CAI National made the following announcement regarding a HUD ban on sellers paying assessments at closing:
"The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has acted to ban the practice of sellers agreeing to pay a set amount of association assessments for a buyer when closing on a FHA-insured mortgage. The ban is included in …
In The Open Forum today in the Denver Post, the following letter was published which gives a fresh perspective on why problems arise in HOAs.
"RE: "HOA house may get put in order." February 13th news story.
We agonize about students who can’t read. What about adults who won’t read? …
The Denver Post recently reported that Colorado will “receive $204.6 million as part of a $25 billion deal that states have reached with the nation’s biggest mortgage lenders over foreclosure abuses that occurred after the housing bubble burst.”
In addition to the financial settlement, banks will be required to “stop the use of robo-signing, end the process of dual tracking of loans, provide a single point of contact for customers as they move through the loan-modification process and abide by deadlines for loan modifications.”
The Post reports that “Colorado will get: Continue Reading Will Foreclosure Relief Funds Ultimately Benefit HOAs?
Yesterday I attended and testified at a hearing before the House Local Government Committee on House Bill 12-1237 (“HB 1237”) relating to the production of association records to homeowners. While an amended version of HB 1237 was reported out of Committee and seems to be on its way to passage in the Colorado House of Representatives, that is not what really caught my attention.
What made me sit up and take notice were the comments made by Representative Balmer when he made a motion to refer the bill out of Committee to the full House with an “extremely” favorable recommendation. Representative Balmer is a Republican from Centennial and as a general rule Republicans do not favor regulation. However, when it comes to HOA legislation that has not been the case. Continue Reading Concerns Over HOA Accountability in Colorado Crosses Party Lines
On January 16th, I blogged on House Bill 1057 which would have required the Insurance Commissioner to adopt the following rules relating to homeowner’s insurance: (1) the criteria and requirements for estimates of replacement value of insured property; and (2) educational requirements for insurance producers related to homeowner’s insurance – including estimating replacement values. The…
Yesterday, CBS News 4 ran a segment on the 6:00 pm news addressing the failure of HOAs to produce records to owners as highlighted in the 2011 Annual Report of the HOA Information and Resource Center. While we can always count on news outlets to run a sensationalized “HOA horror story,” the good news is the story they recounted ended with the HOA ultimately doing the right thing by producing records. Continue Reading CBS News 4 Covers HOA Records Bill
Last Friday, I attended a legislative briefing by the Director of the Division of Real Estate and the HOA Information Officer on the findings outlined in the 2011 Annual Report of the HOA Information and Resource Center (“Annual Report”). Having repeatedly reviewed and written about the Annual Report, I wasn’t surprised to hear the comments relating to things like transparency and the failure of some HOAs to produce records. What did catch my attention was the contention that some HOA law firms are inappropriately utilizing foreclosure as a remedy for past due assessments or to push folks out of their homes.
I have to say that I found it interesting that “HOA law firms” were classified as a potential decision maker on whether an HOA will foreclose on a delinquent owner. The decision to proceed with a foreclosure should never be delegated to a law firm or an insurance company for that matter. Instead, the boards of HOAs should always make this decision on a case-by-case basis after carefully considering their options and the potential ramifications of proceeding with foreclosure. Continue Reading HOA Foreclosures: Case-by-Case is Key
This morning, the Denver Post ran a front page story entitled HOA house may get put in order. While the story opens with a sensationalized account of a foreclosure which was not tied to manager misconduct, the story recognizes CAI as the leader in promoting the competent management of community associations in Colorado. As Chris Pacetti was quoted as saying, “We are trying to establish a level of professionalism and performance in the industry.” The article further highlights the need for criminal background checks, training and licensure.
Brian Tobias, the Senior Policy Analyst at the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies (“DORA”) who is conducting the Sunrise review, boiled down the review process as follows: “A key question that the state is asking is whether community association managers cause harm, and, if so, would regulation fix it.” Continue Reading Denver Post Covers Manager Regulation
Today House Bill 12-1237 (“HB 1237”) was introduced in the Colorado General Assembly to address the issue of the retention and production of community association records. CAI’s Colorado Legislative Action Committee (“CLAC”) worked with Representative Angela Williams to draft this bill which seeks to provide clarity to management, executive boards and owners on exactly what records must be retained by an association and produced to owners upon request.
Given the fact that the current records provision of the Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act (“CCIOA”), C.R.S. 38-33.3-317, is the provision that received the most complaints by the HOA Information Officer – introduction of this bill is very timely.
HB 1237 is substantially based upon revisions made to a similar provision of the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act (“UCIOA”) by the National Council of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws. UCIOA is the model act which our CCIOA is based upon. In addition to substantially adopting the revisions made to UCIOA, the bill also inserts key provisions of the Colorado Revised Nonprofit Corporation Act into CCIOA.
Here are some highlights of HB 1237:Continue Reading Bill Introduced to Address Association Records
In response to a Colorado Open Records Act (“CORA”) request, I was provided with the 2011 Annual Report of the HOA Information and Resource Center. This is the long-awaited report that focuses on the activities of the HOA Information and Resource Center (the “Office”) including a synopsis of inquiries and complaints. Below I have outlined just a few interesting points made in the Annual Report. However, to be clear, these are snippets of information and I highly recommend that you review the entire Report for context and a full understanding of the data and related issues.
Here are just a few of the interesting points made in the Annual Report: Continue Reading 2011 Annual Report Of The HOA Information And Resource Center
