Chapter 3 - § 3.4 • AMENDING THE DECLARATION

• Jurisdiction: Colorado

§ 3.4 • AMENDING THE DECLARATION

In general, the declaration can only be amended by a vote of the unit owners following procedures outlined in the CCIOA.⁷⁵ There are, however, some exceptions for declarants. Occasionally, after a declaration is drafted non-substantive errors are discovered. The CCIOA permits the declarant to amend the declaration, a plat, or a map, to correct "clerical, typographical, or technical errors."⁷⁶ The Act does not define "clerical, typographical, or technical errors."⁷⁷ The Act also allows declarants to amend declarations to comply with requirements, standards, or guidelines of recognized secondary mortgage markets, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Federal Housing Administration, the Veterans Administration, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, the Government National Mortgage Association, or the Federal National Mortgage Association.⁷⁸ Five other exceptions to the general requirements for declaration amendments address:

• Amendments that affect phased communities or declarant-controlled communities.⁷⁹
• Allocation of a common element as a limited common element when it has not been previously so allocated.⁸⁰
• Conforming a plat or map and a declaration on exercising any development right.⁸¹
• Any exercise of a reserved development right.⁸²
• An addition of "unspecified real estate."⁸³

The CCIOA generally prohibits amendments that create or increase special declarant rights, increase the number of units, or change the boundaries of any unit or its allocated interests without a vote or agreement of unit owners of units to which at least 67 percent of the votes in the association — including 67 percent of the votes allocated to units not owned by a declarant — are allocated, or any larger percentage the declaration specifies.⁸⁴

The CCIOA provides for court-ordered amendments when an association, acting through its governing board, petitions a district court for an order amending its declaration.⁸⁵ Three preconditions must be met, chief of which is that a vote must have been taken in which unit owners with more than 50 percent of the votes required for adoption voted in favor of the proposed amendment.⁸⁶ In some circumstances, declarants have an opportunity to object to a petition for a court-ordered amendment. After a hearing date has been set, an association must send notice of the petition to unit owners, lenders that hold a security interest in one or more units, and to any declarant.⁸⁷ One...