Three years after its creation, the Colorado HOA Information Office and Resource Center (the “HOA Offfice”) has been given additional guidance as to its present duties and will soon have an idea of what its future duties may include. (To see what the HOA Office was doing in 2012, see its 2012 Annual Report.) House Bill 13-1134, which took effect August 7, 2013, prescribes that, among other duties, the HOA Office must compile a database about registered associations that includes each association’s name, address, email address, web site, and telephone number. This dovetails with the bill’s requirement that when an HOA registers with the HOA Office, the HOA submits that information. The HOA Office must also coordinate and assist in preparing educational and reference materials that helps parties involved in HOAs understand their rights and responsibilities. The bill further tasks the HOA Office with monitoring changes in federal and state laws related to common interest communities and to provide information about those changes on its website. Looking towards the future of the HOA Office, House Bill 13-1134 charges the Director of the Colorado Division of Real Estate with studying the functions and duties of other state’s HOA offices—specifically those in Florida, Virginia, and Nevada. The study must assess the structure, costs, funding, and success of certain, enumerated functions. These functions include, but are not limited to, investigating and resolving complaints, providing regulatory oversight over declarant-controlled boards, and monitoring and reviewing HOA election-related disputes. The Director must present the study’s conclusions and make recommendations for the HOA Office based on them by the end of 2013.
