Frequently asked Questions & Answers
Q: Our lease ended and we moved out of our house four months ago, but we still haven’t received our security deposit back from our landlord and she won’t return our calls. What can we do?
A: Under Colorado law, the longest a landlord can keep your security deposit is 60 days from the end of the lease or when you moved out, whichever occurred last. In the event your landlord keeps all or part of your security deposit, she must still send you an itemized statement of the deductions from your deposit. Your landlord is only obligated to send this statement to your last known address. Therefore, if you did not give your landlord a forwarding address, check and see if your deposit was sent to the old property address. If your security deposit or an itemization of damages has not been sent to you at either your forwarding address or your old address, then your landlord has gone beyond the sixty day limit and has forfeited her right to keep any of your security deposit.
The next step is to send your landlord a letter demanding the return of the entire deposit within seven days – this is called a Seven-Day Demand Letter. You should send this letter to your landlord by certified mail so you can prove the date you sent the letter and the date your landlord received it. If your landlord still doesn’t return your security deposit within the seven day period, she can be required to pay you three times the amount of the deposit, as well having to pay your attorney fees and court costs.
OCSS and Student Legal Services have sample letters and can provide you with advice on how to proceed to request the return of security deposit.
Q: My boyfriend just gave me a puppy but our lease says no pets. The landlord now says that we are being evicted and have only 24 hours to move out. Can they do that?
A: No – at least not legally. Even though you have violated your lease provisions by having a pet, the landlord cannot legally force you out in 24 hours. Except under certain circumstances, a landlord must give you a three day written notice to come into compliance with the lease provisions (i.e. get rid of the puppy). If you still don’t comply, the next step is for the landlord to have you served with court eviction papers. These can either be handed to you or posted on the door.
A court hearing is held between 5-10 days to decide if you will be evicted. If the court determines you breached the lease, then an order is entered requiring you to vacate the premises within 48 hours.
You should know that an eviction will not let you out of the lease. Instead you can be held liable for the lost rent (up to the end of your lease), attorney fees and court costs of the landlord. It is best to avoid violations of the lease in the first place.
NOTE: Some leases state that they can evict a tenant with or without legal process. These provisions are not legal in Colorado and cannot be enforced.
Q: My friend and I signed a lease last year but she didn’t come back to school, what can I do?
A: Even if your friend does not return to school, she is bound by the lease contract equally as you are. She should make efforts to find a replacement tenant or sublease her room. Most leases require written permission from the landlord to sublease, so check your lease first. Because you will most likely still be responsible for paying the full amount of the monthly rent (even though your friend didn’t come back to school), it is in your best interest, also, to find a replacement roommate to cover your friend’s portion of the rent. In addition, because the landlord doesn’t necessarily want to evict you, but really only wants the monthly rent to be paid, (and landlords have a duty to lessen any monetary losses by finding a replacement tenant anyway), your landlord should also help in finding a replacement roommate.
If a replacement is still not found, the absent tenant is liable for her share of rent. If the remaining tenant(s) covers it, they can seek reimbursement through small claims court. However, as a practical matter, if the absent tenant is out of state, it will be difficult to collect from her.
Q: My neighbors are noisy all night and I can’t study. I’ve called my landlord but nothing has been done, what can I do?
A: First off, talk to your neighbors and see if this is something you can work out between yourselves. The City of Boulder has a mediation service that may be able to assist you if your neighbors are also willing to attend mediation. If your landlord is the same as your noisy neighbors, then you may want to make written requests to your landlord to help with the situation. You might want to mention that they are interfering with your right to the “quiet enjoyment” of your residence, a right that is implied in all leases. However, if your neighbors have a different landlord, your landlord really doesn’t have much authority to require your neighbors to stop their noisy activities. If talking with your neighbors doesn’t work and you haven’t been able to resolve the problem through mediation or with assistance of your landlord, you can report the matter to the City of Boulder. If the noise is excessive, it may be a violation of the Boulder City Ordinances prohibiting such conduct and the City of Boulder may cite the neighbor with a noise violation ticket.
Q: How long does my landlord have to give my security deposit back?
