Colorado Condominium Ownership Act
Colorado’s original condominium statute, in force since 1963 and still live law — now hosted here in full. Which half of it governs your building depends on one date: for a condominium created before July 1, 1992 it supplies the bylaw contents (for residential condominiums of more than ten units declared on or after January 1, 1976), the records right and a misdemeanor penalty behind them, and a cap on what any one owner can be made to pay in a suit against the association. For every condominium, whenever created, its time share provisions and its 90-day notice to tenants of a building being converted remain in effect.
The Condominium Ownership Act (C.R.S. §§ 38-33-101 to -113) is the statute that made condominium ownership legally possible in Colorado. It is short, old, and easy to write off as superseded — which is a mistake, because the Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act repealed none of it. CCIOA instead split it in two and left both halves standing.
Which half applies to you
The dividing provision is not in this article at all. It is CCIOA § 38-33.3-115, which — after providing that, except as § 38-33.3-116 allows, CCIOA applies to all common interest communities created on or after July 1, 1992 — goes on:
“The provisions of sections 38-33-101 to 38-33-109 do not apply to common interest communities created on or after July 1, 1992. The provisions of sections 38-33-110 to 38-33-113 shall remain in effect for all common interest communities.”
- §§ 38-33-101 to -109 — recognition of condominium ownership, definitions, separate taxation, the declaration and its contents, the mandatory bylaw contents, the records right, the misdemeanor penalty and the owner-liability cap — apply to condominiums created before July 1, 1992. A pre-1992 condominium is governed by these plus the CCIOA sections that § 38-33.3-117 reaches back to apply.
- §§ 38-33-110 to -113 — the time share definitions, the special time share provisions, the tenant notice on conversion and the licensing declaration — remain in effect for every Colorado condominium, whenever it was created. CCIOA leans on § 38-33-110 constantly: its definition of “time share unit” is the hinge on which more than a dozen CCIOA exclusions turn.
One thing this Act is not. It is a condominium statute. Section 38-33-102 recognises condominium ownership and the definitions in § 38-33-103 are built around an “individual air space unit”; nothing in the article reaches a planned community or a cooperative. CCIOA § 38-33.3-103(22) defines a planned community as a common interest community that is not a condominium or cooperative, so if you live in an HOA of detached houses this article is almost certainly not your statute — CCIOA is.
And a trap in the other direction. CCIOA’s small-community escape hatches — § 38-33.3-116 for communities created on or after July 1, 1992 and § 38-33.3-119 for earlier ones — are written for “a cooperative or planned community” only. A condominium never qualifies, no matter how few units it has. A twelve-unit condominium created on or after July 1, 1992 gets the whole of CCIOA (a pre-1992 one still gets only the sections § 38-33.3-117 applies); a twelve-unit planned community may get only §§ 38-33.3-105 to -107.
What condominium ownership is, as a matter of title
Condominium ownership “is recognized in this state” and, whether created before or after April 30, 1963, consists of a separate estate in an individual air space unit together with an undivided interest in the common elements. Those two are inseparable for as long as the recorded declaration prescribes — you cannot sell one without the other. Condominium ownership may sit on land held in fee simple or under an estate for years (§ 38-33-102).
The definitions repay reading. An “individual air space unit” is any enclosed room or rooms occupying all or part of one or more floors, for residential, professional, commercial or industrial use, “which has access to a public street”. “General common elements” is defined by a long enumerated list — land, foundations, columns, girders, beams, supports, main walls, roofs, halls, corridors, lobbies, stairs, fire escapes, entrances and exits, basements, yards, gardens, parking areas and storage spaces, central services such as power, light, gas, hot and cold water, heating, refrigeration and central air conditioning, elevators, tanks, pumps, motors, fans, compressors and ducts, plus “all other parts of the property necessary or convenient to its existence, maintenance, and safety, or normally in common use” — but all of it yields to whatever the declaration says instead, or to the written consent of all the owners. “Limited common elements” are those the declaration reserves for fewer than all owners (§ 38-33-103).
