The new Colorado HOA laws passed between 2022 and 2025 cap most fines at $500, bar associations from foreclosing on a home over unpaid fines alone, force boards to offer long repayment plans before collection escalates, open up records access with real penalties for stalling, and strip HOAs of the power to block fire-resistant materials, drought-tolerant landscaping, solar panels, and accessory dwelling units in much of the state.1Division of Real Estate. CCIOA and Other State, Local, and Federal Laws The Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act is still the backbone, but the recent bills shift the balance decisively toward individual owners. Knowing the specifics can keep thousands of dollars of fines off your account and, in the worst cases, keep your home out of foreclosure.
Fine Caps and the Cure Period You’re Owed
House Bill 22-1137 set hard limits on fines. For any violation that does not threaten public health or safety, the total fine is capped at $500 for the entire violation, not per day and not per occurrence. Daily fines are flatly prohibited. The only exception is a genuine health or safety hazard, where the association may fine every other day after giving you 72 hours to address the problem.2Colorado General Assembly. Colorado House Bill 22-1137 – Concerning the Regulation of Unit Owners Associations
Before any fine can hit your account, the association must give you at least 30 days to fix the alleged violation. If you ask within that first window, the association must grant a second 30-day cure period. Only after both windows pass without resolution can the HOA impose a fine.2Colorado General Assembly. Colorado House Bill 22-1137 – Concerning the Regulation of Unit Owners Associations
The HOA also has to make a good-faith effort to verify the violation actually exists, including a site visit when applicable, before sending written notice. Notice goes out by certified mail with return receipt requested, and you can designate a preferred language other than English for all correspondence from the association.3Colorado General Assembly. Homeowners Association Board Accountability and Transparency The practice of stacking daily fines into five-figure totals over a paint color or a planter is no longer legal.
When Your HOA Can and Can’t Foreclose
The single most important protection in HB22-1137 is a flat prohibition: an association cannot foreclose on your home based solely on unpaid fines or fees. The debt driving a foreclosure must involve unpaid assessments.2Colorado General Assembly. Colorado House Bill 22-1137 – Concerning the Regulation of Unit Owners Associations A covenant dispute, by itself, cannot cost you the house.
Even when assessments are involved, the association cannot simply hand the file to an attorney or collection agency. A majority of the board has to vote on the record at a hearing to authorize the referral, and a management company cannot make that call on its own. If your account is the one being referred, you can request and receive the results of that vote.3Colorado General Assembly. Homeowners Association Board Accountability and Transparency
Before any foreclosure action begins, the association must offer you a repayment plan that lets you pay off the delinquency in equal monthly installments over at least 18 months. The minimum installment is $25, so the plan can run longer than 18 months if your balance is large and you choose smaller payments.2Colorado General Assembly. Colorado House Bill 22-1137 – Concerning the Regulation of Unit Owners Associations
How Delinquency Notices Must Work Now
HB24-1233 reworked the notice rules for delinquent accounts in 2024. The changes you’ll notice:4Colorado General Assembly. HB24-1233 Homeowners Association Delinquency Payments Enforcement Procedures
- Associations are no longer required to physically post a delinquency notice on your property.
- In addition to certified mail, the HOA must reach you or your designated contact through at least two other methods, such as first-class mail, email, text, or a phone call.
- The association may charge you for the cost of sending required notices by certified mail, so expect that charge on delinquent statements.
The tradeoff is clear enough: the humiliating door-posting is gone, but the association now has to try harder to actually reach you before anything escalates.
Records You Can Demand
CCIOA entitles you to inspect a defined set of association records. The HOA must keep financial records of receipts and expenditures, minutes from all board and owner meetings, the current declaration and bylaws, financial statements for the past three years, tax returns for the past seven years, a roster of board members with contact information, and vendor contracts.5Justia Law. Colorado Revised Statutes Section 38-33.3-317
Send your request in writing by certified mail with return receipt requested, along with any required copying fees. The association has ten business days to comply. If it doesn’t, penalties of $50 per day begin accruing on the eleventh business day and can reach $500 or your actual damages, whichever is greater.5Justia Law. Colorado Revised Statutes Section 38-33.3-317 Hold onto your certified-mail receipt and track the dates. The penalty is one of the few tools in CCIOA that bites automatically.
