Common Interest Ownership Communities and Licensed Professional Managers

Colorado Homeowner’s Associations and other common interest ownership communities have had a spotted reputation in recent years.  In an effort to manage these issues, some Associations have started to hire professional managers, who are now required to obtain a license prior to hire.  House Bill 15-1343 modifies the regulation of persons who, for compensation, manage the affairs of a common interest community on behalf of a unit owners’ association (community association managers) by:

• Requiring a license for a community association management apprentice;
• Amending the definition of “community association management” to specify the practices that relate to the management of a common interest community;
• Exempting executives who employ or supervise an individual who performs community association management and independent contractors from being licensed as community association managers;
• Providing that an entity may obtain a license by designating a manager who qualifies for a community association manager’s license to manage and supervise all of the entity’s licensed activity;
• Modifying the examination requirement by conditioning the grant of a community association manager’s license on an applicant passing two separate portions of an examination, referred to as the “general portion” and the “Colorado law portion”; and
• Changing the fund used for implementation of the regulation of community association managers from the community association manager licensing cash fund to the division of real estate cash fund and repealing the former.