Chapter 5 - § 5.12 • DECLARATION AMENDMENTS

• Jurisdiction: Colorado

§ 5.12 • DECLARATION AMENDMENTS

The declaration is the document by which the common interest community is created,²²⁴ and obviously any amendments to it have the potential to greatly affect the rights of unit owners. Thus, unit owners are granted a number of rights regarding declaration amendments. The most basic of those rights is that, with a few exceptions,²²⁵ only the unit owners themselves may amend the declaration.²²⁶

To protect certain the property rights of unit owners, the CCIOA requires a super-majority vote for some amendments. Generally, an amendment may not create or increase special declarant rights, increase the number of units, or change the boundaries of any unit or the allocated interests of a unit²²⁷ absent 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.²²⁸ Similarly, an amendment may not change the uses to which any unit is restricted absent a vote or agreement of unit owners of units to which at least 67 percent of the votes in the association are allocated, or any larger percentage the declaration specifies.²²⁹

The CCIOA establishes a procedure for court-ordered amendments to a declaration on the request, by petition, of an association governing board. The unit owners are entitled to notice of the proposal,²³⁰ at least one meeting to discuss it,²³¹ an opportunity to vote on it,²³² and notice of the petition to the court.²³³ The unit owners are also granted an opportunity to block any such amendment. The applicable statute provides that the court must grant the petition after a hearing if it makes certain prescribed findings, one of which is that no more than 33 percent of the unit owners entitled by the declaration to vote on the proposed amendment have filed written objections to it with the court before the hearing.²³⁴

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Notes:

^[224] See C.R.S. § 38-33.3-103(13).

^[225] The exceptions are found in C.R.S. § 38-33.3-217(1)(a)(III)(A)-(E), as further discussed in §§ 2.8.2 to 2.8.4.

^[226] C.R.S. § 38-33.3-217(1)(a)(I). Amendments by the unit owners require a vote or agreement of unit owners of units to which more than 50 percent of the votes in the association are allocated or any larger percentage up to 67 percent, that the declaration specifies. The declaration may specify a smaller percentage than a simple majority, but only if...