“Condos were a great stepping stone for individuals and families looking to gain ownership experience, but we don’t have that anymore,” she said. “Individuals that cannot afford the median home price of about $300,000 are left with the rental market and that’s a big challenge.” Read more……..
Sides in Burlingame (CO) lawsuit still millions of dollars apart in dispute
The sides involved in a construction-defect lawsuit related to building materials used in the first phase of the Burlingame Ranch affordable housing project remain $3 million apart from a settlement, a court filing made Friday says. Read more………
Lakewood’s (CO) challenge to Colorado’s defects law likely to be settled in court
The next venue for Lakewood’s first-of-a-kind measure challenging the state’s much-debated construction-defects law could be a courtroom. Already, various interests — lawyers, builders, municipalities — in the contentious debate over how state law is affecting the construction of new condominiums in Colorado are assessing the legal underpinnings of an ordinance approved early Tuesday morning by […]
Lakewood (CO) passes construction-defects changes targeting condo lawsuits
The city of Lakewood on Monday became the first Colorado municipality to pass an ordinance that changes the way the state’s construction-defects law works within the city, by a vote of 7-4. After lengthy discussion that included nearly two hours of public comment from those both in support of and opposed to the changes, the […]
Construction Defect Claims Tackled By Lakewood (CO)
The impact of construction defect lawsuits on condominium development in Colorado has been a hot topic recently. Colorado law treats residential construction differently than non-residential construction. This increases the risk of construction defect claims on residential projects, particularly when there is a homeowners’ association. Read more………
Blotter: HOA member harassed (CO)
On Wednesday, Sept. 24, a Windsor police officer responded to a call about a woman being harassed because she was a member of a homeowners association. Read more………
The days of simply being able to smoke ‘em, anywhere, if you got ‘em are long gone, and smoking pot at home may be going the same way.
Where this is going to get dicey in Aurora is in apartment, condo and townhouse complexes. Homeowner associations governing these communities can and should regulate drunken behavior in common areas, but they can’t and shouldn’t restrict residents from consuming legal alcoholic beverages Read more…………
Hemp: How an HOA ruling is forcing Jim Denny to give away all his plants (CO)
Jim Denny has 7,500 square feet of hemp plants and a problem: His homeowners association has found that his plants are a violation of the HOA rules and has ordered him to “replace” them by the end of next week. The reason? The HOA board says that Denny failed to get approval for “landscaping modifications” […]
SB 14-220 Runs out of Time
As quick as SB 14-220 was introduced, it was declared dead almost as fast. After passing out of the Senate Committee on State, Veterans and Military Affairs on a 3-2 vote, it was referred to the Judiciary Committee where, given the lack of time remaining in the session, the Committee declined to schedule the bill […]
Colorado: Construction Defect Bill Dead for Session
Senate Bill 14-220 (“SB 220”) is dead for the session. Sponsored by Senator Jesse Ulibarri (D-Commerce City), who represents himself as an advocate for affordable housing, this bill was a molotov cocktail created to destroy the ability of homeowners living in HOAs to recover from builders for defective construction. Read more……..
Construction-defects reform bill companion dies in Colorado Legislature
A three-pronged approach to addressing the shortage of affordable condominiums in Colorado lost a prong Thursday when a Senate committee decided there was no need to have multiple state agencies study the issue. Read more……….
Bill Introduced to Strip Homeowners of Ability to Recover for Construction Defects
With one week remaining in the 2014 legislative session, Senate Bill 14 – 220 (“SB 220”) was introduced yesterday evening in the Colorado Senate. While it may seem to some that this bill was introduced too late in the session to have any chance of passage, with relaxed rules in place for the end of […]
Construction-defects reform bill (CO) is yet to be introduced after accusations that leaders were attempting to delay it to death
Colorado House Speaker Mark Ferrandino predicted Tuesday morning that a construction-defects reform bill will die this year, about 10 hours before a second measure dealing with the lack of condominium housing — but not the the long-awaited measure for which business groups and metro mayors have been pushing — was introduced in the Colorado Legislature […]
Condo-building incentives — but not lawsuit curbs — introduced in Senate
Half of the construction-defects package that business groups have been waiting for is now in play in the Colorado Legislature. Read more……..
