Senate Judiciary advances Ball bill to allow limited neighbor-access for home repairs

Senator Ball urged the Senate Judiciary Committee to approve Senate Bill 177, a measure aimed at giving homeowners a narrow legal path to access an adjacent property for repairs when voluntary cooperation is not possible. The committee voted 5 to 2 to send the bill to the Committee of the Whole.

The bill, which Ball described as "Marty's bill," was presented with a co-sponsor, Senator Benavides. Ball said the measure is intended as a rare backstop so homeowners are not forced into protracted litigation or left unable to fix damage to their homes. "This type of thing happens from time to time," Ball said, describing situations in which one property owner's repairs require brief access to another's land.

Marty Jones, the bill's constituent witness, told the committee he and his wife live in an 1887 home in Denver's Five Points neighborhood and have "for 3 years" been unable to get a neighboring property owner to allow access to a flat roof needed to repair and repaint a crumbling second-story brick wall. Jones said contractors were licensed and insured and that he twice offered Denver's free mediation service, which the neighbor refused. "My attorney ran up a bill of just under $30,000," Jones said, and he contrasted that amount with the roughly $1,500 and three days of work that would have fixed the problem in May 2023.

Senator Benavides told the committee sponsors would offer an amendment to add mediation as an alternative to immediate district-court litigation, noting that cases can take years in court and that mediation might prompt earlier resolution. Ball said an adopted amendment (L1) also excludes federal and state-owned property and clarifies easement issues.

Senator Zamora Wilson voiced hesitation about the bill's potential effect on property rights and asked whether buyers can reasonably anticipate such access needs when purchasing property. Ball replied that prospective owners cannot always predict who will own adjacent property in the future and that the bill is intended to be limited and used rarely.

After a brief conceptual amendment to correct a drafting error that had used "meditation" instead of "mediation," the committee adopted L1 as amended. The vice chair moved to send SB 177 as amended to the Committee of the Whole; the clerk polled the committee and the motion carried 5–2.

The committee record shows a split vote on SB 177; the bill will be considered by the Committee of the Whole next.