The Balboa Terrace Homes Association (BTHA) employs the services of Bay Area Property Services to assist the HOA with administrative functions such as billing, enforcement of landscape guidelines, elections, and other responsibilities. Occasionally mailings will be sent on behalf of the Association from BAPS. Please open them!

Contact information for Bay Area Property Services:
3021 Citrus Circle, Suite 205
Walnut Creek, CA 94598

info@bayservice.net
800-610-0757
925-746-0542

www.bayservice.net

The Bylaws and CC&Rs (Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions) of all HOAs (homeowners associations) are based on legal requirements of the Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act which refers to a portion of the California Civil Code governing condominium, cooperative, and planned unit development communities in California. It was drafted in 1985 and became effective Jan. 1, 1986. Each year thereafter, the California Legislature has amended, revised, and added numerous provisions to the Act. A complete rewrite took effect on Jan. 1, 2014. The original Act was only 25 pages long; the rewrite is 100 pages long.

DAVIS-STIRLING ACT WEBSITE

3-1-1 is an easy-to-remember telephone number that connects local residents with highly trained Customer Service Representatives ready to help you with non-emergency City and County of San Francisco government matters.

Just dial 3-1-1 or 415-701-2311 if calling from outside area code 415.

There is also a 311 App. With the SF311 mobile app, City services are just a few taps away. Download the free app for Android or iPhone and easily request more than 20 popular City services including street and sidewalk cleaning, graffiti removal and pothole repairs. There is multi-lingual support and the app will help you match your request to the appropriate City agency. Learn more about the SF311 mobile app.
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911 is for Police, Fire, and Medical Emergencies including:
• Crime
• Fire
• Overdoses
• Medical emergencies
• Mental health crises

There is also a non-emergency phone number to request assistance from the San Francisco Police Department: 415-553-0123.
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PG&E
safetyactioncenter.pge.com
If you smell natural gas or suspect an emergency, leave the area immediately
and call 9-1-1.
If you see downed powerlines, stay away. Don’t exit your car or home. Call 9-1-1. Then call PG&E at 1-877-660-6789.
24-hour Customer Service Line: 1-877-660-6789
24-hour Power Outage Information Line: 1-800-PGE-5002 (1-800-743-5002)

The Balboa Terrace Homes Association (BTHA) annual assessments are based on the square footage of the lot. Payment is not optional; all homeowners in Balboa Terrace are automatically members of the BTHA.
The bill for dues is usually sent in late January and is due on March 1. There is a brief grace period of 15 days; overdue assessments are subject to interest and collection fees. The HOA’s Delinquent Assessment Policy is posted here. Delinquent Assessment Policy

If you have lost your invoice and/or believe it is being sent to a former owner, contact accounting services at Bay Area Property Services (BAPS) immediately:
accounting@bayservice.net
800-610-07577

If you are a new owner you may need to provide a grant deed to Bay Area Property Services in order to update their records. Please see the section on Title Company/Lender services below.

Bay Area Property Services offers HOA members two options for payment:

Option 1
As part of its contract with Bay Area Property Services (BAPS), this Association banks with Alliance Bank. Alliance Bank offers online payment options – one-time or recurring payments. The Bay Area Property Services HOA website is: https://pay.allianceassociationbank.com/Home?cmcid=843F025B

You will need the following information to sign up:
The management ID: 7159
The Balboa Terrace HOA ID: BT10

Your account number: This 10-digit number will appear on all invoices and other official communications from BAPS. If you are unable to locate this number, contact Bay Area Property Services.

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Option 2
Your personal bank’s online bill pay system or mail a personal check. Your payment should be made payable to the Association, spelled the same as the example below, and include your account number and Balboa Terrace address. Send to:

Balboa Terrace Homes Association HOA Remittance Processing
P O Box 98177
Las Vegas, NV 89193

Before answering that question, some background might be helpful. Under the Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act, the HOA Board of Directors is “required to levy assessments sufficient to perform their duties.” The increase reflected in our annual assessment provides for common area maintenance and additional reserve contributions for future common area replacement and improvement based on a professional Reserve Study. This translates in our case to maintenance and repair of entry monuments, easement concrete, alley asphalt, trees, portals, HOA-maintained medians, landscape, and irrigation. Almost half of the reserve requirement is for the replacement of our alleys at some point. The common areas that we maintain are indicated on the map shown here:
Balboa Terrace Common Areas

Yes, it is absolutely a separate account. The “Reserve Account” per Davis-Stirling refers to money the Association has set aside to defray the future repair or replacement of, or additions to, those major components which the Association is obligated to maintain. Our reserve funds are in a separate account and are only used to repair, restore, replace or maintain major components for which the reserve fund was established.

The full budget and Reserve Study is sent to each HOA member annually, usually in November, and is also posted on our website.

