#banHOAfines

Comments for the Homeowners Association Task Force. I am a resident of a HOA community and a past Board Member and Treasurer of our HOA. Fines: Establish a standard of "reasonableness" to limit HOA fines, through legislation if necessary.

- ckreiman, "Recommendations For HOA Rules", 21 October 2023, emphasis added

Depending on the legislature to “establish a standard of ‘reasonableness’“ is hopeless.

See, for example, the recent comment below about "reasonable accommodations":

I am a disabled vet, I have energy and balance issues. I am trying to make my home accessible.The HOA flat told me NO. When I tried to have my request heard as a Reasonable Accommodation they told me their attorney told them they did not need to honor a Reasonable accommodation.

- slampo, "Reasonable Accommodations", 23 October 2023

A better and much more simple solution would be to ban non-judicial H.O.A. fines, regardless of what is written in the governing documents of the H.O.A. corporation.

Without the authority and power to assess fines, an H.O.A. corporation would have the same recourse to enforce the rules that homeowners currently have:

• file a lawsuit
• prove their case in an Open Court of Law
• ask the Court for injunctive relief and/or monetary damages

This is what is known as an equity of legal remedies.

If non-judicial fines are really necessary to ensure compliance with the rules, then homeowners should be allowed to assess fines against their H.O.A. corporation when the H.O.A. violates the rules.

But we know that will never happen, because nobody in government is seriously interested in an equity of legal remedies between consumers of H.O.A.-burdened housing and H.O.A. corporations.

That is why the authority and power of H.O.A. corporations to issue non-judicial fines is statutory, regardless of what is written in the governing documents of the H.O.A.

Colo. Rev. Stat. § 38-33.3-102. Legislative declaration.
(1) The general assembly hereby finds, determines, and declares, as follows:
(b) That the continuation of the economic prosperity of Colorado is dependent upon the strengthening of homeowner associations … by increasing the association's powers to collect fines, and enforcement costs;

Colo. Rev. Stat. § 38-33.3-302. Powers of unit owners' association.
(1) the association, without specific authorization in the declaration, may:
(k) (I) levy reasonable fines for violations of the declaration, bylaws, and rules and regulations of the association.

In 2017, I offered a Resolution to the Boulder County Democrat Party (B.C.D.P.) to ban H.O.A. fines, which they refused to even vote on ...

... because then B.C.D.P. Chair Mark Williams is a believer in heavy-handed privatized corporate governance to keep his neighbors in line.

From: Mark J. Williams (Boulder County Democrat Party Chair)
Date: Thu, June 01, 2017
Subject: Resolution prohibiting HOA's from imposing fines
To: Cliff Smedley (B.C.D.P. Resolutions Team Chair)

My concern is that this discussion is going to go all over the place and that we won't have a way to reach consensus. I personally don't support the Resolution because, as the former President of a local HOA, we found that in a few cases it was only the possibility of a fine being imposed that moved folks to taking actions that benefited the entire community.

I met in person with State Representative K.C. Becker (Democrat - Boulder), who was the House Majority Leader at the time, asking for support. She refused.

From: KC Becker
Date: Tuesday, June 06, 2017 at 11:16 AM
Subject: Re: H.O.A. : B.C.D.P. Resolution
To: Robert Racansky

Regarding your resolution below: I think you are asking folks to adopt a policy on an issue they may not have much personal experience with (since we don’t have a lot of HOA’s in Boulder) and if they do have personal experience with HOA’s, it may not be negative. So adopting such a broad policy might be difficult. It also may not be enough of a priority to include. I’d also say that adopting this policy may not really aide your efforts in any significant way. I’m sorry that I cannot support adoption of this resolution by the local party right now.

Best,
KC Becker
House Majority Leader
Colorado House District 13