From Capitol Hill/Legislation

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This morning, the first regular session of the 70th Colorado General Assembly will formally convene and is currently slated to adjourn on May 6th. Unlike last year when the Democrats controlled the House and Senate, this year the Republicans will control the Senate by 1 seat and the Democrats will control the House by 3 seats. These are very slim margins indeed for both chambers! 

The conventional wisdom of some is that split chambers are positive for the citizens of Colorado, because it forces both parties to cross the aisle to work together for the common good of Coloradoans. While some may argue that this is painfully naive, for now I’m signing onto this perspective. While I am hoping that I am not wrong, I will call myself out on this blog if extreme partisanship ultimately rules the 70th General Assembly!

 

Will this be a big legislative session for HOAs? As always, only time will tell. However, there’s no question that we will see a variety of bills addressing construction defects and the creation of more affordable housing stock. Since many of these bills are still on the drawing board, I cannot report on any specifics until they are formally introduced. In addition, I suspect we will see one or more bills intended to “clean-up” the community association manager licensure law and will report on the specifics of those bills when introduced. Continue Reading 2015 Colorado Legislative Session Gets Underway!

The Colorado Division of Real Estate has just published emergency interim rules on community association manager licensure.  The rules will go into effect today and will continue in effect through May 6, 2015.  Here is the notice from the Division of Real Estate with links to the emergency rules:

***Important Notice***


Notice of Emergency Rule …

The 2015 legislative session in Colorado is set to kick off tomorrow and it promises to be an interesting one. Following the November elections, the Republicans will control the Senate by a 1 seat margin and the Democrats will control the House by a 3 seat margin. Since by all accounts the Colorado General Assembly isn’t interested in replicating the gridlock and destructive partisan politics we have all witnessed in Washington, D.C., I’m feeling optimistic that both parties will work to find common ground on issues that are important to the citizens of Colorado.

Construction defects is one issue that is certain to be the subject of several bills. The implications of construction defects on homeownership should never be a partisan issue. For almost every Republican and Democrat in Colorado, the single largest investment we will ever make in our lives is in our homes. To provide immunity to builders for their construction defects and leave homeowners with no recourse should not be acceptable to either the Republicans or the Democrats. In Colorado, we don’t leave the little guy holding the ball! 

 

The Denver Chamber of Commerce has not received this message. Yesterday at their annual Legislative Preview, Kelly Brough, President and CEO of the Chamber, promised they would focus on “construction litigation reform.” She then promised a reintroduction of the construction defect bill introduced during the 2014 legislative session. 

 

The bill she was referring to is Senate Bill 220. There is no question about it, this bill would not have “leveled the playing field” between builders and homeowners. Instead, Senate Bill 220 would have provided absolute immunity to the construction industry for their defective construction. Continue Reading Denver Chamber of Commerce Focused on Destroying Homeowner Rights

Those of you who follow our blog know that during the 2014 Colorado legislative session, Senate Bill 220 was introduced with the intent to spur condominium construction in Colorado – an honorable goal. However, instead of providing incentives for developers to build quality construction, SB 220 was drafted to destroy the rights of homeowners living in condominium associations to hold builders responsible for their defective construction.

SB 220 was the brainchild of the Homeowner Opportunity Alliance which called itself the HOA Alliance. This “HOA Alliance” tirelessly lobbied legislators to eviscerate the ability of HOAs to assist homeowners who live in them to hold builders responsible for their shoddy construction. The Homeowner Opportunity Alliance was incorporated by Mayor Murphy himself.Continue Reading Mayor Murphy Puts Lipstick on a Pig

On behalf of the Aspen Pitkin County Housing Authority (APCHA), I was privileged on Tuesday to present my annual legislative update on HOA issues.  During the course of my presentation, we talked at length about the requirement that community association managers must by licensed by the Colorado Division of Real Estate by July 1, 2015. 

In order to…

Please join me for a free Legislative Update on HOA legislation which was signed into law during the 2014 legislative session in Colorado.  I will also provide on update on the latest information you need to know about the licensure of community association managers and what we might expect during the 2015 legislative session.  This Legislative Update, hosted by the Aspen Pitkin County…

The Colorado Division of Real Estate has just published FAQs to address questions relating to manager licensure.  The FAQs provide excellent information pertaining to who needs to be licensed, the timeline for the licensure process, steps managers must take to apply for licensure, the credential and testing requirements relating to licensure and other important information. …

Senate Bill 14-220 (“SB 220”) is dead for the session. Sponsored by Senator Jesse Ulibarri (D-Commerce City), who represents himself as an advocate for affordable housing, this bill was a molotov cocktail created to destroy the ability of homeowners living in HOAs to recover from builders for defective construction. The plan was to significantly increase the construction of condominium projects by making it impossible for builders to be held fully responsible for their shoddy construction. 

SB 220 was double assigned to the Senate State, Veterans & Military Affairs Committee (‘State Affairs Committee”) and the Senate Judiciary Committee. The State Affairs Committee, which is chaired by Senator Ulibarri, held a short hearing on the bill yesterday which did not give all of the folks who were passionately against the bill a chance to be fully heard. The bill passed the State Affairs Committee on a slim 3 to 2 margin.

 

In order for the bill to proceed through the legislative process during the final two days of the session, the Senate Judiciary Committee needed to take up the bill last night and pass it out of committee to the full Senate for consideration. In a procedural move to protect the rights of homeowners living in HOAs to recover for defects against builders, the Senate Judiciary Committee declined to meet last night on SB 220 which kills the bill for the session.Continue Reading Construction Defect Bill Dead for Session

With one week remaining in the 2014 legislative session, Senate Bill 14 – 220 (“SB 220”) was introduced yesterday evening in the Colorado Senate. While it may seem to some that this bill was introduced too late in the session to have any chance of passage, with relaxed rules in place for the end of the session, a bill can technically make it through the entire legislative process in three days. This bill has been assigned to the Senate State, Veterans & Military Affairs Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee. 

Sponsored by Senator Jesse Ulibarri (D-Commerce City) and Senator Mark Scheffel (R-Parker), the bill seeks to spur the construction of condominiums in Colorado. Unfortunately, the bill is so extreme that it would guarantee that owners of homes in HOAs would have no recourse against builders for defective construction. 

 

As introduced, here’s what the bill provides:Continue Reading Bill Introduced to Strip Homeowners of Ability to Recover for Construction Defects