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Colorado Revised Statutes Title 38. Property Real and Personal § 38-33.3-123. Enforcement--limitation

Current as of January 01, 2025 | Updated by Findlaw Staff

(1)(a) If a unit owner fails to timely pay assessments or any money owed to the association, the association may require, without the necessity of commencing a legal proceeding, reimbursement for the following, in addition to the assessments or owed money:

(I) Actual collection costs of the unpaid assessments;

(II) Reasonable attorney fees incurred as a result of the failure to pay; except that the association is not entitled to reimbursement for attorney fees that exceed five thousand dollars or fifty percent of the assessments and any money owed to the association as described in the introductory portion of this subsection (1)(a), whichever is less; and

(III) Other actual costs incurred as a result of the failure to pay.

(b) For any failure to comply with this article 33.3 or the declaration, bylaws, articles, or rules and regulations, other than the payment of assessments owed to the association, the association, any unit owner, or any class of unit owners adversely affected by the failure to comply may seek, without the necessity of commencing a legal proceeding, reimbursement for:

(I) Actual collection costs incurred as a result of the failure to comply; and

(II) Reasonable attorney fees and costs incurred as a result of the failure to comply; except that the association is not entitled to reimbursement for attorney fees that exceed five thousand dollars or fifty percent of the actual costs the association or unit owner incurred as a result of the failure to comply, whichever is less.

(c)(I) In any civil action to enforce or defend this article 33.3 or the declaration, bylaws, articles, or rules and regulations, the court shall award reasonable attorney fees, actual costs, and actual costs of collection to the prevailing party, except as provided in subsection (1)(c)(II) of this section.

(II) In connection with any civil action described in subsection (1)(c)(I) of this section to collect money owed to an association from a unit owner, the court shall not award attorney fees to the association in an amount in excess of five thousand dollars or fifty percent of the actual costs the association incurred as a result of the failure to comply with this article 33.3 or with the declaration, bylaws, articles, or rules and regulations, whichever is less; except that the court may award attorney fees in excess of the limitations, based on the court's discretion, if the court finds that the unit owner was financially, physically, and reasonably able to comply with the declaration, bylaws, articles, or rules and regulations but willfully failed to comply.

(d) Notwithstanding paragraph (c) of this subsection (1), in connection with any claim in which a unit owner is alleged to have violated a provision of this article or of the declaration, bylaws, articles, or rules and regulations of the association and in which the court finds that the unit owner prevailed because the unit owner did not commit the alleged violation:

(I) The court shall award the unit owner reasonable attorney fees and costs incurred in asserting or defending the claim; and

(II) The court shall not award costs or attorney fees to the association. In addition, the association shall be precluded from allocating to the unit owner's account with the association any of the association's costs or attorney fees incurred in asserting or defending the claim.

(e) A unit owner shall not be deemed to have confessed judgment to attorney fees or collection costs.

(f) In determining reasonable attorney fees pursuant to this subsection (1) relating to an association's foreclosure of a lien against a unit owner for unpaid assessments, the court shall give consideration to all relevant factors, including:

(I) The amount of the unpaid assessments;

(II) Whether the amount of the attorney fees requested exceeds the amount of the unpaid assessments;

(III) Whether the amount of time spent or fees incurred by the attorney are disproportionate to the needs of the case, considering the complexity of the case or the efforts required to obtain the unpaid assessments;

(IV) Whether the foreclosure action was contested or required the association to respond to unmeritorious defenses; and

(V) Other factors typically considered in determining an award of attorney fees.

(g) The limitations on attorney fees in subsections (1)(a)(II), (1)(b)(II), and (1)(c)(II) of this section are adjusted for inflation on August 1, 2025, and each year thereafter. Inflation is measured by the annual percentage change in the United States department of labor's bureau of labor statistics consumer price index, or a successor index, for Denver-Aurora-Lakewood for all items paid by urban consumers.

(2) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, no action shall be commenced or maintained to enforce the terms of any building restriction contained in the provisions of the declaration, bylaws, articles, or rules and regulations or to compel the removal of any building or improvement because of the violation of the terms of any such building restriction unless the action is commenced within one year from the date from which the person commencing the action knew or in the exercise of reasonable diligence should have known of the violation for which the action is sought to be brought or maintained.

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Cite this article: FindLaw.com - Colorado Revised Statutes Title 38. Property Real and Personal § 38-33.3-123. Enforcement--limitation - last updated January 01, 2025 | https://codes.findlaw.com/co/title-38-property-real-and-personal/co-rev-st-sect-38-33-3-123/

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