Covenant Enforcement

Subscribe to Covenant Enforcement via RSS

11News recently reported on a condominium association in Grand Junction that has evidently made it difficult for a 96 year old resident to receive delivery of oxygen tanks which are critical to her health and well-being. 

Ms. Metcalfe claims that the homeowners’ association (“HOA”) is no longer permitting her oxygen tanks to be delivered through the front entrance of the association. As a result, she is forced to travel down 3 flights of stairs to receive her delivery from the garage entrance. Ms. Metcalfe claims that she has already taken a serious fall trying to get down to the garage. She told 11News that “I did fall, and I injured my head, my hip, my knee.” She was subsequently hospitalized for treatment of her injuries.Continue Reading Condo Association Makes Delivery of Oxygen Tank Difficult for Elderly Resident

With the sun finally heating up Colorado, so are the architectural requests by residents in homeowners’ associations (“HOAs”). Like solar panels and windmills, Colorado law regulates unreasonable restrictions by HOAs on “energy efficiency measures.”

The Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act (“CCIOA”), at C.R.S. 38-33.3-106.7, defines an energy efficiency measure as “a device or structure that reduces the amount of energy derived by fossil fuels that is consumed by a residence or business located on real property.” CCIOA specifically limits “energy efficiency measures” to include only the following items and devices:Continue Reading Awnings and Shutters and Clotheslines – Oh My!

With the Memorial Day weekend upon us, residents in homeowners’ associations (“HOAs”) across the United States fly the American flag and service flags to honor our fallen heroes. As a result, it’s the perfect time to review provisions of Colorado law addressing HOAs regulating the display of these flags in associations. 

Here’s what HOAs need to know:Continue Reading Displaying the American and Service Flags: What HOAs Need to Know

Last Friday, I celebrated the sun coming out by blogging on solar panels in homeowners’ associations (“HOAs”). In that entry, I mentioned that solar panels are regulated as “renewable energy generation devices” under Colorado law and cannot be prohibited from being installed in HOAs. However, associations do have some broad authority to regulate the aesthetics and placement of the panels.

Like solar panels, windmills (referred to as “wind-electric generators” under the statute) are also classified as a “renewable energy generation device” and have similar protections under C.R.S. 38-30-168.

 

Here’s what HOAs in Colorado need to know about regulating the installation of windmills:Continue Reading Windmills: What HOAs Need to Know

I can’t believe it . . . the sun is actually peeking out from behind the clouds that seem to have taken up residence over Colorado! Hmmm . . . is it time to start thinking about installing solar panels on the roof of my house? Do you think the HOA will notice if I install them without receiving architectural approval? Will the HOA try to stop me from doing my part to help save the environment?

Colorado law (C.R.S. 38-30-168) addresses the authority of HOAs to regulate the installation and use of “solar energy devices” which are defined as “. . . a solar collector or other device or a structural design feature of a structure which provides for the collection of sunlight and which comprises part of a system for the conversion of the sun’s radiant energy into thermal, chemical, mechanical or electrical energy.” Solar panels clearly fall within this definition. 

 

Here’s what HOAs need to know about regulating the installation of solar panels:Continue Reading Solar Panels: What HOAs Need to Know

The Colorado Civil Rights Division (“CCRD”) of the Department of Regulatory Affairs yesterday disseminated a news release describing a year long investigation into the towing practices of  Kimberly Hills which is located in Federal Heights. While Kimberly Hills is not a homeowners’ association (“HOA”), the same principles apply and the story is instructive for HOAs.Continue Reading CCRD Focuses on Discriminatory Towing Practices

Homeowners associations are often faced with the challenge of enforcing covenants when that enforcement is not politically popular.  Recently, an association in Louisiana directed a couple to remove a large, bright banner from their front yard.  The association’s covenants only permit the display of real estate signs.

 

Unfortunately for the association, the banner expresses support for the couple’s son, who is a Marine in Afghanistan.

  Continue Reading Sometimes Covenant Enforcement is a No-Win Situation

Imagine this, you are watching your five-year old son playing in the grass located directly in front of your townhouse when security for your HOA informs you that your son can play in the street or back alley – but not on the grass. You then receive a violation letter informing you that children are not permitted to play in the common areas. As KVVU Las Vegas reported, that’s exactly what happened to Ramona Sjogren. 

Okay – is this story a joke? Did this HOA really have an employee tell a resident to have her five-year old play in the streets and alleys instead of the common areas? Has this HOA considered the potential liability associated with kids in the community getting hit by a car backing out of a garage or driving down a street? What kind of insurance coverage is the association carrying? Do you think this HOA has ever heard of the Federal Fair Housing Act?Continue Reading Play In the Streets and Not On the Grass!

The Tennessee Court of Appeals in the case of 4215 Harding Road Homeowners Association v. Harris, 2011 WL 145915 (Tenn.Ct.App.2011) recently ruled that a homeowners association had the right to permanently force a resident out of her condominium unit as a result of hoarding activity leading to unsanitary conditions within the unit and a resulting offensive odor in the common areas.Continue Reading Hoarding May Cause Owner to Lose Unit

As the saying goes, spring showers bring May flowers. In Colorado, we could add another line to that verse: Dry summer conditions bring water restrictions. Okay, I’m not a poet. I also don’t have a green thumb, which is one reason I’m a fan of X-rated landscaping. And, no, I’m not talking about risqué roses. This “X” rating refers to a plant’s ability to tolerate xeric, or dry habitat, conditions.
 
Colorado homeowners who want their flowers and other landscaping to survive the high desert and alpine summers—without breaking the bank on water costs—may consider Xeriscape options as part of their overall landscape plans. Colorado law ensures that homeowners who live in community associations can use drought-tolerant plants, including buffalo and blue grama grasses, in their landscaping. This does not mean that owners in HOAs can turn their yards into rock gardens. Xeriscaping is not "zero-scaping." It does mean that Colorado community associations cannot require owners to install landscaping that consists primarily of turf grass on their lots.Continue Reading Are Your Landscape Guidelines X-Rated?