For many folks, Valentine’s Day is traditionally thought of as a day of roses, chocolate, stuffed bears, hugs and kisses. I would like to get a bit off the traditional track of Valentine’s Day and wonder aloud if you are feeling the love in your HOA. So are you?
As homeowners, residents, board members and managers in…
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 on January 1, 2013. Currently, the Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act (“CCIOA”) prohibits associations from publishing the telephone numbers and email addresses of members. Obviously, this limits the information associations may publish in membership directories.
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. Owners and residents may withdraw this written consent, but such withdrawal of consent does not require their association to go back and “change, retrieve or destroy” previously published telephone numbers or email addresses. Also, the bill permits owners and residents to electronically provide or withdraw their consent to their associations.Continue Reading HB 1125 Unanimously Clears House Business Committee
Winzenburg, Leff, Purvis & Payne, LLP, is pleased to announce that Doug Stallworthy will join the firm on February 10, 2014. Doug previously focused his practice on real estate, commercial leasing, corporate law, civil litigation, community associations, and employment law. At Winzenburg, Doug will focus on the transactional and business needs of community associations throughout…
Earlier today the Colorado HOA Information and Resource Office released its 2013 Annual Report. Interestingly, the number of complaints more than doubled – from 576 in 2012 to 1,248 in 2013 – but the number of people logging complaints only increased slightly from 309 complainants in 2012 to 327 in 2013. The most complaints…
I have to admit, I’m not a fan but was intrigued when I discovered that Porscha Williams from the hit show ‘The Real Housewives’ was hit with a Judgment of nearly $18,000.00 for failing to pay association assessment fees and other charges. Apparently, a garnishment was authorized to attempt to collect the outstanding debt. http://rollingout.com/tv/reality-tv-tv/porsha-williams-accused-owing-18000-homeowners-association/Continue Reading Even ‘Real Housewives’ Must Pay Assessments!
While folks were understandably concerned about an onerous transfer fee bill proposed by Representative Jeanne Labuda (D-Denver), and some even publicly announced that introduction and passage of the bill was a foregone conclusion, CAI’s Colorado Legislative Action Committee (“CLAC”) is pleased to announce that Representative Labuda has completely rewritten her proposed transfer fee bill to instead require managers and management companies to disclose the fees they charge and funds they receive related to their relationship with the HOAs they manage.
HB 14-1254 (“HB 1254”) was introduced today in the Colorado House of Representatives with Representative Labuda as the House Sponsor. Senator David Balmer (R-Centennial), who has been a champion of fair and balanced HOA legislation which also provides important consumer protections, has signed on as the Senate sponsor of the bill. Continue Reading Proposed Transfer Fee Bill Rewritten to Require Transparency
We receive many calls from board members of homeowner association clients inquiring about complaints made by unhappy members of their communities and threats of lawsuits against the directors. The complaints run the full gamut from failure to enforce the governing documents, to unfair enforcement of the governing documents, to failure to abide by the governing documents or CCIOA, or any of a number of other complaints. Being a lawyer, I generally answer their question with one of my own – “You do have D & O insurance in place, don’t you?” I get a little worried when the answer is another question – “What’s that?”Continue Reading Protection for the Board – D & O Insurance
Senator Owen Hill (R-El Paso) has just introduced Senate Bill 14-140 (“SB 140”) which would impact the lien rights of those HOAs which fall within the Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act (“CCIOA”) exception for small new cooperatives and small and limited expense planned communities. In order to be permitted to record liens for past due assessments, to…
House Bill 14-1165 (“HB 1165”) was introduced yesterday in the Colorado House of Representatives by Representative Randy Fischer (D-Larimer County). The bill would cap the retainage permitted in construction contracts to 5% and would render unenforceable provisions in these contracts with higher a retainage. This bill would impact construction contracts for all HOAs with more than 4 units. In other words, almost every HOA in Colorado could be impacted by this bill.
A retainage in a construction contract is the money held back from payment to the contractor until the construction project reaches substantial completion and the work is accepted by the HOA. In order to ensure the work is completed in an acceptable manner, a 10% retainage is pretty standard in construction contracts. An acceptable retainage is also motivational to contractors to complete their work in a reasonable timeframe. Continue Reading Bill Introduced to Cap Retainage on Construction Contracts
As you’re probably aware, effective January 1, 2014, recreational pot became legal in Colorado. This new law is already affecting homeowners associations. While some associations started planning for pot smoking residents last year when the law was passed, not every community association moved quickly to adopt rules and regulations or amend restrictive covenants to address anticipated issues related to recreational pot smoking. If your association has not yet considered whether the new marijuana laws will affect your community, or if you’re thinking about how to tackle problems before they occur, here are some things to consider:
Shared spaces. Most associations have the authority to create rules and regulations that control activities in outdoor and indoor common area spaces. If your association already regulates tobacco smoking in these areas, the association, through board of director action, may consider extending those smoking policies to marijuana use. Associations should also evaluate the extent to which local laws interact with association rules and regulations and seek to fill any regulatory gaps that warrant attention in specific communities. Boards will want to pay particular attention to areas of their communities where use of marijuana will impact other residents. For example, with tobacco smoke, smoking near doorways and windows of other units are areas that typically result in complaints from residents.Continue Reading Marijuana Matters: Has your association taken a shot at regulating pot?