Each unit is taxed on its own. Once notice is delivered to the county assessor, every tax, assessment and charge is assessed against and collected on each condominium unit as a separate and distinct parcel, not on the building as a whole, with the common elements valued proportionately onto the units. The consequence is the protective one: the tax lien is confined to that owner’s unit and undivided interest, and “no forfeiture or sale of any condominium unit for delinquent taxes, assessments, or charges shall divest or in any way affect the title of other condominium units” (§ 38-33-104). Your neighbour’s tax problem cannot reach your title.
The declaration — and two old property rules it switches off
The declaration is recorded in the county where the property sits and must provide for recording a map locating the units, after which any instrument may describe a unit simply by its number or symbol on that map (§ 38-33-105(1)).
Two common-law doctrines are disapplied, and both matter to how condominiums actually work. Where the declaration provides for what happens on destruction or obsolescence of the buildings and restricts partition of the common elements, the rule against perpetuities and the rule against unlawful restraints on alienation may not be used to defeat those provisions (§ 38-33-105(1)). And where the declaration requires every owner to be a member of the association, provides for payment of association assessments, or appoints an attorney-in-fact to deal with the property on destruction or obsolescence, those terms are — “any rule of law to the contrary notwithstanding” — covenants running with the land, binding on all owners and their successors, and the common-law rule that agency ends on the principal’s death or disability cannot defeat them (§ 38-33-105(2)). Mandatory membership and mandatory assessments in a Colorado condominium rest on this sentence.
For condominiums created on or after July 1, 1983, § 38-33-105.5 sets out fourteen things the declaration shall contain: a name including the word “condominium”; every county involved; a legally sufficient description of the real estate; the boundaries and identifying number of each unit; the maximum number of units that may be created by subdivision or conversion; descriptions of the limited and general common elements, of any general common elements that may be conveyed to someone other than the owners, and of any that may later be reallocated as limited common elements together with the method; the allocation to each unit of its undivided interest, its votes, and its share of common expenses; any restrictions on use, occupancy or alienation; recording data for easements and licences; and reasonable provisions for how notice is given to owners.
Bylaws: what they must contain, and who is exempt
Section 38-33-106 is the longest section in the article and the one a pre-1992 owner is most likely to need. At or before the execution of a contract for sale — and if none, before closing — every initial bona fide buyer must be given a copy of the bylaws and amendments by the seller, in print “clearly legible” (§ 38-33-106(2)).
The bylaws shall contain or provide for, among other things:
- An elected board of managers drawn from the unit owners, with at least one-third of the terms expiring annually, its powers and duties, any compensation, and the method of removing members. Whether the board may engage a manager or managing agent, and which powers it may delegate — with the rule that delegating does not relieve the board of its responsibility under the declaration (§ 106(3)(a)).
- How meetings are called, how votes are allocated, what percentage constitutes a quorum if not a majority, and what percentage is needed to bind all owners (§ 106(3)(b)).
- Election of a president from the board, a secretary who keeps the minutes, and a treasurer who keeps the financial records (§ 106(3)(c) to (e)).
- The records statement. The bylaws must state that owners and their mortgagees may inspect the § 38-33-107 records of receipts and expenditures at convenient weekday business hours, and that on ten days’ notice and payment of a reasonable fee any owner shall be furnished a statement of account showing unpaid assessments and charges owed (§ 106(3)(g)).
- Whether the association is a not-for-profit corporation, an unincorporated association or a corporation; how rules governing the common elements are adopted and amended; and the percentage needed to amend the bylaws — noting that every particular listed in this section must always stay in the bylaws (§ 106(3)(h) to (j)).
- How the common elements are maintained and paid for, including whether large expenditures need prior owner approval; how the budget is estimated and assessments collected; a list of the services covered by the regular assessment; a clear separate statement of what debts and obligations a buyer assumes; and whether liens other than mechanics’, assessment or tax liens can attach to the common elements (§ 106(3)(k) to (o)).
- Use restrictions “designed to prevent unreasonable interference” between owners; any rights of first refusal or other restraints on selling or leasing a unit; a list of major recreational facilities, who may use them and whether they cost extra; and, for planned additions to the common elements, their effect on your common-expense obligation, your ownership interest and your voting power (§ 106(3)(p) to (s)).
