Lakewood Passes Construction Defect Ordinance

Lakewood Passes Construction Defect Ordinance

The City of Lakewood has passed Ordinance 21, which places additional obstacles on residents and associations to have construction defects corrected.  The ordinance passed on a 7-4 vote.

The city council members did agree to some amendments to the ordinance, including allowing owners to vote by proxy on whether to initiate litigation against the builder, and allowing owners to object a repair offer from the builder.

Despite these concessions, the ordinance still gives builders a right to unilaterally decide what repairs to perform and takes away a homeowner associations’ right to govern itself or to retain its constitutional right to a jury trial.

The Community Associations Institute (“CAI”) previously issued calls to action in opposition to the proposed ordinance, and has commented that the ordinance oversteps Lakewood’s home rule authority and will likely not survive a legal challenge.  CAI’s official position relative to the ordinance is stated in an Open Letter to the Lakewood City Council.