All three bills we are still following and that may impact Colorado Community Associations have recently moved forward, ahead of the deadline of the Legislature’s May 11, 2011 adjournment. Specifically, the following bills have recently been voted on: the Transfer Fee bill, SB 11-234; the HOA Registration “Clean Up” bill, SB 11-253; and the Secretary of State Identity Theft Protection bill, HB 11-1095.
Transfer Fee bill, SB 11-234, passed out of the Senate Monday and has been assigned to the House Local Government Committee. Although a variety of sections of the bill have been amended since the bill was first introduced, none of those amendments should negatively impact community associations. That’s because the bill continues to provide an exception that allows HOAs and management companies to collect transfer fees. See our April 11, 2011 post for details.
One section of the Transfer Fee bill that was significantly amended concerns which and how non-profit organizations may receive transfer fees. Under the amended bill, qualifying non-profits will still be able to receive transfer fees contained in covenants recorded before the effective date of the new law. They’ll also be able to receive transfer fees recorded afterward, provided that those fees benefit the property, its common areas, adjacent or contiguous real estate, or the community in which the property is located.
HOA Registration “Clean Up” bill, SB 11-253, passed out of the Senate Monday with no amendments. As of this writing it has not yet been assigned to a committee in the House. For details about why this bill would be very positive for Colorado’s community association industry, see our April 22, 2011 post.
Secretary of State Identity Theft Protection bill, HB 11-1095, has now passed out of both the House and the Senate, and likely will be signed into law by the Governor. As reported in our February 24, 2011 post, this bill will add an additional administrative responsibility for community associations, because it will require a password before corporate information may be filed with the Secretary of State. This password protection, however, should help reduce identity theft and protect community associations.
We will keep you posted as our 2011 Legislative session draws to a close.