Any declaration recorded on or after January 1, 1976 may not conflict with this section or with bylaws made under it; items (k) to (s) may live in the declaration instead of the bylaws (§ 106(4)). And the section does not apply at all to commercial, industrial or other non-residential condominiums, to condominiums of ten units or less, or to condominiums whose declaration was recorded before January 1, 1976 (§ 106(5)) — a genuinely important carve-out, because it exempts the oldest buildings in the state from the very rules written for them.
Records — with a criminal penalty behind them
The manager or board shall keep detailed, accurate records of the receipts and expenditures affecting the general and limited common elements, and the records authorising those payments shall be available for examination by the unit owners at convenient weekday business hours (§ 38-33-107). There is no request procedure, no ten-day wait and no stated purpose in this section — the obligation is simply that the records be available.
What makes it unusual is § 38-33-108: a person who knowingly and willfully violates § 38-33-106 or § 38-33-107 is guilty of a misdemeanor and, on conviction, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $500. No other section of Colorado’s condominium or common-interest statutes carries a criminal sanction. Note the limits — it reaches only those two sections, the standard is knowing and willful, and it is a prosecutor’s remedy rather than a private one. CCIOA § 38-33.3-317 gives a fuller records right, and it reaches pre-1992 condominiums too — § 38-33.3-117(1.5)(m) applies it to events occurring on or after January 1, 2006. Its penalty is civil: $50 per day from the eleventh business day, on a request sent by certified mail with return receipt and any copying fee paid, capped at $500 or your actual damages, whichever is greater — and it does not apply to an association that includes time share units (§ 38-33.3-317(4.5), (8)).
Your liability is capped at your percentage
Section 38-33-109 is three lines long and worth knowing by heart. In any suit or arbitration against a condominium unit owners’ association in which damages are awarded or a settlement is made, an individual owner’s liability — in their capacity as a percentage owner of the common elements or as a member of the association — “shall not exceed the amount of damages or settlement multiplied by his percentage ownership”. Where the owners have incorporated, their liability as stockholders is determined as for any other corporate stockholder. A judgment against the association does not become a joint-and-several judgment against you.
Time shares — the part that still applies to everyone
Sections 38-33-110 and -111 survive CCIOA in full, and § 38-33-110 is quietly one of the most cross-referenced definition sections in Colorado community-association law. It defines an interval estate (an estate for years in which title circulates among owners on a fixed annually recurring schedule until a date certain, coupled with a vested undivided future interest that may not be conveyed or encumbered separately), a time-span estate (an undivided interest in a present fee simple plus an exclusive right of possession during an annually recurring period fixed by a recorded schedule), and “time share estate” as either of the two. “Time share unit”, defined here at § 38-33-110(7), is the term CCIOA uses to switch off more than a dozen of its own protections for time share associations.
Section 38-33-111 adds four rules. No time share estate may be created unless the project instruments expressly permit it, and each is a separate estate in real property that may be separately conveyed and encumbered (§ 111(1)). Each time share owner is individually liable to the association for all assessments, real and personal property taxes and charges levied against the whole unit — unless the project instruments provide otherwise — but as between themselves, each is responsible only for a share proportionate to their undivided interest (§ 111(3)). No one has standing to sue for partition of a time share unit except as the project instruments and deeds allow (§ 111(4)). And any condemnation award, insurance proceeds or sale proceeds are divided in proportion to each owner’s undivided interest (§ 111(5)).
Converting a rental building: the 90-day tenant notice
This one protects renters rather than owners, and it also survives for every condominium. A developer converting an existing multiple-unit dwelling into condominiums must notify each residential tenant on recording the declaration, in writing by certified or registered mail with return receipt (complete on mailing to the last-known address) or by personal delivery (§ 38-33-112(1), (2)).
That notice is itself the notice to terminate the tenancy, and the timing is protective: a tenancy may not be terminated before the existing lease expires unless both sides agree, and where the lease has fewer than ninety days left, or there is no written lease at all, it may not be terminated less than ninety days after the notice. A tenant whose lease has fewer than ninety days left may then hold over for the remainder of the ninety days on the same lease terms — that hold-over right is keyed to the short-lease case only, provided rent is paid on time and the other conditions are met; the return receipt is prima facie evidence of receipt (§ 112(3)). The ninety days can be cut short only by agreement — typically for payment of all moving expenses by the developer or other agreed consideration — or by the tenant’s own failure to pay rent (§ 112(4)). Anyone applying to rent after the declaration is recorded must be told so at the time of application; and separately, a lease executed after the declaration is recorded may provide for termination on less than ninety days, but only if it conspicuously discloses the intention to convert (§ 112(5)).
