The Club has not provided a written legal opinion that the Initiation Fee is allowed by law, and is either not a transfer fee, or falls within the transfer fee prohibition exceptions of Civil Code 4580.
It was the opinion of the CBOD Policy Committee that the Initiation Fee was not a “transfer fee,” and so they did not have to offer financing. Of course, a court may see it differently.
Civil Code 4110 states that ” ‘Community service organization or similar entity’ means a nonprofit entity, other than an association, that is organized to provide services to residents of the common interest development or to the public in addition to the residents, to the extent community common area or facilities are available to the public.”
The Club is probably a community service organization.