Condos are seen as a key way to ease Colorado’s housing affordability crisis, but changing the state’s so-called construction defects laws has been a political third rail
By Jesse Paul | Colorado Sun
In a bid to spur condominium construction in Colorado, a group of state lawmakers introduced a bill Monday aimed at reducing lawsuits over construction errors by narrowing when they can be filed and by giving builders and homeowners an avenue to make repairs faster and without going to court.
Senate Bill 106, the so-called construction defects measure, is a major part of the affordable housing debate at the Colorado Capitol this year.
Proponents of easing Colorado’s construction defects laws, including Gov. Jared Polis, see the change as a way to persuade builders to construct more homes that middle-income Coloradans can afford. The median sale price of a single-family home in Colorado was about $625,000 in November, according to Redfin, while the median sale price of a condo was about $450,000.
“This bill is not going to fix the entire problem and we know that going in,” said Sen. Rachel Zenzinger, an Arvada Democrat and one of the lead sponsors of the measure. But she argued the legislation will make it easier for builders to get insured for condo projects, which they say is their biggest hurdle.