The General Assembly declared this notification procedure a matter of statewide concern, and no county or municipality — home rule included — may adopt or enforce anything that conflicts with it (§ 112(6)). A local ordinance giving tenants less than this is unenforceable. Section 38-33-113 makes the same statewide-concern declaration about licensing persons to sell condominiums and time shares.
How this fits with CCIOA
Read the two together and the picture is simple. If your condominium was created on or after July 1, 1992, CCIOA is your statute — and §§ 38-33-110 to -113 remain in effect on top of it. If it was created before then, this article governs and CCIOA reaches back mainly through the enumerated lists in § 38-33.3-117 (a few sections carry their own pre-1992 reach, such as the declaration-term extension at § 38-33.3-120.5) — which are long, and include the assessment lien at § 38-33.3-316, the collections rules at § 38-33.3-316.3, the attorney-fee caps at § 38-33.3-123, the records right at § 38-33.3-317, the open-meeting rules at § 38-33.3-308 and the annual registration at § 38-33.3-401. A pre-1992 condominium can also opt into CCIOA wholesale by a vote of at least 67 percent of the votes those present in person or by proxy are entitled to cast — or, where no one is entitled to vote, a majority of the directors in office — recorded as a statement of election (§ 38-33.3-118), and where a section brought forward by § 38-33.3-117(1)(a) to (j) or (l) conflicts with an express requirement in a declaration, bylaws, plat or map in existence on June 30, 1992, that document controls — but only so far as necessary to save the specific provision (§ 38-33.3-117(2)). Read the boundary carefully. That rule does not reach § 38-33.3-217(7) or § 38-33.3-316, which § 38-33.3-117(2) expressly excepts; it does not reach § 38-33.3-316.3, which sits at (1)(k.5); and it does not touch § 38-33.3-117(1.5) at all — so an old declaration cannot override the records right at § 38-33.3-317, the open-meeting rules at § 38-33.3-308, or the registration requirement at § 38-33.3-401. Return to the Colorado HOA laws hub for the full set.
Contents · 14 sections ▾
- 101 Short title
- 102 Condominium ownership recognized
- 103 Definitions
- 104 Assessment of condominium ownership
- 105 Recording of declaration - certain rules and laws to apply
- 105.5 Contents of declaration
- 106 Condominium bylaws - contents - exemptions
- 107 Records of receipts and expenditures - availability for examination
- 108 Violations - penalty
- 109 Unit owners’ liability
- 110 Time-sharing - definitions
- 111 Special provisions applicable to time share ownership
- 112 Notification to residential tenants
- 113 License to sell condominiums and time shares
This article shall be known and may be cited as the “Condominium Ownership Act”.
Source: L. 63:P. 782, § 1.C.R.S. 1963:§ 118-15-1.
Condominium ownership of real property is recognized in this state. Whether created before or after April 30, 1963, such ownership shall be deemed to consist of a separate estate in an individual air space unit of a multiunit property together with an undivided interest in common elements. The separate estate of any condominium owner of an individual air space unit and his common ownership of such common elements as are appurtenant to his individual air space unit by the terms of the recorded declaration are inseparable for any period of condominium ownership that is prescribed by the recorded declaration. Condominium ownership may exist on land owned in fee simple or held under an estate for years.
Source: L. 63:P. 782, § 1.C.R.S. 1963:§ 118-15-2. L. 69:P. 982, § 1.
As used in this article, unless the context otherwise requires:
(1) “Condominium unit” means an individual air space unit together with the interest in the common elements appurtenant to such unit.
(2) “Declaration” is an instrument recorded pursuant to section 38-33-105 and which defines the character, duration, rights, obligations, and limitations of condominium ownership.