A: In Colorado, a landlord generally has 30 days to return a security deposit with a written account of the charges made against the deposit. This time period can be extended to 60 days in a lease. No longer period is allowed under the law.
If you do not have your security deposit within the above times, the landlord may be liable for a wrongful and willful withholding. If so, you may be entitled to additional money and court expenses. UCSU Legal Services or OCSS can advise you on your rights to get back your deposit.
Q: I’ve been having headaches in the morning and think I smell gas from my heater, I called the landlord but he says the system was inspected and is ok. Should I still get this checked out?
A: Any potential gas leak is a serious matter, no matter if the heater was inspected at an earlier time. First, you need to leave the premises and call Xcel, or another utility company, to come on an emergency basis to inspect the gas heating and appliance systems. If they find a fire, health, or public safety hazard, they will issue a written notification to the customer. They may also advise the residents to leave the premise until repairs are made.
As a tenant, you need to provide this written notice to the landlord. The landlord then has only 72 hours to have the hazardous condition repaired by a professional. Failure to have the repair done in that time can result in the lease being voided and the renter being entitled to an immediate return of the security deposit and possible rebate of rent.
This provision of the law in Colorado is somewhat complex and it is recommended that you get legal advice if the repairs are not timely made. Student Legal Services can have an attorney in their office help you with these issues.
Q: We live in a rented condo and the unit above us overflowed their toilet, some of it leaked through our ceiling and ruined some of our clothes, CDs, and videos. Now what do we do?
A: First, your landlord’s property insurance only covers the outside of the buildings and common areas. It does not include the contents of the condos or personal property.
For the future it is highly recommended that you obtain renters insurance, which would have covered the damage to your personal property. Renters insurance is low cost and is the only way to protect your personal property from damage and theft.
In your case now, however, you may be able to recover your damages from the upstairs tenant in small claims if you can prove that they were negligent in allowing the flooding.
Student Legal Services can advise you on how to file a small claims case.
Q: I signed a lease, but I haven’t moved in yet and now have a chance to study abroad next semester. Can I get out of my lease because I won’t be here?
A: A lease is a legally binding contract and, even though you haven’t moved in, there will be consequences to breaking the lease. The fact that you will be traveling abroad does not, in and of itself, relieve you of the obligation to perform your part of the lease, which is to pay monthly rent to the landlord. However, because you haven’t yet moved in to the premises, you may be able to minimize the cost of breaking the lease by finding a replacement tenant. If you intend on returning to CU and want to live in the same place, then you probably will want to sub-lease the premises rather than terminate your lease rights. In either event, it would be wise to discuss your situation with our Legal Advisor at OCSS.
Q: I am signing a lease for a house next year with three of my friends. The landlord took deposits from all four of us, but said that only three of us need to sign the lease. Is this correct?
A: No, this is not correct for a number of reasons and the fact that the landlord only wants three signatures should raise red flags. First, the City of Boulder has an occupancy ordinance which limits the number of unrelated people who can live together to 3 in low-density residential zones or 4 in medium-density or high-density residential zones. It appears that the house is in a medium-density zone, thereby limiting the number of roommates to three. The fine for violating this ordinance is $2,000 per day and can be enforced against BOTH landlords AND tenants.
Second, if the City does enforce the ordinance against you, the person not on the lease will have to move out, but the remaining roommates will still have to pay the same total monthly rent. If you are the roommate not on the lease, this means you may be looking for a place to live in the middle of finals. If you are one of the three roommates on the lease, it means that you will end up having to pay increased rent because the three of you will have to cover the rent that was being paid by the fourth roommate.
Finally, participating in an over-occupancy situation can severely limit your option of going to court to enforce your rights under the lease. If you do need to resort to filing a claim against the fourth person, or if the fourth person needs to sue the landlord to get their security deposit back, you would in essence be required to admit that you were over-occupying the rented premises - an admission that could result in $2,000 fine!
All in all, over-occupying is simply not a wise decision and can lead to more headaches than you could ever imagine. If you have any questions regarding over-occupancy and your current situation or prospective living arrangements, you can always contact OCSS and speak with our Legal Advisor.