The reserve fund may only be used for specific needs as identified by the Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act. currently charged to the reserve account. Some maintenance is done on an ongoing basis and/or if there is an emergency. For example,

So even as the Association tries to build up reserves for future needs, we are also sometimes forced to spend money from the Reserve Fund to do repairs that must be made now. We also have a fiduciary responsibility to not leave the maintenance of our infrastructure to the next generation of homeowners.

The current Reserve Study is based on a 30-year plan. In accordance with State law, the Reserve Study must be updated annually and a physical inspection conducted every three years. Our next physical inspection is scheduled for 2024; findings from that physical inspection may also change current projections.

Under provisions of the Davis-Stirling Act, a copy of the reviewed annual financial statement must be distributed to members within 120 days after the close of each fiscal year.

Too wet? Too dry?

All of the above occasionally happens. Balboa Terrace has contracted with Terra Landscape for the maintenance of all the common areas. The common areas include the large lawn area parallel to Junipero Serra between Darien Way and Monterey Boulevard, the “breezeways” that slice through Balboa Terrace on an east-west axis, and the narrow strips of grass parallel to Monterey Boulevard between Junipero Serra and San Benito.

Over the last three years (2021-2023) the Association has replaced nearly all of the outdated, high-flow sprinklers with new water-saving sprinkler heads. If water use is excessive or there is flooding, contact the Board immediately for assistance at bthaboard@BalboaTerrace.org. Mark your message: URGENT.

If you do not get a timely response from the Board, contact Terra Landscape. They often have crews in the neighborhood:

Terra Landscape
Main office: 510-256-4000
After Hours Emergencies: 888-258-8715

If you think that the problem is under watering, please also let the Board know and they will contact Terra Landscape directly to adjust the irrigation schedule.

Gophers move from property to property, damaging landscaping and undermining sidewalks, and other structures, for this reason, the Association requires you to control gophers on your property.

Many homeowners employ private contractors to deal with gophers; unfortunately, there are no easy solutions to eradicating them, but their numbers can be reduced.

GOPHER CONTROL RESOURCES

Project Curb Appeal which officially launched in the spring of 2022, attempts to address landscaping concerns. Basic landscape violations which are subject to review, notification and possible fines include:

1. Property is overgrown with weeds.
2. Dead landscaping plants or lawn.
3. Abandoned/non-operative vehicles or equipment.
4. Rodent or gopher infestation or failure to remediate the damage from an infestation.
5. Plantings or structures blocking common areas or sidewalks.
6. Other safety hazards (e.g., construction debris, tripping hazards, etc.).

To apply these standards fairly and without bias, the Association has retained an independent professional HOA inspector to survey properties from the streets and common areas to identify homes needing improved landscape maintenance.

Homes identified needing improved care will be contacted with first efforts focused on helping the homeowner correct the problem or problems noted. If that first contact is ignored and/or no action is taken, a second notice will be sent requesting a hearing with the homeowner to resolve the issue. If there is no resolution at that point and/or the owner does not attend the hearing, the Association has the authority to fine the property owner. This is something we want to avoid if at all possible and most outreach has resulted in very positive outcomes.

We have addressed this issue in the past with our landscape contractor and the plants chosen for the concrete planters are supposed to do well under a variety of conditions. When we have an exceptionally wet winter, conditions may not be ideal for these usually hardy plants. If you have suggestions for improvements, please contact the Board at bthaboard@balboaterrace.org and someone from the Landscape Committee will respond.

A handful of homeowners have replaced grass with artificial turf. We encourage our HOA members to consider alternatives; however, provisions of the Davis-Stirling Act do allow for “artificial turf or any other synthetic surface that resembles grass,” other laws notwithstanding. If you choose artificial turf, it must be installed by a professional artificial turf installation company.

There are a number of ordinances that govern landscaping in San Francisco. Among them is the Water Efficient Irrigation Ordinance which was first enacted in January 2010 by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission: “To ensure the efficient use of water for all San Francisco landscapes, projects with 500 square feet or more of new or modified landscape area are required to comply with the Water Efficient Irrigation Ordinance. Projects must design, install, and maintain efficient irrigation systems, utilize low water-use plantings and set a Maximum Applied Water Allowance, also known as an annual water budget.”

LEARN HOW TO COMPLY WITH THE ORDINANCE

Members of the Balboa Terrace HOA Landscape Committee are available to assist you with suggestions for water-efficient landscaping and share with you some “real-life” scenarios in our immediate neighborhood. The Public Utilities Commission has also compiled this list:

Resources for Water-Efficient Landscaping

• San Francisco Plant Water Use List
• Thrifty 150 Plant List Recommended by SF Public Works
• Guidebook on Water-Wise Gardening in San Francisco
• Free Water-Wise Evaluations
• Garden for the Environment Free Workshops
• Laundry-to-Landscape Graywater Systems
• Rainwater Harvesting
• H2ouse
• Certified Landscape Irrigation Auditors

If you are looking for some more specific recommendations on plants that grow well in our neighborhood, the SF Planning website has this tool. Just enter your address and click on the box that says: SF Plant Finder under the heading Recommended Plants.
Find My Zoning | SF Planning

Report it immediately. Rapid removal is the best defense against graffiti vandalism.

