Every year boards seem to struggle trying to figure out how best to comply with the owner education requirement in CCIOA. But did you know CCIOA affords boards almost unfettered discretion concerning this requirement?
Section 209.7 of CCIOA applies to both pre and post-CCIOA communities and requires associations to provide (or cause to be provided) education to owners, without additional cost, at least once per year concerning the “general operations of the association and the rights and responsibilities of owners, the association, and its executive board under Colorado law”. Section 209.7 further states that criteria for compliance with this requirement shall be determined by the board.
Based on the verbiage contained in Section 209.7, the only requirements pertaining to owner education are as follows:
- Education occurs at least annually;
- Education is free to owners; and
- Education addresses general operations of association and rights/responsibilities of owners, the association and board.
Aside from the above, boards are free to be as creative as they want when coming up with the type of education provided. If you’re struggling to come up with ideas to comply with this requirement, below are some examples of methods we’ve observed associations using fairly regularly:
- Inviting legal counsel to attend the annual meeting and discuss a specific topic pertinent to the community;
- Inviting an insurance professional to attend annual meeting and discuss insurance requirements; or
- Distribution of article(s) written by attorneys or other professionals that pertain to the above required category by either publishing such article in the community newsletter or distributing it at the annual meeting.
However, regardless of which option your community utilizes to present such education, the most important thing to remember is to clearly designate such program/article as the “required annual owner education” component. Such designation will help ensure all owners are aware that the association is complying with this requirement and minimize the threat of challenge to the association for failing to comply with CCIOA.
For more information about the owner education requirement, please contact a Altitude Community Law attorney at: 303.432.9999.