On a 3 to 2 vote, the Senate Judiciary Committee just postponed idefinitely (which means the bill is dead for this legislative session) Senate Bill 52 which addressed construction defects in transit-oriented developments.  The bill as introduced, would have created significant unintended costs for homeowner associations when pursuing construction defect claims.  While the bill is dead for…

An a vote of 11 to 1, the House Appropriations Committee just approved with a favorable recommendation to the full House HB 1277 which was amended in the House Business Committee.  We expect the House to take up the bill quickly and approve it on 2nd and 3rd readings.  Given the fact that only one Republican voted against the…

Just minutes ago, the House of Representatives approved HB 1134 and HB 1276 on third reading and both bills are now headed to the Senate for action. 

HB 1134, as approved by the House on a 36 to 25 vote, will study the need for a broad expansion of power for the HOA Information Officer and HOA…

House Bill 1276, the "HOA Debt Collection" bill, just passed through its second reading in the House.

The bill has been revised to address association lien assignment.  Previously, there was a potential loophole by which an association could assign a lien to a third party, who could then foreclose sooner than the association.  Now…

On Tuesday, the House Business, Labor, Economic and Workforce Development Committee approved an overhauled version of HB 1134 and the bill was just taken up on the House floor and passed on second reading.   

As noted in my January 21^st blog entry, the bill as originally introduced broadly expanded the powers of the HOA Information Officer and HOA Information and Resource Center which are both housed within the Colorado Division of Real Estate. Instead of proceeding with this broad expansion of power, the bill was overhauled to study the HOA regulatory models in Nevada, Virginia and Florida. In particular, the study will assess options, costs and the need for the Division of Real Estate to:Continue Reading Overhauled Version of HB 1134 Moving Through the House

Earlier this afternoon, on a 6 to 5 party line vote, the House Business, Labor, Economic & Workforce Development Committee passed an amended version of HB 1277 – the manager and management company licensure bill. 

Here are some of the highlights of the bill as originally introduced:

● Beginning on July 1, 2014, community association managers and management company executives who directly supervise managers will be required to be licensed in Colorado.  As originally drafted, this provision was very confusing. 

● The CMCA credential, AMS designation and PCAM designation are recognized in the bill as the foundation for the license. In addition to holding the CMCA credential or one of the designations, managers will be required to complete a course and pass an examination relating to applicable Colorado law. As originally introduced, the examination provisions were extremely confusing and in need of clarification.   

● Managers will be required to submit to and pass a criminal background check prior to being issued a license. 

● The Division of Real Estate will have jurisdiction to discipline licensed managers and management company executives required to hold a license. Continue Reading Manager Licensure Bill Clears First Hurdle in the House

Late yesterday afternoon, the House Business, Labor, Economic and Workface Development Committee passed an amended version HB 1276.  Highlights of the bill as originally introduced include the following:  

● HOAs are not permitted to refer delinquent accounts to a collection agency or legal counsel for action unless they have adopted and comply with a Collections Policy with specified minimum provisions.

● As part of the Collections Policy, homeowners must be provided with notice of the delinquency and be informed that if the delinquency is not cured within 30 days their account may be turned over to a collection agency or legal counsel for action.

● Prior to a delinquent account being turned over to a collection agency or a law firm for legal action, a homeowner has a one-time opportunity to enter into a 6 month payment plan (association boards may extend the time of this payment plan if they wish) with their association to cure the entire amount of the delinquency. If the homeowner defaults on the payment plan or fails to pay their current month assessments, the association may immediately proceed with other action to collect on the delinquency.

● HOAs may only proceed with foreclosure if the balance of the assessments and charges secured by its lien equals or exceeds six months of common expense assessments based on a periodic budget adopted by the association.

● The board of an HOA must take a formal vote to authorize proceeding with a judicial foreclosure. This duty to take a formal vote cannot be delegated to an attorney, insurer, manager or any other person.Continue Reading HOA Debt Collection Bill Approved by House Business Committee

Given the severe drought conditions which Colorado is experiencing, Denver Water has announced that watering restrictions will go into effect beginning today – April 1st.  For those of you who are on the look out for April Fools jokes, this is not one of them.  Here’s the announcement from Denver Water outling the restrictions.  For more information, check…