HOAs subject to increased liability for guests' injuries in common areas, appeals court rules

Colorado's second-highest court ruled for the first time on Thursday that guests of homeowners who are injured in the common areas of homeowner associations only need to satisfy a relatively low hurdle to sue the HOA. Under Colorado law , someone who is injured on another's property will have a harder or easier time holding the landowner responsible based on their status. A trespasser can only sue for injuries the landowner "willfully or deliberately caused.

" A licensee, in contrast, can sue over hazards the landowner caused and "actually knew about." An invitee has the easiest burden to satisfy: They can sue if a landowner did not guard against hazards the landowner "actually knew about or should have known about." Relying on other states' court decisions and analogizing the situation to how the law treats renters and their guests, a three-judge Court of Appeals panel decided guests of homeowners who are injured on HOA-owned areas are invitees, giving them the easiest path for filing suit.



"In that regard, if the association allows guests to use the common areas it owns and controls, then it is part of the association’s business to provide those facilities for the use of unit owners’ guests," wrote Judge Christina F. Gomez in the April 3 opinion . In return, guests can expect the HOA to "exercise reasonable care" in fixing hazards.

Decided: April 3, 2025 Jurisdiction: Jefferson County Ruling: 3-0 Judges: Christina F. Gomez (author) Terry Fox Katharine E. Lum Aaron J.

Goodlock, an attorney who represents HOAs, said the decision could slightly increase associations' liability, but there will still be questions on a case-by-case basis about the legal status of an injured person. "The case highlights and underscores the importance for community associations to be diligent in carefully and adequately maintaining common areas for the safety and benefit of homeowners, guests and residents," he said. In the underlying case, Tiffani Willis alleged she lived in the Twin Shores HOA in Jefferson County.

She described herself as the common law spouse of a unit owner. Although her name was not on the title, she served on the HOA's board and paid association dues occasionally. After she slipped and fell on an icy sidewalk, Willis sued over her injuries.

The question then turned to Willis' legal status. Chamonix Vail is the ski town’s new affordable-housing project. David O.

Williams for Colorado Politics Then-District Court Judge Lily Oeffler decided there was no "evidence of a relationship" between Willis and the HOA. Therefore, Willis was a licensee and had to demonstrate the HOA actually knew about the hazard. Oeffler moved the case forward with the understanding Willis would have to show actual knowledge.

In January 2024, District Court Judge Ryan P. Loewer, who had taken over the case, concluded the HOA and its management company did not know of the dangerous condition. He dismissed the lawsuit.

Willis appealed, emphasizing all the ways in which she was actually an invitee. She argued she was not a "social guest," who the law treats as a licensee, and instead asked the Court of Appeals to rule that "residents and occupants" are always invitees. "If only titled owners of units in common interest community are securely invitees," wrote attorney R.

Keith Fuicelli, "then what of children who reside with their parents in common interest communities? And what of children who reside part-time with a parent in a common interest community and elsewhere the rest of the time? ...

Or the college student who is home living with a parent in a common interest community during summer or winter break?" colorado politics file The Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center in downtown Denver houses the Colorado Supreme Court and Court of Appeals. The appellate panel ultimately did not analyze Willis' precise relationship to the HOA and to the unit where she lived.

Instead, it concluded she was, at minimum, the guest of a homeowner. That was sufficient to label her an invitee. Gomez noted Colorado courts treat renters and their guests as invitees, under the theory that the landowner's business necessarily involves letting others use their common areas.

She wrote that it was appropriate to apply the same logic to HOA-owned areas, too. Because it was unclear whether Willis' injuries occurred on HOA-owned property, the panel returned the case to the trial court for further proceedings. Sam Cannon, president of the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association, said the decision reinforces the expectation that homeowners' dues will be used to ensure the safety of HOA-owned areas.

"It will make Colorado safer and make sure that homeowners and condo-owners are getting what they pay for with their assessments," he said. The case is Willis v. Twin Shores Master Owner Association, Inc.

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