As a club, we don’t typically get into specific stances on statewide measures, but I feel strongly that the following affects us all:
Approximately 80% of all new developments in Utah, whether condominiums, town homes, or single-family homes, are governed and operated by a homeowner association (HOA). The HOA represents the collective interests of all the individual homeowners. There are thousands of HOAs throughout Utah, representing hundreds of thousands of Utah residents. Our law firm represents over two hundred HOAs throughout Utah in various capacities.
Senate Bill 220 will absolutely devastate HOAs and their respective homeowner members. Generally, HOAs are created and obligated to maintain key structural areas of homes and condos, like roofs, stucco, foundations, brick, sidewalks, roadways, etc. Since the HOA has the obligation to maintain and repair those important structural elements, it is the only entity that can bring a lawsuit to seek redress for defects in the construction of those elements. Since Senate Bill 220 precludes all claims except for contractual claims (which do not exist between an HOA and the building entity), it will completely bar the HOA from successfully bringing claims on behalf of the homeowner members. Since the HOA is barred, the respective homeowners are also barred.
In its truest essence, Senate Bill 220 says that if you buy a home that is poorly constructed, the owner, will almost always be responsible to pay to fix the damage, despite the fact that the damage was clearly caused by the builder’s or the developer’s negligence. This bill does nothing more than give a free pass to builders when they build homes replete with construction defects.
These problems are not only hazardous (mold), but they are very expensive repairs (foundation subsidence, complete replacement of the stucco application, etc.). The repair work required in each of these cases is well over two million dollars. If the HOA is unable to bring these claims against the builder, it will be forced to special assess their homeowner members who will be required to pay those expensive assessments out of their own pockets. This is not only completely unfair, but it is unbelievable that our State legislators, who are charged to represent their constituents, would even think about passing this bill. They would never consider preventing an individual from seeking legal redress for a driver’s or a doctor’s negligence. Then why should we protect a builder’s negligence.
Please vote no against SB 220! This will negatively impact millions of Utah residents for generations to come.
If you’d like to help out, please send your own message or the following formatted one to state representatives by clicking on the following link:
Send an E-mail
Subject: Vote NO on Senate Bill 220
Message:
Dear Representative:
I live in Utah County. This morning I watched a news story on Channel 2 http://www.kutv.com/content/news/topnews/story.aspx?content_id=774D47E8-1BEE-4B5F-8F6A-EFE8400C131D&gsa=true> and read a similar article in the Salt Lake Tribune http://www.sltrib.com/ci_8389269> discussing the implications of Senate Bill 220. If these stories have any merit, I strongly urge you to vote against this bill.
