By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics
The bill that backers hope will breathe new life into Colorado’s condo construction market won a solid 6-1 vote from a Senate committee.
But will the bill do what backers hope — lead to a resurgence in condo construction?
It depends on who gives the answer.
The condo market all but died in 2010 after changes to property and casualty insurance drove those insurers out of the Colorado condo market. That has led to insurance costs of up to $40,000 per unit, which are less of an issue for a million-dollar condo but one that makes the “affordable” condo — in the $400,000 range — unaffordable.
Ted Leighty of the Colorado Association of Homebuilders told the committee House Bill 1272 doesn’t go far enough to solve the issue it is intended to address.
Leighty, whose association represents some of the largest homebuilders in the state, told Colorado Politics what his group is looking for in the pilot program is a clear definition of what a “defect” is and isn’t. That would send a clear signal to the homeowners, homebuilders and insurers about what can be claimed.