No Path to Success

I see no path to a successful outcome of this Task Force. It is obvious that HOAs bring out the worst in a large percentage of people and that there is no law recommended by the Task Force that the Colorado Legislture could pass which would correct that fact.

First the simple fact is that Americans love freedom and hate rules. All one has to do is drive on I-25 where you will quickly realize the most dangerous thing you can do is drive the speed limit. You will be the only one doing so and will put your life in danger. Thus, a certain percentage of homeowners will simply decide that, as with speed limits, any rules or HOA Covenants don't apply to them unless they want them to. These same folks will ignore all the letters and/or emails they receive from their HOA and claim they never knew they were in violation until faced with a penalty so large they can no longer ignore it. This is a paraphrase of a statement of one of the homeowners who faced foreclosure: I knew I violated the rules and that fines were being assessed, but I didn't think they could do anything to me, so I just ignored them.

On the other hand, HOA Board members can easily fall into the trap of deciding that forcing adherence to the rules is the main goal of their life. I have worked with such a Board member who even after resigning from the Board was out taking photos of supposed violations on Christmas Eve and Day.

How can the Legislature possibly come up with any law to regulate human nature? What needs to happen is that Board members think very clearly about how and when they enforce rules, asking themselves is this reasonable. Am I treating people how I would like to be treated? On the other hand, if you are the type of person who hates rules and believes you should be able to do absolutely anything you want with your property, then you should never move into a community with an HOA.

The other issue is that people hate to pay what they consider taxes. HOA assessments feel like taxes to a lot of people, so they automatically hate and resent having to pay them. There are also those who claim they don't have the money to pay assessments so should not have to pay or that the amount must be capped. Since the Legislature cannot repeal the laws of economics, any attempt to cap dues while being totally unable to cap rising costs is doomed to failure.

So, to the Task Force, good luck on trying to herd cats--you aren't going to succeed!