Marijuana, HOAs and Rental Properties
Attorneys call it wild west when it comes to laws surrounding marijuana, homeowners associations and rental properties in Colorado.
In Colorado Springs alone, there are dozens of homeowners associations and many are calling attorneys asking what they can and can’t do when it comes to restricting pot.
A lot of concern comes after seeing hash oil explosions, and dozens of illegal marijuana grows busted at Colorado homes, many of them rental properties.
“It’s very dangerous,” Pueblo Regional Building Director Dave Vaughn told KRDO NewsChannel 13, while showing us pictures of altered electrical boxes and wiring at homes where illegal marijuana grows were busted by deputies. Pueblo County’s had 15 busts since the middle of March.
“When you get there (illegal home grows), you find electrical wiring running every which direction, used way above normal power over double, lots of times triple the amount,” Vaughn said.
Deputies say an illegal grow caused an electrical transformer to spark in Pueblo West in April, which caused a grass fire and it threatened several homes. Firefighters were able to stop it, after it burned roughly 2 acres.
Homeowners who rented out property where illegal grows were found are spending at least a couple thousand dollars each on electrical repairs, according to Vaughn.
Attorney Jonah Hunt wrote an article called “Marijuana in HOAs” and is one of a just a handful of people in the country who know the marijuana and HOA issue inside and out.
He says his law firm “predicted there would be a larger concern for condominium/townhome communities, but surprisingly we’ve seen single family communities that want to restrict or have restricted marijuana via covenant or a rule.”
He recommends HOAs first know what the community wants before limiting marijuana. However, with marijuana legal in our state can HOAs legally restrict it?
“Associations can restrict the growing and even the use of marijuana, typically through a covenant or enacting of a rule, and that is a common misconception that associations cannot do that,” he said.
A couple of lawsuits are currently filed in Colorado courts that will bring more clarification about the issue.
As for renters, if you’re a landlord, make sure you put in your lease that you can come into the home for random checks.
“You need to exercise your right to enter your building by your lease to see if they’re doing something like this in your home,” said Vaughn.