(3) Unless otherwise provided in the declaration or by written consent of all the condominium owners, “general common elements” means: The land or the interest therein on which a building or buildings are located; the foundations, columns, girders, beams, supports, main walls, roofs, halls, corridors, lobbies, stairs, stairways, fire escapes, entrances, and exits of such building or buildings; the basements, yards, gardens, parking areas, and storage spaces; the premises for the lodging of custodians or persons in charge of the property; installations of central services such as power, light, gas, hot and cold water, heating, refrigeration, central air conditioning, and incinerating; the elevators, tanks, pumps, motors, fans, compressors, ducts, and in general all apparatus and installations existing for common use; such community and commercial facilities as may be provided for in the declaration; and all other parts of the property necessary or convenient to its existence, maintenance, and safety, or normally in common use.
(4) “Individual air space unit” consists of any enclosed room or rooms occupying all or part of a floor or floors in a building of one or more floors to be used for residential, professional, commercial, or industrial purposes which has access to a public street.
(5) “Limited common elements” means those common elements designated in the declaration as reserved for use by fewer than all the owners of the individual air space units.
Source: L. 63:P. 782, § 1.C.R.S. 1963:§ 118-15-3. L. 69:P. 982, § 2.
Whenever condominium ownership of real property is created or separate assessment of condominium units is desired, a written notice thereof shall be delivered to the assessor of the county in which said real property is situated, which notice shall set forth descriptions of the condominium units. Thereafter all taxes, assessments, and other charges of this state or of any political subdivision, or of any special improvement district, or of any other taxing or assessing authority shall be assessed against and collected on each condominium unit, each of which shall be carried on the tax books as a separate and distinct parcel for that purpose and not on the building or property as a whole. The valuation of the general and limited common elements shall be assessed proportionately upon the individual air space unit in the manner provided in the declaration. The lien for taxes assessed to any individual condominium owner shall be confined to his condominium unit and to his undivided interest in the general and limited common elements. No forfeiture or sale of any condominium unit for delinquent taxes, assessments, or charges shall divest or in any way affect the title of other condominium units.
Source: L. 63:P. 783, § 1.C.R.S. 1963:§ 118-15-4.
(1) The declaration shall be recorded in the county where the condominium property is located. Such declaration shall provide for the filing for record of a map properly locating condominium units. Any instrument affecting the condominium unit may legally describe it by the identifying condominium unit number or symbol as shown on such map. If such declaration provides for the disposition of condominium units in the event of the destruction or obsolescence of buildings in which such units are situate and restricts partition of the common elements, the rules or laws known as the rule against perpetuities and the rule prohibiting unlawful restraints on alienation shall not be applied to defeat or limit any such provisions.
(2) To the extent that any such declaration contains a mandatory requirement that all condominium unit owners be members of an association or corporation or provides for the payment of charges assessed by the association upon condominium units or the appointment of an attorney-in-fact to deal with the property upon its destruction or obsolescence, any rule of law to the contrary notwithstanding, the same shall be considered as covenants running with the land binding upon all condominium owners and their successors in interest. Any common law rule terminating agency upon death or disability of a principal shall not be applied to defeat or limit any such provisions.
Source: L. 63:P. 784, § 1.C.R.S. 1963:§ 118-15-5. L. 69:P. 983, § 3.
(1) The declaration shall contain:
(a) The name of the condominium property, which shall include the word “condominium” or be followed by the words “a condominium”;
(b) The name of every county in which any part of the condominium property is situated;
(c) A legally sufficient description of the real estate included in the condominium property;
(d) A description or delineation of the boundaries of each condominium unit, including its identifying number;
(e) A statement of the maximum number of condominium units that may be created by the subdivision or conversion of units in a multiple-unit dwelling owned by the declarant;
(f) A description of any limited common elements;
(g) A description of all general common elements;
(h) A description of all general common elements which may be conveyed to any person or entity other than the condominium unit owners;
(i) A description of all general common elements which may be allocated subsequently as limited common elements, together with a statement that they may be so allocated, and a description of the method by which the allocations are to be made;
(j) An allocation to each condominium unit of an undivided interest in the general common elements, a portion of the votes in the association, and a percentage or fraction of the common expenses of the association;
(k) Any restrictions on the use, occupancy, or alienation of the condominium units;
(l) The recording data for recorded easements and licenses appurtenant to, or included in, the condominium property or to which any portion of the condominium property is or may become subject;
(m) Reasonable provisions concerning the manner in which notice of matters affecting the condominium property may be given to condominium unit owners by the association or other condominium unit owners; and
(n) Any other matters the declarant deems appropriate.
