Every so often we hear of something that makes us want to shake our heads and murmur to ourselves “WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?” (Okay – maybe more of a shout than a murmur, but we ask ourselves nevertheless). This happened to me recently when I read about a Texas Court of Appeals decision in which the homeowners association (Happy Hide-A –Way Civic Club) became upset with how some owners were (really, were not) maintaining their home. The association, relying on the language in its governing documents, decided that it was entitled to demolish the owners’ home, and proceeded to do just that.Continue Reading Self-Help; Maybe Not the Best Remedy

You may have heard that there is a "cloud" on the title to your property.  Generally speaking, a "cloud" appears when a recorded document indicates that some other person may have an interest in the property.  Liens, court orders, easements, and random documents can be recorded to cloud a title.  Some clouds aren’t really cloudy at all.  For example, while a mechanic’s lien may appear on your record, they expire quickly and become unenforceable.

Usually, a document clouding your title is there for a good reason.  If you don’t pay your taxes or HOA assessments, the unpaid entities will record liens against your property.  Remove the liens by paying your bills.Continue Reading There’s a cloud on my title? What’s that?

 We all know that the Colorado legislature last year revised the records definitions and disclosure requirements under the Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act ("CCIOA") (we do all know that, right?).

Well, here is an example of what could happen if your community doesn’t take seriously the responsibility to provide records to its members when they request them.Continue Reading Withholding Records – We Can Do That, Right?

We are often asked to review rules and regulations for our clients during the cold winter months, before the community pool becomes the haven of unsupervised children running wild on summer break.  Our clients are shocked when we advise them that their rules could cause problems under the federal Fair Housing Act.

It seems reasonable to impose rules limiting access to attractive nuisances like swimming pools, but some courts have held that rules restricting or limiting access to pools, clubhouses, and park facilities on the basis of age violate the Fair Housing Act’s prohibition against discrimination on the basis of familial status.Continue Reading Fair Housing – Take a Look at Your Rules!

             The Colorado  Supreme Court held that the non-developer owner of a parking space did not receive an unrestricted title that would allow it to sell the space to a third party non-condominium owner B.B. & C. v. Edelweiss Condominium, 218 P.3rd 310 (Colo. 2009)Continue Reading https://www.cohoalaw.com/what-the-courts-say/161/

In a recently reported appellate court case, Clubhouse at Fairway Pines v. Fairway Pines Estates Owners, 214 P.3d 451 (Colo. App. 2008) the appellate court based on prior court holdings stated that joinder of an indispensable party can be raised for the first time on appeal. The appellate court pointed out a decision in the Colorado Supreme Court that held, “….a court of appeals should, on its own initiative, take steps to protect the absent party, [by ordering joinder of the unnamed party] who of course had no opportunity to plead his interest below [in the trial court]” (cite omitted) at p. 455. The Court of Appeals then reasoned, that if the Court could on its own initiative protect the interest of an absent party, then there should be no reason a party should be foreclosed from raising the same issue on appeal. 

Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 19, Joinder of Persons Needed for Just Adjudication, provides for the addition of parties who are necessary for a complete adjudication of all issues. This column does not answer the question of who is an indispensable party necessary for joinder in a lawsuit. The intent is to discuss the timing of when homeowners can be added as indispensable parties during pending litigation. The case cited below does talk about homeowners as indispensable parties, but it does not focus on the factors that make the owners indispensable to the litigation. In fact the law on whether homeowners are necessary parties in homeowner association litigation has the possibility of being radically revised as the Supreme Court has granted review of the case discussed below. Continue Reading When Can a Homeowner Be Joined as an Indispensable Party