Molly Foley-Healy

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With only 9 days left in the Colorado legislative session, two significant bills remain in play for HOAs in Colorado. 

The transfer fee bill (“SB 234”) was passed on 3rd reading Friday by the full Senate. While the bill has been significantly amended by the Senate, the HOA provisions we outlined in our April 26th blog posting remain in place. SB 234 is currently slated to be heard Wednesday by the House Committee on State Affairs. Continue Reading Transfer Fee & HOA Registration Clean-Up Bills Headed to the House

Last night as I watched President Obama announce that U.S. Special Forces had taken out Osama Bin Laden, I felt transported back to September 11, 2001. At the time, I was the Vice President of Government & Public Affairs for the National Community Associations Institute (“CAI National"). Our offices were located in Alexandria, Virginia which is a suburb of Washington, DC and a stones throw away from Reagan National Airport and the Pentagon. 

Barbara Byrd Keenan, then CEO of CAI National, was convening our weekly Executive Team meeting when we heard about the first plane hitting the World Trade Center. We thought it was odd and assumed a propeller plane had hit one of the towers. Minutes later, we received word that planes had hit the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Several of us ran up to the patio located on the roof of our high rise building and could see black smoke billowing out of the Pentagon. There was no doubt about it – the United States was under attack.   Continue Reading Community Association Unity in the Wake of September 11th

After giving stakeholders time to work through proposed amendments to Senate Bill 11-234 (“SB 234”), late last week the Senate Committee on Local Government (“Committee”) referred an amended version of the transfer fee bill to the full Senate for consideration. While SB 234 has not yet been placed on the Senate Calendar to be considered on second reading, we expect the Senate will take up the bill very soon. (For the bill to be sent to the House for consideration, the Senate must pass the bill on second and third readings.)

From the HOA perspective, the good news is the provisions we really care about have remained unchanged in SB 234. In fact, the HOA-specific provisions were not the subject of controversy during the Committee hearing. The following provisions remain excluded from the definition of “Transfer Fee Covenant” in the bill and are permitted to be charged:Continue Reading HOA Provisions Still Safe in Transfer Fee Bill

Next Friday is going to be a banner day. It’s the day of the long-awaited Royal Wedding and the Community Associations Institute (“CAI”) Spring Showcase! While it’s certainly a day to celebrate, it’s also an outstanding opportunity for folks in the HOA industry to come together, to share and learn from one another. 

Did you know that a recent national survey conducted by the CAI found that the majority of the nation’s estimated 310,000 HOAs are undergoing financial strain? In the survey of more than 1,500 community managers, 54% said their associations face “serious” or “severe” problems as a result of the economic downturn.Continue Reading Grab Your Top Hat or Tiara and Join Us at CAI’s Spring Showcase!

Senate Bill 11-253 (“SB 253”), sponsored by Senator Morgan Carroll and Representative Angela Williams, was just introduced in the Colorado General Assembly. The purpose of the bill is to clean-up and clarify provisions of HB 10-1278 which last year created the HOA Information and Resource Center (“Center”) and the HOA Registration to fund the Center – both of which are under the auspices of the Colorado Division of Real Estate (“Division”).  

CAI’s Colorado Legislative Action Committee (“CLAC”) supports SB 253 and worked hard to get the legislation introduced. Here’s what you need to know about the bill:Continue Reading Late Status Bill Just Introduced to Clean-Up HOA Registration

I love Maggie – our beautiful black lab. She is the sweetest most lovable dog you will ever meet. She is mellow and well behaved . . . that is until she steps outside into the backyard. Maggie immediately becomes a one-dog Neighborhood Watch and a BAD BARKING CITIZEN! 

While I’m extremely annoyed by Maggie’s barking, I can only imagine how my neighbors feel about it. It’s up to me as a homeowner living in an HOA to get the problem under control. After all, it’s natural for dogs to bark. In fact, I have it on good authority that barking is in their job description. 

 

If you live in an HOA and are putting up with a bad barking citizen, here are some tips to deal with the problem:Continue Reading Who Let the Dogs Out?

Imagine this – you are an avid environmentalist, you are lucky enough to be one of the first individuals in your state to purchase the Chevy Volt (an entirely electric car), you have your Volt customized to make it even more fuel-efficient than normal and you proudly drive your car home only to realize at the moment you pull into the parking lot of your condominium association that there’s no place to charge your Volt. Yikes! What do you do now? 

As reported by WAMU 88.5, that’s exactly what happened to Ron Ball of Fairfax County, Virginia. Not only did Mr. Ball live in a condominium association with no charging station for his Volt, he also has no garage or even a designated parking space. Luckily, Mr. Ball lives in an association where the board was willing to have a serious dialogue with him and to come up with a solution to deal with charging his new car. Continue Reading Electric Car Owner Avoids Condominium Association Shock!

On Tuesday afternoon, the Senate Committee on Local Government (“Committee’) held a hearing on Senate Bill 11-234 (“SB 234”) – the residential transfer fee bill. As we noted in our April 7th blog posting, SB 234 currently prohibits the future recording of residential transfer fee covenants or liens which require payment of a transfer fee. The bill has several carve outs which include the fees management companies charge in relation to the conveyance of a unit and transfer fees for community associations which are present in a recorded document. 

The Colorado Bar Association, Land Title Association of Colorado, Colorado Mortgage Lenders Association and CAI’s Colorado Legislative Action Committee (“CLAC”) all testified in favor of the bill. These interest groups made the following consistent points:Continue Reading Senate Committee on Local Government Holds Hearing on Residential Transfer Bill