Summary : The authority and power of H.O.A. corporations should be neutered; limited to that which is only necessary to manage and maintain their common property. They should be prohibited from making and enforcing rules on a a homeowner’s own private property.
Instead of playing hall monitor, H.O.A. boards would be freed to focus on the more important financial issues facing associations. This would also protect H.O.A. boards from charges of selective enforcement.
Restrictive covenants on residential property would still be enforceable by individual homeowners; i.e., you would be free to sue your neighbor if he paints his house an unauthorized color, leaves his Christmas decorations up too long, etc.
The additional cost to the State would be zero. By comparison, an out-of-court H.O.A. dispute resolution process would cost over $ 2 million per year and require 20 additional employees under the Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA).
A Man’s Home Is His Castle
Colorado Homeowners Protection Act
Limit the Boundaries of H.O.A. Authority
In Colo. Rev. Stat. § 38.33.3-XXX.X add the following :
(1)(a) A homeowners’ association shall not have the authority nor the power to make and enforce rules on a homeowner’s own private property, regardless of what is written in the Declaration or any other governing document of the association.
(b) An H.O.A. corporation’s authority and power shall be limited to that which is only necessary to manage and maintain the association’s common property.
(c) Any statutory authority granted to H.O.A. corporations by the State of Colorado to make and enforce rules on a homeowner’s own private property is hereby revoked.
(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed as to prohibit an individual non-corporate homeowner, or a group of individual non-corporate homeowners filing a Complaint jointly, from bringing suit against another homeowner(s) in an open Court of law for alleged violations of the community’s Restrictive Covenants or alleged violations of any other legally enforceable agreement; and being awarded injunctive relief and/or declaratory relief and/or actual damages and/or costs and reasonable attorney fees by the Court.
(e) Void Agreements. Any agreement, understanding, or practice, written or oral, implied or expressed, between an H.O.A. corporation and any homeowner that violates the rights of any homeowners as guaranteed by this section is void
(f) Penalty. Any person who directly or indirectly violates any provision of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars, imprisonment in the county jail for not more than ninety days, or both a fine and imprisonment for each offense.
(g) Civil Remedies.
(I) Any person injured as a result of a violation or threatened violation of this section may bring suit in a court of competent jurisdiction for injunctive relief, to recover all damages, including costs and reasonable attorney fees, resulting from the violation or threatened violation, or both.
(II) The remedies provided by this section are independent of, and in addition to, any other penalty or remedy established by this section.
(h) Investigation of Complaints – Prosecution of Violations. The Attorney General or the District Attorney in each judicial district shall investigate a complaint of a violation or threatened violation of this section, prosecute any person violating this section, and take actions necessary to ensure effective enforcement of this section.