Proactive, Personalized Representation For Real Estate And Business Law

Construction reform bill paves way for new condos in Denver

On Behalf of | Jul 27, 2017 | Real Estate Construction |

In May, Governor John Hickenlooper signed HB 1279. The legislation will make it more difficult for condominium owners to sue developers for construction defects.

Previously, a homeowner association only needed a majority of votes to move a lawsuit forward. This meant that a five-member homeowners association board only needed three members to vote in favor of a lawsuit for it to move forward.

Going forward, a construction defect lawsuit can be brought only if the majority of individual condominium unit owners are behind taking legal action. The idea behind this law change is to help spur condo construction and development in the area because it will now be more difficult to sue developers.

What to expect going forward

We’ll soon see whether advocates of this bill are correct about passage spurring new construction projects. If they are correct, we should expect a greater number of mid-priced condominiums to begin appearing.

This will be a welcome sight. Housing and rent prices have notoriously skyrocketed in Denver over the past few years. The only developments that were previously being constructed were primarily tailored toward high-end buyers.

Adding more mid-priced properties to the market should help make the housing market more accessible to people who were previously priced out of the market.

Forming a condominium association

As these new projects are built and new communities are formed, there will also be the question of how best to form a condominium association with your neighbors.

There are number of considerations that need to be addressed when forming a condo association, including:

  • The regulations of the condominium association, such as noise rules, allowable pets and how public services (such as water and trash) will be handled
  • The procedure for resolving disputes among two or more condominium association members
  • The rules outlining day-to-day operations of the condominium association

Forming a condominium association can pose a lot of legal questions. Working with an experienced attorney can help you your condominium association to function in the best way for you and your fellow owners.