A recent case in Colorado (Tyra Summit Condominiums II Association, Inc. v. Clancy, 2017 COA 73) held an Association trying to amend its Declaration to the strict standards for timing and details contained in state statute. The law in question required a Condominium Association attempting to amend its declaration to send out notice of the meeting at least 10 days in advance, along with the general nature of any amendments to the declaration.
In this case, the Association sent out one notice a month prior to the meeting, but only mentioned that an amended declaration was being drafted. The Association sent out a second notice three days before the meeting and included the full proposed amended declaration. Because they did not have a timely notice that provided specifics of the amended declaration, the Court held it invalid.
Lesson. Make sure your Association complies with both your state statute and association documents when proposing to amend your documents. Undoing or redoing actions taken can be very expensive, even if no suit is started. When a suit is started, you want to double check that you complied with everything so that if you made a mistake you don’t compound it by spending the Association’s money to defend the error.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the Husch Blackwell LLP Condominium and HOA Law Team.