• Public Works will paint out graffiti on public property and notify other agencies and private property owners, so they can quickly remove it. Call 911 to report graffiti in progress, report graffiti online, use the mobile SF311 app or call 311.

• If you have photos of graffiti vandalism and tagging in your neighborhood, we can upload them into our database and forward them to the San Francisco Police Department. You can upload your images by sending us an email to zerograffiti@sfdpw.org along with details about the location and date/time.

Most likely you are responsible; however, there are exceptions. If you see white dots on your sidewalk, the city has inspected the area and has determined that repair of the sidewalk is the property owner’s responsibility. Green dots indicate that a City agency is responsible for repairs; this type of damage is often related to invasive roots from street trees.

If you have concerns about sidewalks near your home, contact 311 for assistance. For complete information, visit www.sfpublicworks.org. San Francisco’s Public Works Sidewalk Inspection and Repair Program is on a 25-year “proactive” inspection cycle of all city sidewalks.

This color-coded sidewalk inspection chart may be helpful:

The following information which is posted on the website of Bay Area Property Services (BAPS) may be helpful to you: www.bayservice.net/escrow-dept

When you are selling or refinancing your home, the Title Company/Lender requires Bay Area Property Services to provide certain escrow information and documents. As with any business transaction, there are fees associated with these services. BAPS has a full department ready to serve your Title Company/Lender but this department has costs such as insurance, office space, employee time, computers and technology, and materials.

• Disclosing the current assessment rate, reserve funding, and other budgeting information.
• Providing the escrow company with Association insurance information.
• Reviewing the seller's assessment account and preparing a demand statement for escrow.
• Purging the Seller's account records and setting up the Buyer's assessment records in the Association's homeowner files once the escrow has closed.
• Scanning the Grant Deed.
• Receiving, reviewing, depositing, and posting any Association funds that have been collected through the escrow process.
• Throughout the course of an escrow, there is typically a high level of contact between BAPS’ Escrow Department and the various agents involved in the transaction (listing agent, selling agent, escrow or title agent, appraiser, and lenders). Therefore, a trained professional is employed to field such inquiries as well as perform various clerical tasks.
• Additionally, sellers are required to make many disclosures to buyers. BAPS maintains current Association documents in order to assist sellers in these duties. When special-case seller disclosures are required, such as those regarding litigation, our efforts ensure that appropriate and current litigation letters are included in the disclosures.

The Association does not control which party in the escrow process will be responsible for paying the fees. Responsibility for the transfer fee, along with other transaction fees associated with sales and refinancings, are negotiated between buyer and seller.

If you are planning to make changes to your residence, please contact the Architectural Review Committee, also known as the ARC. The ARC reviews construction proposals to ensure conformance with BTHA “Design Guidelines” and CC&Rs. The ARC, which is comprised of members of the Board of Directors and non-Board members, represents a cross-section of our community; members must be appointed by the Board and include at least one Board member.

The bulk of Balboa Terrace Homes Association’s “Residential Design Guidelines and Review Process” was developed after extensive neighborhood input and review in August 2005. The full document is available here:

RESIDENTIAL DESIGN GUIDELINES (BALBOA TERRACE)

As a rule, ARC will not review plans for interior modifications as long as normal permit processes through San Francisco’s Department of Building Inspection (DBI) have been completed. DBI approves plans and issues permits for all construction in San Francisco. They make sure buildings are safe and comply with building and housing codes. Complete information on permitting is available here:

DEPARTMENT OF BUILDING INSPECTION| San Francisco (sf.gov)

The City and County of San Francisco and the State of California endorse residential solar energy systems. Any proposal for installation of a residential solar energy system will be reviewed to confirm its conformance with BTHA’s “Design Guidelines” in order to minimize the visual impact of such a system on neighborhood character. Additional information on solar permitting in San Francisco is available at:

PREPARE PLANS FOR YOUR SOLAR PANEL OR PHOTOVOLTAIC (PV) SYSTEM| San Francisco

New and replacement windows require approval by the Association’s Architectural Review Committee (ARC). These policies are to assist BTHA homeowners in replacing existing windows, or in installing new, enlarged, or redesigned windows. The following policies were updated in March 2020 and represent the latest guidelines on new and replacement windows.

WINDOW DESIGN GUIDELINES

If you have additional questions or suggestions for additions to these FAQs, please direct them to the Board of Directors at bthaboard@balboaterrace.org. Please allow seven working days for a response.