Management Company Transparency Bill Signed Into Law (CO)
On April 18th, Governor Hickenlooper signed HB 1254 into law. The bill addresses the disclosure of fees charged to HOAs in Colorado by management companies. HB 1254 will go into effect on January 1, 2015. Here’s what you need to know about the bill: Read more………
Proposed Manager Licensure Rules Published for Public Comment
The Colorado Division of Real Estate has developed proposed rules for the licensure of community association managers. Those rules have just been published for public comment. That means that every citizen in Colorado has an opportunity to review the proposed rules and provide comment to the Division of Real Estate on them. Read more………
Management Company Transparency Bill Headed to Governor Hickenlooper’s Desk! (CO)
On a vote of 53 to 11 (with one representative excused), the Colorado House of Representatives just voted to approve the Senate amendments to House Bill 14-1254 (“HB 1254”). The next stop for HB 1254 is Governor Hickenlooper’s desk where we fully expect he will sign the bill into law. Once that happens, HB 1254 […]
HOA Records Bill Signed Into Law (CO)
During a bill signing ceremony today, Governor Hickenlooper signed House Bill 14-1125 (“HB 1125”) into law. HB 1125 will go into effect on August 6th and fixes an inadvertent oversight in the HOA records law which has made it impossible for HOAs to include in membership directories the telephone numbers and email addresses of owners […]
Management Company Transparency Bill Easily Clears the Senate!
This morning, House Bill 14-1254 (“HB 1254”) was passed by the Senate on 3rd reading on a 32 to 3 vote. The bill, which was amended in the Senate to require that fees and charges be included in a management contract to be enforceable, is now headed to the House for concurrence with the Senate […]
Management Company Transparency Bill Easily Clears the Senate! (CO)
This morning, House Bill 14-1254 (“HB 1254”) was passed by the Senate on 3rd reading on a 32 to 3 vote. The bill, which was amended in the Senate to require that fees and charges be included in a management contract to be enforceable, is now headed to the House for concurrence with the Senate […]
HOA Records Bill Headed to Governor Hickenlooper! (CO)
If signed into law, HB 1125 will go into effect on August 6, 2014. HB 1125 permits an association to publish email addresses and telephone numbers of members and residents of the association, if those members or residents first provide written consent to their association to publish this information. Read more…….
Judge orders mediation in suit (CO)
The litigation was filed last year following what plaintiffs say was an illegal election violating POA declarations, bylaws and state election laws. Read more……..
Oops! The Developer Did It Again! Can A Developer’s Shoddy Work Get An Association In Trouble?
Imagine renting the HOA club house for a family reunion. As the reunion is winding down, the attendees decide to have a photograph taken of the family. After all, who knows when all these relatives will be in the same place again? As the family members gather on the upper deck of the clubhouse and […]
Two HOA-Related Bills Dead For the Session (CO)
Two bills that would have negatively impacted HOAs in Colorado are dead for the session. Here is what you need to know: Read more…….
Rewritten Transfer Fee Bill Sails Through the House! (CO)
House Bill 14-1254 (“HB 1254”) has just cleared the Colorado House of Representatives and will soon be introduced in the Senate. HB 1254 was heard last Thursday in the House Business, Labor, Economic & Workforce Development Committee. After extensive testimony on the bill by CAI members and illuminating questioning led by Representative Chris Holbert (R-Douglas […]
Homeowner association bill advances (CO)
The Colorado House gave a preliminary nod to a bill Tuesday that would allow homeowner association boards to have a say in any fee increases from their management agents. The measure, HB1254, is designed to fill a hole in changes the Legislature made last year to HOA managers to ensure the boards that hire them […]
Transfer Fee Disclosure Bill Unanimously Passes to Committee of the Whole (CO)
After extensive testimony in the House Business, Labor, Economic, and Workforce Development Committee this afternoon, the HOA transfer fee bill (HB14-1254) passed out of committee, with no amendments, for consideration by the House of Representatives. Read more……..
