Colorado Homeowners Association Law Blog

Community association board members fill tough roles that require a great deal of attention to association business. We understand that, as board member volunteers, you need guidance from professionals to facilitate informed decision-making, allowing you to uphold your fiduciary duties to the association that you serve. To assist you in evaluating the legal priorities for your community, we have created this Legal Audit checklist. 

Place a check mark in the box beside each statement that applies to your community association.

My community association has . . .

?  adopted the seven mandatory Senate Bill 05-100 policies. 

Senate Bill 05-100 requires all associations to adopt seven different responsible governance policies concerning (1) the adoption and amendment of policies, (2) board member conflicting interest transactions, (3) covenant enforcement and fines, (4) collection of delinquent assessments, (5) conduct of meetings, (6) inspection and copying of records and (7) reserve fund investments.

?  adopted the Senate Bill 06-89 dispute resolution policy. 

Senate Bill 06-89 requires all associations to adopt a policy concerning disputes between owners and the association.

?  updated Senate Bill 05-100 policies to conform to Senate Bill 06-89 requirements. 

Senate Bill 06-89 modified some of the terms of Senate Bill 05-100, creating recommended changes to the responsible governance policies.

As part of the changes to Colorado’s foreclosure law that become effective January 1, 2008, C.R.S. §38-38-103(1)(c) will read:

If a recorded instrument does not specify the address of the party purporting to have an interest in the property under such recorded instrument, the party shall not be entitled to notice and any interest in the property under such instrument shall be extinguished upon the execution and delivery of a deed pursuant to section 38-38-501.

Meaning, if your association’s current contact information is not listed in your Declaration, a lender foreclosure could extinguish your association’s super priority lien.

When the documents say how tall it is. And when it does not say how tall one story is, there is a very good chance that language in the governing document limiting a structure to one story will be unenforceable as a restrictive covenant.

In a recent Colorado Court of Appeals decision, Allen v Reed, 155 P.3rd 443 (Colo. App. 2006) the appellate court reversed the trial court’s granting a permanent injunction ordering the defendants to remove their A-frame addition to their home, which contained a bedroom loft suite. The lawsuit did not involve the Association, but was an action between two homeowners regarding an interpretation of the Association’s restrictions limiting structures to one story.   It was unclear whether the Association Board had the authority to enforce and there was no existing architectural control committee to enforce the restriction.

The weather is warm, your Association's pool is prepped for summer, and Memorial Day is just around the corner. Everything is fine until the owners currently contesting their Association debt (the same owners whose case is currently set for trial in one month) call to request the pool key. Their son's birthday falls over the weekend and the whole family will be in town to celebrate at the pool. Your Association documents say the key can be withheld if the account of the owner is not in good standing. Do you give them the key?

Some Colorado community associations have been burdened for many years by declarations that require unattainably high vote requirements for amendments. Some of these documents not only require a high percentage of votes from members, but may also require the assent of first mortgagees in order to effectuate any changes to the document. Any association that has attempted to garner consents from mortgagees knows that this feat is nearly impossible.

The basic foundation of a Colorado Community Association is its governing documents. Each association is created and governed by several documents: the Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions, the Bylaws, and the Articles of Incorporation.