Colorado Court Rules HOA Must Arbitrate Construction Defect Claims Against Original Developer

Colorado Appellate Court decision (May 7, 2015).

This case was an action seeking damages for construction defects that was filed by a condominium homeowners association (“Association”) against the project’s original developer / declarant who established Association. As originally drafted, the Association’s declaration contained a provision that allowed unit owners to amend the declaration by a 67% vote provided however, that the declarant had to consent to an amendment until the last unit was sold by the declarant. The declaration also included a mandatory arbitration provision relating to construction defect claims which included language that prohibited its amendment without the declarant’s written consent, regardless of whether the declarant had already sold all of the units.