There May Not Be Any Construction Defect Legislation in Colorado This Year After All

In three previous entries (first on January 13, 2010 - "Colorado Homeowner Protection Act of 2010. Much ado about nothing or Trojan horse?," then on March 16, 2010 "Is a Legislative Attack on Colorado Homebuilders Imminent?," and finally on April 2, 2010 "Will there be a construction defects bill in 2010? When will we know?"), I discussed the prospects for having to defend against construction defect legislation this year.

The Homeowner Protection Act of 2010 appears on the Senate Calendar as scheduled to be heard tomorrow afternoon at 1:30 in the Senate State, Veterans & Military Affairs Committee.  In an e-mail yesterday to a supporter of the bill, Senator Morse stated:

I appreciate all your work and all your comments on SB 45 this year. As I said when I sent out the strike below, I have not been able to the devote the time to this issue that I had hoped. After reviewing all the comments I received I have decided that now is not the right time to move this bill forward. As a result, I have asked Senator Heath to remove it from Monday’s calendar in State Affairs and I have told him that I don’t plan to reschedule it this year.

So, if you were planning to come and testify, please understand there will not be a hearing to testify at. Again, I appreciate all the work you have put into this matter.

It is interesting to note that Senator Morse refereces a "strike below" amendment that he circulated for SB 10-045.  I am not sure whether this amendment turned the bill into a construction defects bill, and, hopefully, we will never know.  If SB 10-045 is removed from the Senate Calendar tomorrow, and not calendared again later, there will be no construction defects bill this year, and we can all heave a sigh of relief.

For additional information regarding Colorado construction litigation, please contact David M. McLain at (303) 987-9813 or by e-mail at mclain@hhmrlaw.com.