Small Claims Court Claims

Small claims court jurisdiction has been expanded.

- Connie Van Dorn. H.O.A. Task Farce. January 16, 2024
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyDa3Rh0J4U @ T+2h:28m:38s

Colorado House Bill HB22-1137 mostly re-arranged the language in Colo.. Rev. Stat. § 13-6-403 "Jurisdiction of Small Claims Court"; while doing very little, if anything, to protect homeowners from the abusive, fraudulent, predatory, and criminal business practices of the H.O.A. industry special interests.

Far from expanding the use of Small Claims Court to settle H.O.A. disputes -- something I have been advocating for the past four years -- a draft of Colorado House Bill HB22-1137 attempted to prohibit the use of Small Claims Court to resolve H.O.A. disputes.

The amended draft, dated March 24 2022, stated that

The Small Claims Court Division does not have concurrent original jurisdiction with the County and District Courts in any action that arises from assessments owed to a unit owners' association

- on page 01 at lines 25 - 28

and

A party may not file a claim in Small Claims Court for a dispute arising from assessments owed to an association.

- on page 06 at lines 42 - 43, and on page 07 at line 01

Given that all H.O.A. fees -- including fines, late fees, attorney fees, and other junk fees -- are enforceable as assessments per Colo. Rev. Sat. § 38-33.3-316 "Lien for Assessments", nearly all H.O.A. litigation arises from assessments claimed by an H.O.A. corporation.

Somebody thought that this prohibition was such a good idea that it was put into the draft version of the bill, twice.

When I asked Representative Ricks about it, I was told to shut up.

From: Morgan Anker
Date: Monday, March 28 2022 at 7:12 PM MDT
Subject: Latest draft of HOA bill HB1137

Thank you so much for being a key part of our stakeholding process on HB22-1137: HOA Board Accountability and Transparency.

I have attached the amendment that Rep. Ricks and Rep. Bradfield will be introducing, but please keep in mind that it is currently annotated and unedited. We are continuing to partner with our bill drafter and stakeholders to finalize the amendment by the end of this week.

If you have any feedback on the amendment, please submit written comments to our office by no later than noon this Wednesday, 3/30.

Line and page numbers are especially helpful.

Again, thank you for your invaluable input throughout this process.

Morgan Anker
Chief of Staff
The Office of Representative Naquetta Ricks (HD-40)
she/her/hers

From: Robert Racansky
Date: Tuesday, March 29 2022 at 6:25 AM
Subject: Latest Draft Of HOA Bill HB1137
To: Morgan Anker, Naquetta Ricks, Mary Bradfield, Julie Gonzales , James Coleman
Cc: Tony Exum, Meg Froelich, Andrew Boesenecker, Matt Gray, Marc Catlin, Edie Hooton, Mandy Lindsay, Andres Pico, Janice Rich, Tom Sullivan, Donald Valdez, Tonya Van Beber, Kevin Van Winkle

Why was the following language added into the amended bill?

• amended bill 2022-03-24 (page 1, beginning on line 25)
→ "The small claims court division does not have concurrent original jurisdiction with the county and district courts in any action that arises from assessments owed to a unit owners' association."

• amended bill 2022-03-24 (page 6, beginning on line 42)
→ "A party may not file a claim in Small Claims Court for a dispute arising from assessments owed to an association."

When Sherry Christensen was president of the Lake Terrace II H.O.A. corporation in Loveland (2017 - 2019), she was able to use Small Claims Court to collect delinquent assessments from homeowners.

This bill would make that impossible.

Who thought this was a good idea?

The persons cc'ed were the members of the House Transportation and Local Government Committee, where the bill was introduced.

From: Morgan Anker
Date: Tuesday, March 29 2022 at 11:16 AM
Subject: Re: Latest Draft Of HOA Bill HB1137
To: Robert Racansky
Cc: Naquetta Ricks, Mary Bradfield, Julie Gonzales, James Coleman, Tony Exum, Meg Froelich, Andrew Boesenecker, Matt Gray, Marc Catlin, Edie Hooton, Mandy Lindsay, Andres Pico, Janice Rich, Tom Sullivan, Donald Valdez, Tonya van Beber, Kevin Van Winkle

Hello Robert and committee members,

This amendment has not yet been finalized; it is simply a draft, and we are currently processing and incorporating stakeholder feedback. Robert, thank you for sharing your thoughts and questions.

Our office will be sure to notify stakeholders and committee members as soon as we have a finalized amendment.

Thank you,
Morgan

From: Morgan Anker
Date: Tuesday, March 29 2022 at 1:00 PM
Subject: Re: Latest Draft Of HOA Bill HB1137
To: Robert Racansky

Hello Robert,

Please do not cc any other offices or representatives regarding communication about the amendment. It has NOT been finalized for their review yet. I sent it to you because we appreciate your feedback as a stakeholder, and we want to incorporate your feedback into the finalized amendment.

Morgan Anker
Chief of Staff
The Office of Representative Naquetta Ricks (HD-40)
she/her/hers

To date, I have never received an answer. Nor were any of my proposed changes incorporated, much less acknowledged.

The request to not share information about a draft of a bill with the very representatives who would be voting on the bill was disturbing.

It’s almost as though our public policy makers - the real public policy makers, not our elected figureheads - don’t want the public’s involvement and input in the law making process. By the time the peasants are allowed to participate in Democracy Theater , the important decisions have already been made in some back room.