PETER E. RACOBS has been a member of the California State Bar since 1983. He is Vice President, a Senior Shareholder and Director of Fiore Racobs & Powers and senior supervising attorney of the Firm's Inland Empire office in Riverside. His preparatory education was received at the University of California, Riverside, where he was a member of the Senior Honors Seminar and a graduate with the degree of Bachelor of Arts (B.A.). Mr. Racobs received his legal education at King Hall, University of California, Davis, where he received the degree of Juris Doctor (J.D.) in 1983.
Mr. Racobs is a past President and Vice President of the Greater Inland Empire Chapter of the Community Associations Institute, which awarded him its first Outstanding Service Award in 1993. In 1995, Mr. Racobs was also the first inductee into the Hall of Fame of the Greater Inland Empire Chapter of CAI. In 1996, he was a faculty member at the 17th Annual Community Association Law Seminar. In 1998, Mr. Racobs was a speaker at the 45th National CAI Conference in Washington, D.C., on the subject of innovative amendments to governing documents. In September, 2004, Mr. Racobs lectured on "Enforcement of Amended CC&Rs for Large Scale Communities" to the 24th Annual Workshop of the Large Scale Community Managers (CAI).
In fall 2000 and winter 2001, Mr. Racobs was co-instructor of Homeowners’ Association Board Basics at the California State University, San Bernardino, College of Extended Learning.
Mr. Racobs was lead counsel for the successful appellant in Lake Arrowhead Chalets Timeshare Owners Assn. v. Lake Arrowhead Chalets Owners Assn. (1996) 51 Cal.App.4th 1409, which defined the extent to which corporate members are entitled to approve amendments that affect voting rights. He successfully represented the plaintiff in Villa de las Palmas v. Terifaj (2004) 33 Cal.4th 73, before the California Supreme Court, which recognized a presumption of validity for CC&R amendments approved by association members. Mr. Racobs represented the successful plaintiff in Bear Creek Master Assn. v. Edwards (2005) 130 Cal App 4th 1470, which established that assessments may properly be charged to the owner of unbuilt condominium units. He was also counsel for the successful appellant in Starlight Ridge South v. Hunter-Bloor (2009) 177 Cal.App 4th 440, which held that the past conduct of the Association and owners could be used to help interpret ambiguous CC&R provisions.
Mr. Racobs is a member of the Riverside County Bar Association, and has testified as an expert witness on community association issues at trials in the Riverside and Los Angeles County Superior Courts.
In 2003, Mr. Racobs presented a continuing legal education program to members of the Riverside County Bar on homeowners association law. In February, 2004, he was an instructor on the subject of association reserves at the Los Angeles and San Diego Annual Law Seminars of the California Association of Community Managers. In 2011, he was an instructor at the CAI Legal Forum & Exposition in Long Beach, California. In 2013, Mr. Racobs was a panelist at Senator Richard Roth's Riverside County Mobilehome Conference addressing issues related to mobilehome communities that are also common interest developments.