(2) This section shall apply to any condominium ownership of property created on or after July 1, 1983.
Source: L. 83:Entire section added, p. 593, § 3, effective May 25.
(1) Unless exempted, the administration and operation of multiunit condominiums shall be governed by the declaration.
(2) At or before the execution of a contract for sale and, if none, before closing, every initial bona fide condominium unit buyer shall be provided by the seller with a copy of the bylaws, with amendments, if any, of the unit owners’ association or corporation, and such bylaws and amendments shall be of a size print or type to be clearly legible.
(3) The bylaws shall contain or provide for at least the following:
(a) The election from among the unit owners of a board of managers, the number of persons constituting such board, and that the terms of at least one-third of the members of the board shall expire annually; the powers and duties of the board; the compensation, if any, of the members of the board; the method of removal from office of members of the board; and whether or not the board may engage the services of a manager or managing agent, or both, and specifying which of the powers and duties granted to the board may be delegated by the board to either or both of them; however, the board when so delegating shall not be relieved of its responsibility under the declaration;
(b) The method of calling meetings of the unit owners; the method of allocating votes to unit owners; what percentage of the unit owners, if other than a majority, constitutes a quorum; and what percentage is necessary to adopt decisions binding on all unit owners;
(c) The election of a president from among the board of managers, who shall preside over the meetings of the board of managers and of the unit owners;
(d) The election of a secretary, who shall keep the minutes of all meetings of the board of managers and of the unit owners and who, in general, shall perform all the duties incident to the office of secretary;
(e) The election of a treasurer, who shall keep the financial records and books of account. The treasurer may also serve as the secretary.
(f) The authorization to the board of managers to designate and remove personnel necessary for the operation, maintenance, repair, and replacement of the common elements;
(g) A statement that the unit owners and their mortgagees, if applicable, may inspect the records of receipts and expenditures of the board of managers pursuant to section 38-33-107 at convenient weekday business hours, and that, upon ten days’ notice to the manager or board of managers and payment of a reasonable fee, any unit owner shall be furnished a statement of his account setting forth the amount of any unpaid assessments or other charges due and owing from such owner;
(h) A statement as to whether or not the condominium association is a not-for-profit corporation, an unincorporated association, or a corporation;
(i) The method of adopting and of amending administrative rules and regulations governing the operation and use of the common elements;
(j) The percentage of votes required to modify or amend the bylaws, but each one of the particulars set forth in this section shall always be embodied in the bylaws;
(k) The maintenance, repair, replacement, and improvement of the general and limited common elements and payments therefor, including a statement of whether or not such work requires prior approval of the unit owners’ association or corporation when it would involve a large expense or exceed a certain amount;
(l) The method of estimating the amount of the budget; the manner of assessing and collecting from the unit owners their respective shares of such estimated expenses and of any other expenses lawfully agreed upon; and a statement concerning the division, if any, of the assessment charge between general and limited common elements and the amount or percent of such division;
(m) A list of the services provided by the unit owners’ association or corporation which are paid for out of the regular assessment;
(n) A statement clearly and separately indicating what assessments, debts, or other obligations are assumed by the unit owner on his condominium unit;
(o) A statement as to whether or not additional liens, other than mechanics’ liens, assessment liens, or tax liens, may be obtained against the general or limited common elements then existing in which the unit owner has a percentage ownership;
(p) Such restrictions on and requirements respecting the use and maintenance of the units and the use of the general and limited common elements as are designed to prevent unreasonable interference with the use of their respective units and said common elements by the several unit owners;
(q) Such restrictions on and requirements concerning the sale or lease of a unit including rights of first refusal on sale and any other restraints on the free alienability of the unit;
(r) A statement listing all major recreational facilities and to whom they are available and clearly indicating whether or not fees or charges, if any, in conjunction therewith, are in addition to the regular assessment;
(s) A statement relating to new additions of general and limited common elements to be constructed, including but not limited to:
(I) The effect on a unit owner in reference to his obligation for payment of the common expenses, including new recreational facilities, costs, and fees, if any;
(II) The effect on a unit owner in reference to his ownership interest in the existing general and limited common elements and new general and limited common elements;
(III) The effect on a unit owner in reference to his voting power in the association.
