HOA Property Manager Implementation: Problematic

Colorado fully implemented its' Community Association Manager (CAM) Licensing Program (aka HOA Property Manager) July 1, 2015.   DORA, the state Agency responsible for implementation and management of the program, had over one year to analyze, plan, design, develop, test, and implement the program.  The scope and complexity of the program are very similar to other regulated professions in the State thus making implementation neither new territory or requiring a host of new on-line applications.  Our organization, Colorado HOA Forum, offers the following status report on this program and it is not good:

1.  The rules developed by DORA to ensure CAM compliance with the law and bring accountability to the profession are ambiguous and require change.  Specifically, (1) rules need to definitively and comprehensively state CAMs must comply with all State HOA laws and HOAs governing documents; (2) require CAMs to notify HOA Boards if any of their activities are in non-compliance with State HOA laws and/or HOA governing documents and recommend corrective action and if violations continue the CAM must report the event to DORA and the State's HOA Office;
2. DORA requirements for full disclosure of CAM fees assessed HOAs and home owners are severely lacking and avoid accountability.  In particular, DORA requires nothing more than a one liner in an HOA contract or on home closing documents to represent full disclosure which is simply conceding to CAM industry demands to allow things to remain as is.  DORA full-disclosure requires no detailed explanation of a fee or why it is charged, who determines the amount of the fee and retains it, confirming and explaining that any fee doesn't overlap or duplicate any charge already paid for through HOA dues or by a Title Company ( (such as the HOA Transfer Fee), requires no receipt to the payee identifying charges by line item, and no requirement to justify the authority to charge the fee and a statement how any Transfer Fee is in compliance with State law HB 11-234 that defines and restricts this fee.
3. The DORA web site complaint application requires changes to make it easier to use:  develop an on-line complaint status process;  assign a tracking number upon completion of complaint for users to inquire/determine the status of their complaint; allow users to mail in documentation that is not conducive to e-mailing; immediate on-screen confirmation when completed with complaint that indicates a successful filing;  the license lookup system doesn't list provisional/temporary licenses and only lists one licensed CAM for the largest of property management companies;  one can't enter an HOA and find the CAM; search results for a CAM license lookup results in display of information from all DORA programs (clutter!); allow for display all HOAs serviced by a licensed CAM; and provide options to classify the type of CAM complaint to make review and justification of complaints easier to complete and review.
4. The time frame in which CAM complaints are resolved is extremely slow to non-responsive.  There are cases where DORA knows for months a CAM is not licensed and refuses to take action such as a cease and desist order and/or fine.  Closing out/decisions on complaints is very slow and too often complaints seem lost in a bureaucratic maze.
5. DORA licensing, fees, and educational structure is burdensome to the smallest of CAMs and relief to these small businesses should be implemented similar to relief given small HOAs in registration fees.
6. The licensing program to date is more of a fees imposition and collection system and sales promotion tool for educational courses for a private firm (Community Association Institute (CAI) than a program for bringing integrity and accountability to profession.

CAM licensing program deficiencies need to be addressed to serve the needs of the public vs catering to the interests of the very industry it is supposed to regulate.

HOA Group Continues to Block HOA Legislative Reform

The name sounds HOA home owner friendly but the organization has nothing to do with representing home owner interests:  just the opposite.  The Community Association Institute (CAI), the trade group for property managers and HOA legal interests, has thwarted HOA legislative reform for decades.  They have obstructed legislative efforts to promote enforcement of HOA home owner’s rights as stated in State law and HOA governing documents while getting legislation passed to promote their financial interests and ensure continuation of abusive, unjustified, and illegal fees on HOA home owners.  To say this another way, our legislators have allowed this group to write, modify, and suggest HOA legislation that has been detrimental to home owners.
 
Recently the CAI led efforts to kill legislation that would have saved home owners nearly $10 million in abusive and unjustified HOA Transfer Fees; this legislative session successfully blocked legislation that would require home owner approval on the use of HOA funds in litigation;  don’t support an out of court, affordable and accessible binding dispute resolution process for most HOA complaints;  got legislation passed to promote the sale of their costly educational courses and gained exemptions from State testing mandates for those that purchased and completed their courses; didn’t support reduced financial and educational requirements for the smallest of HOAs (20 or less units) to relieve them of costly licensing requirements; and opposed requiring full disclosure and justification of fees assessed home owners by property managers in the licensing rules.
 
Until our legislators place a priority on and listen to HOA home owners who make up over half of Colorado’s population vs the CAI financial interests the complaints to the State’s HOA Office will continue and home owners will be vulnerable to abusive and costly practices.  

HOA Legislation Needed for Majority of Colorado Home Owners

Homeowners Association (HOA) issues are not the most sexy issues but are the most underreported issues affecting a majority of Colorado home owners. These issues are also mostly neglected by our legislators who don't fully understand the economic and property rights issues associated with HOAs. Colorado has numerous, definitive, and comprehensive HOA laws but presently these are mostly unenforceable from the home owners perspective. HOA home owners pay fees and assessments upwards of $10 million a year to sell their homes that are not applicable too other home owners. These home owners are also unknowingly (until they receive a bill) subjected and vulnerable to major special assessments and fees without their knowledge or approval and if not paid can be foreclosed upon. It is also the only living environment that requires a home owner to go to court using their limited funds to defend their rights under the law only to have their own money (HOA dues) used in court by the HOA to defeat such rights. HOA legislative reform is needed, is non-partisan, and will affect the lives of Coloradans equal to any legislation passed. Our organization, Colorado HOA Forum, www.coloradohoaforum.com, will again be seeking legislative sponsors and media interest for this highly affective issue that is more material than sensational in the lives of our citizens.