A new year heralded, a new state statute proclaimed. As of January 1st 2011, all homeowner associations are required to register annually with the Colorado Division of Real Estate (“DORA”). DORA’s HOA Information and Resource Center was recently established and tasked with maintaining a database of all Colorado homeowner associations, as well as providing information on the basic rights and duties of homeowners, their associations and declarants. The center will also track inquiries and complaints but will not mediate any disputes nor advocate for the rights of either party.
Registration can only be completed on line through the center's website. The fee to register for 2011 has been set at $8.95, but is waived for those associations with annual revenues of $5000 or less, or for those that are not authorized to render assessments and do not receive any revenue. Even if your association is exempt from the fee, it must still register. Failure to properly register can have serious consequences as an association will not be able to impose nor enforce a lien for delinquent assessments, nor employ other enforcement procedures on covenant violations.
As the HOA Information Center was not operational by January 01, a condition of the new statute, DORA’s Director issued an emergency rule, with an effective date of December 15 2010, that awarded “temporary registration” to all unregistered HOA’s. This largely extended the registration deadline to March 1st, 2011.
Upon registration, you will be required to select a login ID and password, list your HOA details as well as the name of the agent of record. Remember, each year your HOA will be required to register, so your login details should be retained for a possible successor agent. Your association board should consider establishing policies and procedures which identify the responsible party on behalf of the HOA, as well as specifics on the filing of complaints or challenges concerning HOA administration and governance.
According to DORA’s website, the registration database has been operational since December 30 2010. Currently more than 1600 associations have registered, a little over 13% of those associations expected to register.