In today's online edition of the Denver Business Journal, Ed Sealover reported that the "Bill that bothered Colorado builders dies without a hearing." In a hearing today of the Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee, Senate Majority Leader John Morse asked the committee to postpone Senate Bill 45 indefinitely after stating that the issues surrounding foreclosure delays were more complicated than he had originally thought.
Fueled by comments made by the sponsoring Representative, Andy Kerr, that "all options are on the table," builders "feared the bill would be gutted and the foreclosure language replaced by last year's Senate Bill 246, a failed effort to make builders pay interest on construction defects from the time a home was built rather than the time the defect was reported." According to Chris Elliott, government affairs chairman for the Colorado Association of Home Builders, that change would have doubled the amount builders must pay in construction defects lawsuits, thereby taking away any incentive for homeowners to settle lawsuits quickly.
According to Ed Sealover, "short of an unlikely last-second introduction of a new bill on construction defects later Monday," there will be no construction defects bill this year. Colorado's legislative session ends this Wednesday. According to both Senator Morse and Representative Kerr, they hope to bring back some sort of construction defects legislation in 2011.
For additional information regarding Colorado construction litigation, please contact David M. McLain at (303) 987-9813 or by e-mail at mclain@hhmrlaw.com.
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