Watch Your Back: Construction Defect Legislation Update
This year will be a very big year for construction defect legislation. Many of Colorado's legislative bodies, including the Colorado General Assembly, the City of Lakewood, and the City of Lone Tree are aiming to curtail homeowner rights by passing laws that are designed to protect homebuilders from liability arising from the construction of defectively built homes. These legislative bodies have either passed or intend to pass legislation that will significantly impact Colorado homeowners and community associations.
Colorado’s Construction Professionals in Their Own Words: HB 10-1394 Raised Our Insurance Premiums
In 2010, the construction industry was willing to accept increased insurance premiums in exchange for insurance policies that actually provided coverage for construction defects. Now, the construction industry is trying to use the increased premiums as a justification for enacting laws that make it more difficult for homeowners to hold construction professionals accountable for their own shoddy workmanship. The Builders got what they asked for in 2010 and now they are using their increased insurance premiums as an excuse to take away homeowner rights.
Colorado Legislature Immediately Kills SB-219, Homebuilders’ Proposal to Study the Alleged Shortage
May 1 the Colorado Senate Appropriations Committee voted 5-2 to kill Senate Bill 219, which would have given the divisions of housing, insurance, and law a combined $150,000 to collect data on and investigate the current homebuilder-alleged shortage of owner-occupied affordable housing (a/k/a condominiums and townhomes).