(4) Any declaration recorded on or after January 1, 1976, shall not conflict with the provisions of this section or bylaws made in accordance with this section. The requirements contained in paragraphs (k) to (s) of subsection (3) of this section need not be included in the bylaws if they are set forth in the declaration.
(5) This section shall not apply to:
(a) Commercial or industrial condominiums or any other condominiums not used for residential use;
(b) Condominiums of ten units or less;
(c) Condominiums established by a declaration recorded prior to January 1, 1976.
Source: L. 75:Entire section added, p. 1432, § 1, effective January 1, 1976.
The manager or board of managers, as the case may be, shall keep detailed, accurate records of the receipts and expenditures affecting the general and limited common elements. Such records authorizing the payments shall be available for examination by the unit owners at convenient weekday business hours.
Source: L. 75:Entire section added, p. 1434, § 1, effective January 1, 1976.
Any person who knowingly and willfully violates the provisions of section 38-33-106 or 38-33-107 is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars.
Source: L. 75:Entire section added, p. 1434, § 1, effective January 1, 1976.
In any suit or arbitration against a condominium unit owners’ association wherein damages are awarded or settlement is made, the individual unit owner’s liability in his capacity as a percentage owner of the general or limited common elements or as a member of the condominium association shall not exceed the amount of damages or settlement multiplied by his percentage ownership in the general or limited common elements, as the case may be. In the case of incorporation by unit owners, their liability as stockholders shall be determined as any other corporate stockholder.
Source: L. 75:Entire section added, p. 1434, § 1, effective January 1, 1976.
As used in this section and section 38-33-111, unless the context otherwise requires:
(1) (a) “Interval estate” means a combination of:
(I) An estate for years terminating on a date certain, during which years title to a time share unit circulates among the interval owners in accordance with a fixed schedule, vesting in each such interval owner in turn for a period of time established by the said schedule, with the series thus established recurring annually until the arrival of the date certain; and
(II) A vested future interest in the same unit, consisting of an undivided interest in the remainder in fee simple, the magnitude of the future interest having been established by the time of the creation of the interval estate either by the project instruments or by the deed conveying the interval estate. The estate for years shall not be deemed to merge with the future interest, but neither the estate for years nor the future interest shall be conveyed or encumbered separately from the other.
(b) “Interval estate” also means an estate for years as described in subparagraph (I) of paragraph (a) of this subsection (1) where the remainder estate, as defined either by the project instruments or by the deed conveying the interval estate, is retained by the developer or his successors in interest.
(2) “Interval owner” means a person vested with legal title to an interval estate.
(3) “Interval unit” means a unit the title to which is or is to be divided into interval estates.
(4) “Project instruments” means the declaration, the bylaws, and any other set of restrictions or restrictive covenants, by whatever name denominated, which limit or restrict the use or occupancy of condominium units. “Project instruments” includes any lawful amendments to such instruments. “Project instruments” does not include any ordinance or other public regulation governing subdivisions, zoning, or other land use matters.
(5) “Time share estate” means either an interval estate or a time-span estate.
(6) “Time share owner” means a person vested with legal title to a time share estate.
(7) “Time share unit” means a unit the title to which is or is to be divided either into interval estates or time-span estates.
(8) “Time-span estate” means a combination of:
(a) An undivided interest in a present estate in fee simple in a unit, the magnitude of the interest having been established by the time of the creation of the time-span estate either by the project instruments or by the deed conveying the time-span estate; and
(b) An exclusive right to possession and occupancy of the unit during an annually recurring period of time defined and established by a recorded schedule set forth or referred to in the deed conveying the time-span estate.
(9) “Time-span owner” means a person vested with legal title to a time-span estate.
(10) “Time-span unit” means a unit the title to which is or is to be divided into time-span estates.
(11) “Unit owner” means a person vested with legal title to a unit, and, in the case of a time share unit, “unit owner” means all of the time share owners of that unit. When an estate is subject to a deed of trust or a trust deed, “unit owner” means the person entitled to beneficial enjoyment of the estate and not to any trustee or trustees holding title merely as security for an obligation.
Source: L. 77:Entire section added, p. 1716, § 1, effective July 1.
