CAI needs your help! HB 325 - Revise covenant laws is in the Senate and can be voted on at any time. If passed, this bill would allow a homeowner to use a court decision to state that a covenant is expired if not actively enforced in the last few years (between 3 and 8 years based on the judge’s interpretation of existing state laws). Tell your Senator to OPPOSE this bill!

While CAI agrees that it is important to have a baseline of expectations for the enforcement of covenants, this bill falls short. Community associations depend on having the authority to enforce covenants developed and agreed to by homeowners in order to maintain property values and a certain standard of living. The state legislature is seeking to pass a law that states that covenant enforcement depends on whether or not it was enforced within an arbitrary time period. Covenant enforcement during a certain time period shouldn’t determine if a covenant can be enforced in the future. In fact, a lack of enforcement can indicate neighbors who are respectful of each other and their community rules. 

Arbitrary limits on enforcement only help the small number of homeowners who refuse to follow the rules that everyone else agreed to. What’s more, the process for reinstituting covenants forced to expire under HB 325 would create a financial and administrative burden on volunteer association governing boards, as governing documents would need to be amended and refiled with the assistance of legal counsel. These costs could be passed on to homeowners who do not have anything to do with the dispute, as associations would need to implement special assessments to cover any funding gaps caused by unbudgeted legal fees. 

Legislation such as HB 325 often seeks to solve the perceived failings in a few community associations, yet is unilaterally applied to every community association in the state. 

Please, tell the Senate to OPPOSE this bill, and preserve your association’s governing authority!