1979, their son Gavin was born. Shortly thereafter, the association gave them written notice that the presence of their son Gavin in the unit constituted a violation of the CC & Rs and directed them to discontinue having Gavin live there.
After making unsuccessful attempts to find other suitable housing, the O’Connors filed a complaint against the association seeking to have the age restriction declared invalid and to enjoin its enforcement. The first amended complaint alleged, inter alia, that the age restriction violated the Unruh Civil Rights Act (Civ. Code, § 51).2 The association filed a general demurrer which the trial court sustained without leave to amend. The action was dismissed and the O’Connors appealed.
After the O’Connors’ notice of appeal was filed, the association filed an action to enjoin the O’Connors from residing in the condominium with their son. The trial court granted a preliminary injunction but stayed its enforcement for 90 days to allow the O’Connors to find other housing. The O’Connors filed a notice of appeal.  Since the preliminary injunction was mandatory, the filing of the notice of appeal stayed its effect. (See 6 Witkin, Cal. Procedure (2d ed. 1971) Appeal, § 177, p. 4166 and cases cited therein.) This opinion disposes of both appeals.
In Marina Point, Ltd. v. Wolfson, supra, 30 Cal.3d 721, we considered the question of whether the Unruh Civil Rights Act (the act) prohibited an apartment owner’s discrimination against children. We reviewed the history of the act—Civil Code section 51—and noted that it had emanated from earlier “public accommodation” legislation and had extended the reach of such statutes from common carriers and places of accommodation to cover “all *794business establishments of every kind whatsoever.”3 Relying on our interpretation of the act in In re Cox (1970) 3 Cal.3d 205 [90 Cal.Rptr. 24, 474 P.2d 992], we held that the act barred all types of arbitrary discrimination. The. act’s reference to particular bases of discrimination—“sex, color, race, religion, ancestry or national origin”—was illustrative rather than restrictive.
We noted, however, that although the act prohibits a business establishment. from engaging in any form of arbitrary discrimination, it does not absolutely . prohibit such an establishment from excluding a customer in all circumstances. “ ‘Clearly, an entrepreneur need not tolerate customers who damage property,. injure others or otherwise disrupt his business. A business establishment may, of course, promulgate reasonable deportment regulations that are rationally related to the services performed and the facilities provided.’” (Marina Point, Ltd. v. Wolfson, supra, 30 Cal.3d at p. 737; quoting from In re Cox, supra, 3 Cal.3d at p. 217.) We rejected, however, the landlord’s contention in Marina Point that the exclusion of children was such a reasonable restriction. It was not a sufficient justification to state that children are “rowdier, noisier, more mischievous and more boisterous than adults.” (30 Cal.3d at p. 737.) Exclusion of persons based on a generalization about the class to which they belong is not permissible. (Id., at pp. 736-740.) Nor could exclusion of children from an ordinary apartment complex be justified on the basis that the presence of children does not accord with the nature of the business enterprise and of the facilities provided—as might be said of bars, adult book stores and senior , citizens homes. (Id., at p. 741.)
In sum, we held in Marina Point that the landlord’s blanket exclusion of children from residency was prohibited by the act. It could not be justified by any claim about generalized characteristics of children or the nature of the apartment complex. Indeed, the claim that the facilities were incompatible with the presence of children was belied by the fact that children formerly had been permitted to reside in the complex. (30 Cal.3d at p. 744, fn. 13.)
In Marina Point there was no question that the apartment complex was a “business establishment” within the meaning of the act. The determinative question in that case was whether the act encompassed discrimination against children. Since that question was answered in Marina Point, the only question . to be decided in the present case is whether the discriminatory policy against children is being invoked by a ‘‘business establishment” within the meaning of the act.
*795The act protects all persons from arbitrary discrimination in “accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges or services in all business establishments of every kind whatsoever.” (Civ. Code, §51.) We discussed the scope of that language in Burks v. Poppy Construction Co. (1962) 57 Cal.2d 463, 468-469 [20 Cal.Rptr. 609, 370 P.2d 313]: “The Legislature used the words ‘all’ and ‘of every kind whatsoever’ in referring to business establishments covered by the Unruh Act (Civ. Code, § 51), and the inclusion of these words without any exception and without specification of particular kinds of enterprises, leaves no doubt that the term ‘business establishments’ was used in the broadest sense reasonably possible. The word ‘business’ embraces everything about which one can be employed, and it is often synonymous with ‘calling, occupation, or trade, engaged in for the purpose of making a livelihood or gain.’ [Citations.] The word ‘establishment,’ as broadly defined, includes not only a fixed location, such as the ‘place where one is permanently fixed for residence or business,’ but also a permanent ‘commercial force or organization’ or ‘a permanent settled position (as in life or business).’ [Citation.]”
 In Burks, we found it clear that a real estate developer who built and sold tract houses operated a “business establishment” within the meaning of the act.4 (See also Lee v. O’Hara (1962) 57 Cal.2d 476 [20 Cal.Rptr. 617, 370 P.2d 321] [act applies to real estate broker].) We noted that the original version of the bill presented to the Legislature specifically referred to the right “to purchase real property” and to other rights, such as the obtaining of “professional” services, in addition to “business establishments.” The final version, however, eliminated all specific references and added to the term “business establishments” the words “of every kind whatsoever.” We concluded in Burks that the deletion of the specific reference to the purchase of real property could be explained on the ground that the Legislature deemed specific references no longer necessary in light of the broad language of the act as finally passed.
The O’Connors and amici urge us to apply the same reasoning to hold that the Village Green Owners Association is also a business establishment within the meaning of that term in the act. They note that among the specific references in the original version of the bill were “private or public groups, organizations, associations, business establishments, schools, and public facilities.”5 The broadened scope of business establishments in the final version of the bill, in our view, is indicative of an intent by the Legislature to include therein all formerly specified private and public groups or organizations that may rea*796sonably be found to constitute “business establishments of every type whatsoever.” Although our cases so far have all dealt with profit-making entities, we see no reason to insist that profit-seeking be a sine qua non for coverage under the act. Nothing in the language or history of its enactment calls for excluding an organization from its scope simply because it is nonprofit. (See Horowitz, The 1959 California Equal Rights in “Business Establishments” Statute—A Problem in Statutory Application (1960) 33 So.Cal.L.Rev. 260, 290-291.) Indeed, hospitals are often nonprofit organizations, and they are clearly business establishments to the extent that they employ a vast array of persons, care for an extensive physical plant and charge substantial fees to those who use the facilities. The Village Green Owners Association has sufficient businesslike attributes to fall within the scope of the act’s reference to “business establishments of every kind whatsoever.” Contrary to the association’s attempt to characterize itself as but an organization that “mows lawns” for owners, the association in reality has a far broader and more businesslike purpose. The association, through a board of directors, is charged with employing a professional property management firm, with obtaining insurance for the benefit of all owners and with maintaining and repairing all common areas and facilities of the 629-unit project. It is also charged with establishing and collecting assessments from all owners to pay for its undertakings and with adopting and enforcing rules and regulations for the common good. In brief, the association performs all the customary business functions which in the traditional landlord-tenant relationship rest on the landlord’s shoulders. A theme running throughout the description of the association’s powers and duties is that its overall function is to protect and enhance the project’s economic value. Consistent with the Legislature’s intent to use the term “business establishments” in the broadest sense reasonably possible (Burks v. Poppy Construction Co., supra, 57 Cal.2d at p. 468), we conclude that the Village Green Owners Association is a business establishment within the meaning of the act.
Anticipating that it might be found to be a business establishment for purposes of applicability of the act, the association attempts to distinguish its discriminatory policy from that in Marina Point on the ground that it has fewer effective remedies for abating a nuisance caused by a child. Although a landlord does have the summary remedy of unlawful detainer proceedings for dealing with a disruptive child, we are not persuaded that the association is so powerless to remedy any problems arising from particular conduct that it must *797be permitted to maintain a discriminatory policy based on generalized traits. The association could adopt deportment regulations and rely on its normal procedures to enforce them. No reason appears why that would be any less effective than other use and conduct regulations the association may have. Moreover, we note that the restrictive covenant against children is already invalid under Marina Point as to units held as income property and rented out by their owners. (See Swann v. Burkett (1962) 209 Cal.App.2d 685, 694-695 [26 Cal.Rptr. 286].) The association therefore is already faced with the burden of planning for the presence of children.
The judgments in both actions are reversed.
Bird, C. J., Reynoso, J., and Stern, J.,* concurred.

