Molly Foley-Healy

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I love springtime in Colorado! The perennials in our flower beds are popping up, the trees in our yard are flowering and my allergies are truly a gift to behold. However, my love of spring is nothing compared to the how the flower fairies are feeling.

Come on – ADMIT IT – you’ve seen at least one flower fairy in your lifetime! In fact, I have it on good authority from a friendly garden gnome that the wise people have assigned one flower fairy to beautify every yard, patio and balcony located in an HOA in Colorado. Continue Reading Attention Homeowners: Please Control Your Flower Fairies

One of the most common governance questions we receive from HOA boards is whether they are permitted under Colorado law to hold a closed door “working session.” When asked why they want to prohibit HOA members/owners from attending these working sessions, we are inevitably told “homeowners are constantly interrupting us and we just can’t get anything done.”   

The Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act (“CCIOA”), atC.R.S. 38-33.3-308(2)(a), provides in part that “All regular and special meetings of the association’s executive board, or any committee thereof, shall be open to attendance by all members of the association or their representatives. . .” While CCIOA does not specifically define what constitutes a “meeting,” it is safe to say that anytime a board or committee convenes to conduct business, work through HOA issues or make decisions – that constitutes a meeting which the members are entitled to attend. Continue Reading Open Meetings Shouldn’t Be Unproductive Meetings

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has published a Final Rule in the Federal Register that limits the ability of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks to deal in mortgages on properties that are encumbered by private transfer fee covenants.  

A News Release from FHFA announced the outstanding news that "The final rule excludes…

The Community Associations Institute’s (CAI) – Colorado Legislative Action Committee (CLAC) has been carefully reviewing DORA’s 2012 Sunrise Review: Common Interest Community Association Managers (Sunrise Review). For those of you who have read the Sunrise Review, you know that DORA ultimately recommended the regulation of management companies.      

The CLAC feels that DORA’s recommendation to regulate management companies will not provide protection to all Coloradoans living in homeowners’ associations. DORA’s conclusion that, “For the most part, community associations contract with management companies, not individual community managers” does not accurately reflect the fact that many associations around Colorado retain the services of managers who are not affiliated with a management company.Continue Reading CLAC Update on Status of Manager/Management Company Regulation

This morning the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) published the Sunrise Review on whether the licensure of community association managers in Colorado is necessary. The Sunrise Review Application submitted by CAI’s Colorado Legislative Action Committee (“CLAC”) recommended the licensure of individual community association managers. 

The analysis in the Sunrise Review focused largely on whether unregulated community association managers pose potential harm to the residents living in community associations and the financial costs associated with potential regulation. The categories of “harm” outlined in the report include: Continue Reading Communication from CLAC on DORA Sunrise Review

The Denver Post ran a Guest Commentary this morning from Chris Pacetti the Co-Chair of the Manager Licensure Task Force of CAI’s Colorado Legislative Action Committee ("CLAC"). The Guest Commentary outlines the reasoning behind the submission of the Sunrise Application for manager licensure and makes the case for the regulation of community association managers. 

We expect…

This morning, an amended version of House Bill 12-1237 (“HB 1237”), sponsored by Representative Angela Williams and supported by CAI’s Colorado Legislative Action Committee, was passed by the Colorado House on second reading. The bill will soon be heard on 3rd reading by the full House and is expected to be passed and sent to the Senate for consideration. Senator Ted Harvey, a Republican from Highlands Ranch, has kindly agreed to sponsor the bill in the Senate. 

 

HB 1237 was highlighted and received positive press yesterday in the Denver Post. The bill addresses the retention and production of HOA records. The bill is intended to clarify: (1) what exactly are records of the association; (2) what records must be retained by associations: (3) what records must be produced to owners upon request; and (4) what records are exempted from production.  In addition to these clarifying provisions, HB 1237 disposes of the requirement that owners provide a “proper purpose” prior to being permitted to inspect and obtain copies of records. Continue Reading HOA Records Bill Passes the Colorado House on 2nd Reading