On May 20th Colorado Gov. Hickenlooper signed HB15-1343 into law. The bill concerns a streamlined process to simplify the licensure of persons who manage the affairs of common interest communities under the "Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act".

The bill modifies the regulation of these community managers (CAMs) by:

Requiring a license for a community association management apprentice;
Amending the definition of community association management;
Exempting executives who employ or supervise an individual who performs community association management and independent contractors from being licensed as community association managers;
Adding the definition of a designated manager and providing that an entity may obtain a license by designating a manager who qualifies for a community association manager's license to manage and supervise all of the entity's licensed activity;
Modifying the examination requirement by conditioning the grant of a community association manager's license on an applicant passing two separate portions of an examination, referred to as the general portion and the Colorado law portion; and
Changing the fund used for implementation of the regulation of community association managers from the community association manager licensing cash fund to the Division of Real Estate cash fund and repealing the former.

While the original licensing legislation allowed for the Director of the Division of Real Estate to exempt certain individuals from licensing requirements, this bill was designed to put many of those persons into law. So who will NOT be required to be licensed now reads as follows;

CEOs of management companies as long as they do not engage in CAM duties and are not the Designated Manager for the company
Employees of community management companies who perform only clerical, ministerial, accounting or maintenance functions as long as they do so under the supervision of a licensed CAM
Those who are directly employed by a common interest community who only perform clerical, ministerial, accounting or maintenance functions
Independent Contractors performing clerical, ministerial, accounting or maintenance functions and who do not perform community association management functions

The bill also created a new license type, the Apprentice License, which may be granted to individuals by the Director of the Division of Real Estate and will be valid for up to one year. An Apprentice must work under the supervision of a licensed CAM.

The bill also allows the Director of the Division of Real Estate to grant a provisional license to those CAMs who do not pass the required state exam prior to the July 1st, 2015 implementation date. We will post any rules or requirements for the apprentice or provisional license types as they become available.

For those holding any of the following designations or certifications in good standing, you will now only be required to pass the Colorado portion of the state exam. This includes;

CMCA
AMS
PCAM
Any other designation recognized by the Director of the Division of Real Estate

Expect further clarification as we approach the July 1st, 2015 implementation date. If you are still concerned if you need a license, visit http://vaned.com/CAM for more information.

Written and Published by: VanEd