For those of you who know me, or have read my blogs over the years, you know that I love dogs. Labrador retrievers and beagles are my breeds of choice. But the truth is, I love darn near every dog – large, medium or small! When Larry and I moved to Colorado 11 years ago, we were extremely careful to make certain that we could keep Lily (our beagle) and Paddy (our lab) in our new home. While we love our home, if the declaration for our community would have prohibited our canine kids, we would have found a home in a different community. Keeping Lily and Paddy was not negotiable for us.
Representative Paul Rosenthal introduced House Bill 18-1126 (HB 1126) which would make it impossible for HOAs in Colorado to prohibit dogs based upon breed, weight or size. However, as originally drafted, the bill seems to permit associations to regulate the number of dogs by rule and to enforce covenants contained in a declaration relating to dog or owner behavior, nuisance barking, picking up poop and the like. For what it’s worth, typically these types of regulations are contained in rules and not in covenants.
The House Committee on Local Government held a hearing today on HB 1126. Many folks testified in support of the bill and a few folks testified against the bill arguing that HOAs have the contractual right to regulate dogs and the drafting of the bill needs some serious work. Representative Rosenthal proposed an amendment to HB 1126, which was approved, that took out of the language in his bill relating to regulating the number of dogs by rule and enforcing covenants on dog and owner behavior, nuisance barking, picking up poop, etc.
On a vote of 9 to 4, the House Committee on Local Government reported this bill out of Committee as amended to the floor of the House with a favorable recommendation. The language of the bill is now limited to providing that an association shall not prohibit “The keeping of certain types of dogs based solely on a breed, weight, or size classification.”
Stay tuned to this blog for updates on HB 1126 as it is considered by the full House.