Normally, property taxes on common areas are paid by the membership through taxes on their own property.  For the members of an exclusive San Francisco community , however, an unpaid tax bill lead to the sale of the private street that fronts their homes.  How did this happen?  Bad record-keeping or the failure to record the proper deeds at the time of transition?  It’s hard to say.  The association claims that the tax bill was sent to the wrong accountant.  ...

Yes, goats…300 goats!  A new… and unique…method to help reduce the spread of wildfire has gained our attention.  Recently, a Castle Pines homeowners association enlisted the services of a herd of 300 goats to help mitigate the spread of wildfire in its community.  The goats eat and remove about one acre of tall grass and brush from the community per day and it appears residents are so far happy with the results.   According to an article published by the...

On June 5, 2017, the Colorado Supreme Court issued its ruling in Vallagio at Inverness Residential Condominium Ass’n, Inc. v. Metropolitan Homes, Inc. et al. (Supreme Court Case No. 15SC508).  The Supreme Court affirmed the court of appeals and ruled: The Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act (“CCIOA”) permits a declarant to reserve the unlimited right to approve any declaration amendment altering the mandatory arbitration provision for construction defect claims; and Th...

Last month we reported on a press conference presented by Governor Hickenlooper and several legislators where the Governor announced consensus had been reached on the construction defect bill, HB17-1279 .  Both the House and Senate passed the bill by overwhelming margins.  The Governor is expected to sign the bill on May 23, 2017. For those involved in the construction defect legislation efforts, achieving a bill that could pass both the House and Senate has been a long and at times c...

Governor Hickenlooper, state legislators and mayors had a press conference at the Capital on April 19, 2017, and announced that consensus has been achieved on a construction defect bill, this after years of bills related to construction defects were introduced and dying due to lack of consensus.  House Bill 1279 has not yet passed the House and will need to be approved by the Senate, but this announcement is the closest a construction defect bill has come to passage.   The Community A...