Tenant's Rights

The Landlord-Tenant relationship is a common, everyday legal occurrence that most, if not all, persons go through during their adult lives.  Unfortunately, it is often a source of contention and arguments that lead to court battles.  For some tenants, it seems that the landlord has more time, money, and experience to yield his or her power over the tenant.  This does not have to be the case, and Colorado has implemented statutes to protect both landlords and tenants from questionable and illegal practices.

Upon entering a lease agreement, the landlord must turn over possession of the property to the tenant.  Additionally, the tenant has the legal right to quiet enjoyment of the property (the legal term for this right is the "covenant of quiet enjoyment").  This means that, generally speaking, the landlord may not trespass onto the property and may not interfere with the tenant's use of it.  If the landlord violates this right to quiet enjoyment, the landlord may be responsible for any damages caused by the violation.

An important statutory right afforded to the tenant is the Warranty of Habitability (C.R.S. 38-12-503).  The warranty of habitability deals with the questions of repairs and damages to the property, ensuring that the landlord provides a safe and healthy premises for the tenant.  If the Landlord fails to abide by the terms of the warranty, the landlord may be responsible for damages, and it may allow the tenant to legally terminate the lease.  

With an eviction, the tenant still has a number of legal rights.  If a landlord is threatening to evict, the tenant's first step is to review the lease agreement.  In many lease agreements there are steps the landlord must do prior to evicting the tenant, and a failure to follow these steps may protect the tenant from an illegal eviction.
 
If the landlord wishes to terminate the lease, the landlord must provide the proper written notice to the tenant and follow the necessary time-frame for terminating the lease.  By statute, if the landlord seeks to terminate the lease, the landlord must provide a written notice to quit to the tenant (see C.R.S. 13-40-107).  The timing of how much notice must be given prior to the eviction depends upon the length of the tenancy agreement.  For example, if the tenancy agreement was for one year, the landlord must provide three months notice prior to terminating the lease.  If the tenancy agreement was a month-to-month lease, then only 10 days notice is necessary (C.R.S. 13-40-107 spells out the various time-frames).

The landlord may terminate the lease for a failure to pay rent or a substantial violation of the lease, but even in these circumstances, the landlord must give a three day notice.  In the case of failing to pay rent, the tenant has three days to pay the rent (it is called a Demand for Rent or Possession), and for a substantial violation, the tenant has three days to remedy the problem (it is called a Demand for Compliance).

Once notice is given and the time has expired, the Landlord still does not have the right to forcibly remove the tenant from the premises.  At this point, the Landlord must file a summons and complaint to legally evict the tenant.  In Colorado, this process is called a Forcible Entry and Detainer action, found at C.R.S. 13-40-101 et. al.  To begin the action, the Landlord will file a Complaint with the County Court.  Next, the Landlord will prepare a summons, which is a legal document informing the tenant of the time and place of court.  The summons and complaint must be properly served upon the tenant.  For proper service, the landlord must personally serve the tenant, or serve the summons and complaint by posting.  If service is completed by posting, the landlord must post the summons, complaint, and a blank answer form on a conspicuous location of the residence, and mail a copy of all three documents to the tenant's last known address.

Upon filing the complaint, the Court will hold a hearing not less than five days, but no more than 10 days after the summons has been issued.  If the tenant wishes to contest the allegations of the complaint, the tenant may file an answer to the Complaint.  Upon the filing of an answer, the Court will schedule a hearing to determine if the Forcible Entry and Detainer action should be upheld.  It is important to review the landlord's complaint against the tenant because there may be certain aspects of the Complaint that the tenant wishes to contest.  For example, the tenant may disagree with the amount of rent that is due or any alleged damage to the property.  To preserve these issues, the tenant should file an answer and appear in court to defend the case.  

If the Court rules in favor of the landlord, a judgment for possession will enter for the landlord.  Within 48 hours of the judgment, the Court will issue a writ of restitution.  This writ of restitution gives the landlord a legal right to remove the tenant's property from the residence.  The writ of restitution is executed by the Sheriff's Department, and depending upon the jurisdiction, is executed by the Sheriff within 2-3 weeks of the judgment.  It is at this point that the tenant, if the tenant is still living at the residence, will be escorted from the property.