It’s the Seventh Inning Stretch…Let’s See Where We Are

As we are approximately at ¾ of the way through the 2016 Regular Session of the Seventieth General Assembly, which is set to adjourn on May 11, 2016, we thought it was time to provide the seventh inning stats.

Since the Assembly convened on January 13, 2016, eight bills have been introduced that mention or reference homeowners associations.  Of these bills, four have been killed in committee:

• HB 16-1132 attempts to include a residential storage condominium unit in the definition of a residential improvement for taxing purposes.
• HB 16-1133 was an attempt to further regulate management companies.
  • This was a particularly hairy bill that would have made management of communities very difficult and received almost no support.
• HB 16-1201 dealt with emotional support animals.
  • This bill would have provided protection to associations in relation to emotional support animals by requiring the medical professional signing a request for emotional support animals to actually see the patient before making the recommendation.  This was truly ground breaking legislation which, of course, was killed.
• HB 16-082 prohibited retaliation against a homeowner by the homeowners association to which the homeowner belongs.
  • As with HB 16-1133, this would have created more problems than it solved and was not acted upon.

The bills that made it to the seventh include:

• HB 16-1005 permits the use of rain barrels to collect precipitation from residential rooftops for non-potable outdoor use.
  • This one has a good chance of going all the way.  Now we can just hope it rains this spring.
• HB 16-1149 requires the adoption of the CCIOA Budget Process.
  • This bill has passed all challenges and is ready to be sent to the Governor.
• HB 16-1217  requires the adoption of the recommendations from the 2013 Division of Real Estate Report requiring the development, maintenance and publishing of mediation and election monitoring referral lists, and calculation of the HOA registration fee by the Director.
  • This one, so far, has gone nowhere.
• And in a surprise move, the Legislature brought in an eighth inning bill that is scarily similar to one that has already been killed.  On March 24, 2016 Representative Ryden introduced HB 16-1400, entitled “Protection Against Retaliation by Homeowners Association.”  HB 16-1400 was assigned to the House Committee on Veterans and Military Affairs where it will hopefully strike out.