(1) No time share estates shall be created with respect to any condominium unit except pursuant to provisions in the project instruments expressly permitting the creation of such estates. Each time share estate shall constitute for all purposes an estate or interest in real property, separate and distinct from all other time share estates in the same unit or any other unit, and such estates may be separately conveyed and encumbered.
(2) Repealed.
(3) With respect to each time share unit, each owner of a time share estate therein shall be individually liable to the unit owners’ association or corporation for all assessments, property taxes both real and personal, and charges levied pursuant to the project instruments against or with respect to that unit, and such association or corporation shall be liable for the payment thereof, except to the extent that such instruments provide to the contrary. However, with respect to each other, each time share owner shall be responsible only for a fraction of such assessments, property taxes both real and personal, and charges proportionate to the magnitude of his undivided interest in the fee to the unit.
(4) No person shall have standing to bring suit for partition of any time share unit except in accordance with such procedures, conditions, restrictions, and limitations as the project instruments and the deeds to the time share estates may specify. Upon the entry of a final order in such a suit, it shall be conclusively presumed that all such procedures, conditions, restrictions, and limitations were adhered to.
(5) In the event that any condemnation award, any insurance proceeds, the proceeds of any sale, or any other sums shall become payable to all of the time share owners of a unit, the portion payable to each time share owner shall be proportionate to the magnitude of his undivided interest in the fee to the unit.
Source: L. 77:Entire section added, p. 1717, § 1, effective July 1. L. 79:(2) repealed and (3) amended, p. 1397, §§ 2, 1, effective May 22.
(1) A developer who converts an existing multiple-unit dwelling into condominium units, upon recording of the declaration as required by section 38-33-105, shall notify each residential tenant of the dwelling of such conversion.
(2) Such notice shall be in writing and shall be sent by certified or registered mail, postage prepaid, and return receipt provided. Notice is complete upon mailing to the tenant at the tenant’s last-known address. Notice may also be made by delivery in person to the tenant of a copy of such written notice, in which event notice is complete upon such delivery.
(3) The notice described in subsection (1) of this section constitutes the notice to terminate the tenancy; except that a residential tenancy shall not be terminated prior to the expiration date of the existing lease agreement, if any, unless consented to by both the tenant and the developer. If the term of the lease has less than ninety days remaining when notification is mailed or delivered, as the case may be, or if there is no written lease agreement, residential tenancy shall not be terminated by the developer less than ninety days after the date the notice is mailed or delivered, as the case may be, to the tenant, unless consented to by both the tenant and the developer. The return receipt is prima facie evidence of receipt of notice. If the term of the lease has less than ninety days remaining when notification is mailed or delivered, as the case may be, the tenant may hold over for the remainder of said ninety-day period under the same terms and conditions of the lease agreement if the tenant makes timely rental payments and performs other conditions of the lease agreement.
(4) The tenancy may be terminated within the ninety days prescribed in subsection (3) of this section upon agreement by the tenant in consideration of the payment of all moving expenses by the developer or for such other consideration as mutually agreed upon. Such tenancy may also be terminated within the ninety days prescribed in subsection (3) of this section upon failure by the tenant to make timely rental or lease payments.
(5) Any person who applies for a residential tenancy after the recording of the declaration shall be informed of this recording at the time of application, and any leases executed after such recording may provide for termination within less than ninety days provided that the terms of the lease conspicuously disclose the intention to convert the property containing the leased premises to condominium ownership.
(6) The general assembly hereby finds and declares that the notification procedure set forth in this section is a matter of statewide concern. No county, municipality, or other political subdivision whether or not vested with home rule powers under article XX of the Colorado constitution, shall adopt or enforce any ordinance, rule, regulation, or policy which conflicts with the provisions of this section.
Source: L. 79:Entire section added, p. 1398, § 1, effective June 21. L. 83:(6) added, p. 594, § 4, effective May 25. L. 2024:(3) amended,(HB 24-1098), ch. 113, p. 367, § 15, effective April 19.
The general assembly hereby finds and declares that the licensing of persons to sell condominiums and time shares is a matter of statewide concern.
Source: L. 83:Entire section added, p. 594, § 5, effective May 25.
General information, not legal advice. Statutory text is reproduced from the Colorado Revised Statutes and may not reflect the most recent amendments.