Legal Headlines

Although he had spent $ 27,000 on materials, Tom Davis did not panic when the Highlands Ranch deprived of its owners’ association to install solar panels on the roof of the pergola that frames his patio.

For one thing, a further strengthening of the state statute changed the law in his favor, according to David Peters attorney at law. As he pressed his case, attorney David Peters he found the HOA cautious but curious – and, ultimately, willing to let him move forward.

“They were very progressive – more than what I hear people tell me about their Hoas yelling and screaming,” said Davis, an airline mechanic who is venturing into a second career in the solar energy.

Relations are not always so amicable between energy and spirit of the owners that the police Hoas them.

Despite a 30-year-old law prohibiting the limitation clauses neighborhood solar devices on aesthetics, Colorado homeowners associations often rejected anyway. But since the law was expanded and strengthened in August, Hoas must take a more tolerant society.

“There will always be differences, but the wave washed over us,” said attorney Suzanne Leff, whose firm advises community along the Front Range.

Hoas are not completely paralyzed, and the owners do not have carte blanche. There are still skirmishes of the environment and the evolution of the avant-garde technology, owners and community monitoring to test the limits of the law.