2015

Oh yes we can.

It is not unusual for us to encounter communities with strict restrictive covenants that have not been enforced in a strict manner.  Much of the time, this is due to apathy or ignorance.  In other circumstances, Board turnover results in more or less enforcement.  Some Boards hate to enforce against their neighbors, and offer so many variances the covenants might as well not even exist.  Some Boards will interpret documents in a manner different than other, future Boards, but when the documents remain the same, we have to figure out what to do to follow those documents in light of the community’s history.

A recent case in California provides a bit of guidance for those of us facing the historical enforcement challenge.  In The Villas in Whispering Palms v. Tempkin<!–, No. D065232 (Cal. Ct. App. May 18, 2015), No. D065232 (Cal. Ct. App. May 18, 2015) the California Court of Appeals held that an association board that had historically offered numerous variances to a one-dog rule was not required to offer variances.  The homeowner claimed the Board was unreasonable because it had provided variances and allowed multiple dogs in the past.  The Court ruled that the Association’s prior variances did not impact its ability to deny the requested variance.Continue Reading You Can’t Enforce That!!!

For several years now, the Aspen Pitkin County Housing Authority ("APCHA") has been a leader in providing educational opportunities for affordable housing and free market HOAs in Aspen and Pitkin County.  It’s my pleasure to teach another seminar for APCHA on June 11th entitled:  CCIOA 101 for HOA Boards, Homeowners and Managers:  Everything You Need to Know About HOA Meetings

If you live in, serve on the board of or manage…

                                                                                         

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My name is Finnegan and I live in an HOA.  Since I understand people complain a lot in HOAs about dogs, I thought it might be helpful for pet parents to hear directly from a beagle about the fundamentals of being a responsible canine companion. Here’s what you need to know:Continue Reading Finnegan’s Fundamentals of Responsible Canine Companionship

Since House Bill 1343, the manager licensure clean-up bill, has been signed into Law, the Division of Real Estate has published Emergency Rules which relate in part to obtaining a Provisional License and Apprentice License.  Here’s what you need to know:

Provisional License:  To be eligible for a Provisional License, a community association manager must:

1.  Submit a set of fingerprints for the purpose of a criminal background check;

2.  Hold a qualifying educational credential as required by the Division of Real Estate;

3.  Have sat for and not successfully passed the required portions of the Community Association Manager Examination; and

4.  Submit an application for a Provisional License. 

For those community association managers who are granted a Provisional License, those licenses will expire on January 31, 2015 and will not be issued after that date.  As a result, if you obtain a Provisional License, it will be important to focus upon retaking and passing the required portions of the Community Association Manager Examination as quickly as possible. Continue Reading Emergency Rules Addressing Provisional and Apprentice Licenses

There has been a lot of confusion pertaining to the licensure of community association managers who are employed directly by a common interest community in Colorado.  There have also been questions about whether these common interest communities must be licensed.  After obtaining clarification from the Division of Real Estate and reviewing the Emergency Rules which were just published, here’s what you need…

It’s official – Governor Hickenlooper has signed House Bill 1343 ("HB 1343") into law!  Now that this important manager licensure clean-up bill has been signed into law, we expect the Colorado Division of Real Estate to immediately publish emergency rules addressing the requirements and procedures which managers must follow to obtain the Apprentice License and Provisional License.  When the emergency rules are published, we will pass that information along to you.  In the meantime, since the provisions of HB 1343 immediately became effective, here is what managers need to know about the clean-up bill: 

●          The bill clears up who is required to be licensed as a Community Association Manager (“CAM”) and who is not required to be licensed. 

●          CEOs of management companies who do not engage in community association management and are not the Designated Manager for their companies, are not required to be licensed as CAMs.

●          An employee of a management company, working under the supervision of a licensed CAM, is not required to be licensed if that employee performs clerical, ministerial, accounting or maintenance functions.

●          An employee of a common interest community who only performs clerical, ministerial, accounting or maintenance functions is not required to be licensed as a CAM.

●          An independent contractor who only performs clerical, ministerial, accounting or maintenance functions, and who does not perform community association management functions, is not required to be licensed.

●          An individual holding an Apprentice License and who is working under the direct supervision of a CAM, is not required to be licensed as a CAM during the period of time their Apprentice License is in effect (1 year). Continue Reading Manager Licensure Clean-Up Bill Signed Into Law!

On Sunday, the Denver Post ran an article indicating that community association managers are struggling with passing the manager licensure exam and some representatives of Community Associations Institute ("CAI") feel the test may not be well written.  While the overall pass rate for both portions of the exam was accurately reported and is absolutely respectable, here’s the good news for community association…

Now that S.B. 177 has been killed, it might be useful to talk about what our concerns were with its provisions. We don’t disagree that the process of resolving construction defect claims needs to be corrected. What we oppose is the resolution on the backs of consumer home buyers by effectively taking away their rights to some recourse in the event they suffer from significant defects in the design or construction of their homes.Continue Reading Whose Ox is Being Gored? Construction Defects Legislation in Colorado