Property Changes Your HOA Can No Longer Block
Several bills carved out categories of exterior changes that no covenant can prohibit, no matter what the governing documents say.
Fire-Hardened Materials
HB24-1091 prohibits associations from banning fire-hardened or fire-resistant roofing on residential properties, and it extends to fire-hardened building materials more broadly. Associations may still set reasonable design standards for fire-hardened fencing, including dimensions and external appearance.6Colorado General Assembly. HB24-1091 – Fire-Hardened Building Materials in Real Property An HOA can no longer force a cedar-shake roof on aesthetic grounds when a Class A fire-rated option would better protect the home.
Xeriscape and Drought-Tolerant Landscaping
SB23-178 declares any covenant that prohibits or limits xeriscaping, drought-tolerant landscaping, or nonvegetative ground cover contrary to public policy and unenforceable. The protection reaches right-of-way strips and tree lawns you’re responsible for maintaining, so the HOA cannot demand water-intensive turf where you’ve chosen drought-tolerant alternatives.7Colorado General Assembly. Senate Bill 23-178 – Concerning Removing Barriers to Water-Wise Landscaping in Common Interest Communities
Solar Panels
CCIOA prohibits associations from effectively blocking renewable energy generation devices, including solar panels. The association may adopt reasonable aesthetic guidelines, such as specifying placement on a less-visible roof slope, but it cannot make installation so expensive or burdensome that it amounts to a ban.8Justia Law. Colorado Revised Statutes Section 38-33.3-106.5
Accessory Dwelling Units
Under C.R.S. 38-33.3-106.5(4), HOAs in “subject jurisdictions” cannot restrict the creation of an accessory dwelling unit on any lot that allows a single-unit detached home. Any covenant, bylaw, or rule banning ADUs in these areas is void, no matter when it was adopted.9Division of Local Government. Accessory Dwelling Units A subject jurisdiction is a municipality of at least 1,000 residents inside one of Colorado’s five metropolitan planning organizations, or the portion of a county that falls within both a census-designated place of 40,000 or more and an MPO. Roughly 67 jurisdictions qualify, mostly along the Front Range and in the Pikes Peak and Pueblo metro areas.
Associations can still apply “reasonable restrictions,” meaning the same design standards they apply to other accessory buildings like detached garages. They cannot single out ADUs for stricter treatment. SB24-174 added a similar rule for condominium associations, barring new ADU restrictions after June 30, 2024, where local zoning would otherwise allow the unit.9Division of Local Government. Accessory Dwelling Units Outside subject jurisdictions, the statewide ADU protection does not apply, so your HOA’s existing restrictions can still control.
What Changed in 2025
The 2025 session kept adding to the stack. HB25-1043 addresses owner equity protection in HOA foreclosure sales, and SB25-184 reauthorizes the HOA Information and Resource Center at the Division of Real Estate, which would otherwise have expired under sunset review.10Division of Real Estate. Colorado General Assembly 2025 Legislative Updates Other 2025 laws touch on property insurance requirements, construction defect litigation, vehicle immobilization by towing companies in HOA communities, and turf limits for new residential development.
If Your HOA Isn’t Following the New Rules
Start with a written demand to the board that cites the specific statute. Many boards back down once they see a homeowner knows the law. If that doesn’t work, the HOA Information and Resource Center at the Division of Real Estate can help you understand your rights and point you toward next steps, though it does not mediate disputes, provide legal advice, or impose fines on associations.11Division of Real Estate. HOA Center
For records disputes, the automatic $50-per-day penalty gives you concrete leverage once the ten business days run out. For fine disputes, the $500 cap and the two cure periods are enforceable limits you can point to in writing. Mediation and arbitration are available through private providers, and some governing documents require one or both before court. Colorado courts can also award attorney fees in HOA litigation, which both deters frivolous claims from homeowners and discourages associations from pushing weak enforcement actions.