From Capitol Hill/Legislation

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Late this afternoon, House Bill 13-1276 ("HB 1276") was introduced in the Colorado House of Representatives by Representative Angela Williams (D-Denver) who is the Chair of the House Business, Labor, Economic and Workforce Development Committee ("Labor Committee").  The co-primary sponsors of the bill in the Senate are Senator Morgan Carroll (D-Aurora) and Senator David Balmer (R-Centennial).  The bill will begin in the House and has been assigned to the Labor Committee.

The purpose of the bill is to: (1) de-escalate the scorched earth perception that HOAs immediately resort to foreclosure when small delinquencies are at issue; and (2) to provide a one-time opportunity for homeowners to enter into a payment plan to satisfy their delinquency prior to their account being turned over to a collection agency or attorney for legal action.

Here are a few highlights of the bill as originally introduced: Continue Reading HOA Debt Collection Bill Just Introduced in Colorado

Recently introduced House Bill 13-1249 has been promoted as an attempt to ‘reform’ the public trustee foreclosure process by requiring lenders to prove that they hold the Deeds of Trust being foreclosed and further requiring them to negotiate and work with borrowers requesting a loan modification or other foreclosure prevention alternatives. If the Bill is passed into law, it will undoubtedly provide greater protections to homeowners which may enable them to retain their home and stimulate them to payoff their association delinquencies. A closer reading of the Bill, however, suggests that an association may be negatively impacted from the additional requirements imposed on lenders. Continue Reading Foreclosure ‘Reform’ or Headache for Associations?

Yesterday, Senator Morgan Carroll introduced Senate Bill 13-183 ("SB 183") to amend current law as it relates to HOAs requiring homeowners to install turf grass on any portion of property they own or are responsible for.  The bill is intended to promote the utilization of xeriscaping as a response to the drought conditions we are continuing to experience in Colorado while providing HOAs with the authority to regulate the types of drought tolerant plantings and hardscapes which may be installed by owners. 

As initially introduced, the bill provides as follows: Continue Reading Xeriscape Bill Introduced by Senator Morgan Carroll

Just minutes ago, the Senate passed the overhauled version of SB 126 on second reading by a voice vote on the floor without further amendments. 

Republican Senator David Balmer spoke before the vote in opposition to the bill citing constituent concerns that older apartment buildings are not wired appropriately to host electric car charging stations.  Republican Senator Kevin Lundberg …

The Senate Local Government Committee just passed out of Committee an overhauled version of SB 126 which was introduced by Senator Guzman to address the installation of electric car charging stations in apartment buildings and HOAs.  In terms of HOAs, the bill as amended, provides as follows:Continue Reading Overhauled Electric Car Charging Station Bill Passed by Senate Local Government Committee

Senate Bill 13-052 ("SB 52"), the bill introduced by Senator Mark Scheffel to address construction defects in "transit-oriented developments," was scheduled to be heard before the Senate Judiciary Committee today.  As just reported by the Denver Business Journal, Senator Scheffel asked that the bill be removed from the Committee calendar while the Association…

Yesterday, Representative Clare Levy introduced in the Colorado House of Representatives House Bill 13-1225 ("HB 1225") entitled the Homeowner’s Insurance Reform Act of 2013.  The provisions of the bill, aimed at providing information and protections to homeowners, are quite extensive and include the following: Continue Reading Homeowner’s Insurance Reform Bill Introduced in Colorado House of Representatives

The Colorado Division of Real Estate has just published the 2012 Annual Report of the HOA Information and Resource Center. While the number of complaints received by the HOA Information Office in 2012 is higher than the 478 complaints received during 2011, for the 8,347 HOAs which registered in 2012 representing 853,542 units – the office received “576 complaints from 309 different homeowners and residents.” 

Here are some interesting facts from the 2012 Annual Report:Continue Reading 2012 Annual Report of HOA Information and Resource Center Just Published!