Highlands Ranch gets energy efficient (CO)
The Highlands Ranch Community Association is almost done with work that could save at least $185,000 a year in energy efficiencies. Read more………
HOA Records Bill Clears Colorado House of Representatives
House Bill 14-1125 (“HB 1125”), introduced in the House of Representatives by Representative Diane Mitsch Bush (D-Steamboat Springs), has cleared the House with no amendments and was introduced just yesterday in the Senate and assigned to the Senate Local Government Committee. Read more………
Four Traits of Successful Board Members
If you plan on running for the HOA board of your community, you have probably developed campaign strategies that distinguish you from the competition and highlight your commitment to the neighborhood, however, have you thought about how you’ll perform after being elected? Read more……..
(CO) HB 1125 Unanimously Clears House Business Committee
This afternoon, House Bill 1125 (“HB 1125”) was taken up by the House Business, Labor, Economic & Workforce Development Committee (“House Business Committee”) for consideration. As you will recall, HB 1125 is intended to fix an inadvertent oversight in the association records law which was overhauled during the 2012 legislative session and went into effect […]
What’s in a Transfer Fee-That is the Question? (CO)
Last week it was reported that Rep. Jeanne Labuda indicated that she would be introducing legislation taking aim on management company transfer fees. This sparked tremendous debate on both sides of the issue and the value of a transfer fee. Read more…….
Bill Introduced to Fix Oversight in CCIOA Records Provision (CO)
House Bill 14-1125 (“HB 1125”) was introduced today by Representative Diane Mitsch Bush (D-Steamboat Springs) to fix an inadvertent oversight in the association records law which was overhauled during the 2012 legislative session and went into effect on January 1, 2013. Read more……..
Residential Storage Condominium Unit Bill Introduced (CO)
Yesterday, House Bill 14-1143 (“HB 1143”) was introduced to address how storage condominium units are taxed. According to the legislation, residential real property is taxed at 7.96% while commercial property is tax at 29%. Read more…….
More Evidence that Construction Defect Bill Likely (CO)
During yesterday’s Denver Business Journal’s State of the Cities forum, the mayors of Denver and Aurora agreed there needs to be changes to the state’s construction defect laws. Claiming that there is too much liability risk for builders, developers and subcontractors because it is easy for associations to sue for defects, particularly in condominiums. Mayor […]
The Attack on Transfer Fees
The first major legislative issue concerning homeowners associations within the state of Colorado was kicked off today on competing fronts. In a Call to Action sent by CAI’s Legislative Action Committee, community association professionals were alerted of pending legislation geared at capping or eliminating transfer fees collected by management companies when a unit or home […]
DORA Report (CO) Issued – And Changes Are a Coming (just not this year)
As part of the sweeping changes to the Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act in the 2013 legislative season, the Office of HOA Information and Resources was required to study the legislative and operational components of other states to determine how those regulatory structures work and deliver a report, along with recommendations back to the Legislature. […]
Guest opinion (CO): Our roads, our responsibility
Yesterday, as former president of my HOA, I received a note asking both if I was aware of the latest propaganda email from Fairness in Road Maintenance (FIRM) stating that, without immediate action, I would lose all right to object to a new assessment on my property, and what I was going to do. I […]
Burlingame lawsuit likely headed to trial
Burlingame homeowners are preparing to take a construction defect lawsuit to trial, after the parties failed to come to terms through a mediation process. Read more…….
Diligent Board or Conscientious Attorney?
In his October 13, 2013 column in the Vail Daily News, attorney T.J. Voboril says that if you already know about HB 1276 you are either a diligent homeowners association board member or you have a conscientious homeowners association attorney. We hope it is both! But, in case you aren’t as familiar with HB 1276 […]
CO: State HOA group will discuss HOA issues and concerns in Loveland on May 11
The Colorado Homeowners Association Information Office and Resource Center will have a community outreach event 9 a.m.- noon May 11 at the Pulliam Community Building, 545 N. Cleveland Ave. Officials will discuss the role and function of the office, provide statistics and information regarding HOA issues and concerns, and give participants an opportunity to voice […]