October 11, 2014 01:27 PM UTC

Lakewood Residents: Beware City Council O-21!

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• by: Progressive Promoter

On Monday night, Lakewood City Council will take up Ordinance 21, a measure that would weaken legal protections for homeowners to hold developers responsible for fixing construction defects they caused. O-21 would:

• Give builders the unilateral right to decide on repairs, even over a homeowner's reasonable objection or when the proposed repairs are dangerous or inadequate
• Impose unreasonable requirements and restrictions on HOAs that make it very difficult to pursue legal claims against builders and developers
• Prevent HOAs from seeking a jury trial by preventing them from legally amending their governing documents to pursue them
• Allow builders to destroy construction defect evidence a homeowner would need to prove claims, as well as opt-out rights that homeowners wouldn’t have
• Conflict with state laws already providing builders with the opportunity to make things right, HOAs to provide defect lawsuit notice to members, etc. – out of jurisdiction

While the intent of O-21 is great – address the lack of affordable housing – O-21 is not the right solution. Increasing pressure on developers to build a higher quality product, definitely. Looking at insurance practices and possible reform, maybe. But taking away homeowners’ ability to determine when, how and the process for fixing shoddy construction in their defective homes? No way. Hear from homeowners themselves who tell the story here:

Lakewood CD Ordinance-HD from Build Our Homes Right on Vimeo.

The bottom line? Anyone buying a house in Lakewood should expect that it is built right – but if there are problems, they should be able to hold builders responsible for their construction defects. You just might want to email Lakewood City Council members to vote no on O-21 if this sounds like a bad idea to you: 

Disclosure: I’m working with Build Our Homes Right, a coalition of homeowners, homeowner associations, property managers, legal advocates and other allies, seeking to ensure that homeowners are protected in Colorado.