Senator Morgan Carroll (D-Aurora) has just introduced Senate Bill 16-082 (“SB 82”) which would protect folks from retaliation when they report an alleged violation of their association’s governing documents or enforce their rights under Colorado law or the governing documents of their HOA.
If there is any retaliation against these individuals by the HOA, the board of directors, manager or any other unit owner – the person retaliated against has the right to bring legal action against those retaliating and the court may issue: (1) an injunction; or (2) award damages, court costs, attorney fees and any other relief the court deems appropriate.
The main hole in this bill is that the term “retaliation’ should be defined to give unit owners, HOAs, boards and managers notice of what it means to “retaliate.” Defining this term would go a long way towards preventing retaliation.
Folks who report an alleged violation or exercise their legal rights, should never be subject to retaliation! In my humble opinion, when this happens, SB 82 provides appropriate protections for these individuals. Frankly, since we hopefully live in a civil society, it’s unfortunate that a bill like this is even necessary.