2013

Governor Hickenlooper signed SB13-126 into law today, requiring community associations to permit owners to install Type 1 and Type 2 electric vehicle charging stations on their lots and on limited common elements designated for an individual owner’s use. SB13-126 adds Section 106.8 to the Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act and states the following reason for the legislation:

The primary purpose of this section is to ensure that common interest communities provide their residents with at least a meaningful opportunity to take advantage of the availability of plug-in electric vehicles rather than create artificial restrictions on the adoption of this promising technology

By M.O. Stevens (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia CommonsContinue Reading Get Charged Up! Electric Vehicles Coming to a Neighborhood Near You

On a 3 to 2 vote, the Senate Local Government Committee just approved an amended version of House Bill 13-1277 (HB 1277).  This bill, which would require the licensure of community association managers and management company executives in Colorado, will now be sent to the Senate Appropriations Committee for consideration.  We expect the bill to clear the…

As expected, House Bill HB 1134 (HB 1134) has cleared the Senate on a 20 to 15 party line vote.  HB 1134 is the bill that will study the need for expanded regulatory authority for the HOA Information Officer and the HOA Information and Resource Center.  Since the bill was not amended in the Senate, the next stop for the bill will be Governor Hickenlooper’s desk where we expect him to sign HB 1134 into law.Continue Reading HB 1134 Clears Senate on Party Line Vote

An amended version of House Bill 13-1276 (HB 1276), the bill which addresses HOA debt collections, just sailed through the Senate on a unanimous vote of 35 to 0.  Given the sometimes ugly partisan politics which have been present in these final days of the 2013 legislative session – a 35 to 0 vote in the Senate is rather astounding and demonstrates a bipartisan commitment to ensuring that HOAs are dealing fairly with owners who are delinquent in their assessments.  The bill will now go back to the House for concurrence with Senate amendments and then on to the Governor who we expect to sign HB 1276 into law with an effective date of January 1, 2014. 

Here are highlights of HB 1276: Continue Reading HOA Debt Collection Bill Sails Through Senate with Unanimous Approval

 We’ve written many times about the Federal Fair Housing Act and its applicability to community associations. One of the more frequent questions that we have to deal with is residents requesting permission to keep their assistance animals. 

In Colorado and under the Federal Fair Housing Act, it is unlawful to refuse to make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices or services when the accommodation may be necessary to afford a disabled person an equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling unit, including public and common areas. This applies as well to enforcement of restrictive covenantsContinue Reading Fair Housing and Assistance Animals