The parties do not dispute that the CC & Rs run with the property.

The complaint also alleged that the age restriction violated; (1) the Los Angeles City Ordinance which prohibits discrimination in rental housing on the basis of age, parenthood, or pregnancy; (2) the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution and article I, section 1, of the California Constitution; and (3) the California Fair Housing Law (Health & Saf. Code, § 35700 et seq.).

Unless otherwise noted, all section references hereafter are to the Civil Code.
Section 51 provides in relevant part: “This section shall be known, and may be cited, as the Unruh Civil Rights Act. [f] All persons within the jurisdiction of this state are free and equal, and no matter what their sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, or national origin are entitled to the full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges, or services in all business establishments of every kind whatsoever.”

The developer who established the Village Green CC & Rs, of course, would similarly be subject to the act. Thus the age restriction in this case, which was established by the developer, is invalid. This does not end our inquiry, however, since, as the association points out, it could simply cancel that age restriction and adopt one of its own. We therefore must also determine whether the association itself is a “business establishment” within the meaning of the act.

As introduced, the bill read in part: “All citizens within the jurisdiction of this State, no mat*796ter what their race, color, religion, ancestry, or national origin, are entitled to the full and equal admittance, accommodations, advantages, facilities, membership, and privileges in, or accorded by, all public or private groups, organizations, associations, business establishments, schools, and public facilities; to purchase real property; and to obtain the services of any professional person, group or associations.” (See Burks v. Poppy Construction Co., supra, 57 Cal.2d at p. 469, fn. 3.)

Assigned by the Chairperson of the Judicial Council.