Landlord-Tenant Law Update 5-29-2020
In an effort to better serve you, we hope that this message will provide. There is a great deal of misinformation and misinterpretation regarding changes in both Colorado and federal law, and we thought it prudent to provide another brief update to clarify potential confusion among landlords in Colorado.
Non-Payment of Rent: As we have addressed previously, neither the CARES Act nor any Colorado Executive Order has abrogated tenants’ responsibility to pay rent. Unless extended, the Colorado eviction moratorium expires on June 1st. However, for tenants in properties identified as “covered properties” under the CARES Act, the current eviction moratorium for non-payment of rent evictions is set to expire on Friday, July 24, 2020. We strongly advise landlords continue to serve Demands for Compliance for rent to tenants who fail to pay during the moratorium. These demands should be modified to explain that a tenant who fails to pay rent by the expiration of the CARES Act moratorium will be terminated at that time. As always, we stand ready to draft these modified demands for our clients. Currently, for tenants who have not paid by July 24, their lease can be terminated and the tenant can be served with a 30-day Notice to Quit as required by the CARES Act.
Other Lease Violations: Remember that the CARES Act moratorium only applies to non-payment of rent evictions. All other lease violations are not subject to the federal moratorium. Colorado Executive Order 051 DOES prohibit the filing of all evictions except in cases of imminent public safety threats, but this Order is set to expire on June 1, 2020. The Mesa County Courts are currently allowing the filing of evictions actions with hearings being scheduled after June 8th. We advise any landlords with tenants not in compliance with their lease to take steps to initiate eviction actions as soon as practicable (beginning with the proper Demand or Notice). We are happy to provide any assistance required. As a reminder, even if Executive Order 051 is extended beyond June 1, the Order specifically does not abrogate tenant responsibility to adhere to the terms of their lease and we encourage landlords to continue serving demands for compliance.
Remember that in this area, we are seeing rapid changes to the law, so depending on when you are reading this document, realize that it may not be the most current information. We are making every effort to keep all of our landlord clients informed of ongoing changes to landlord-tenant dispute procedures. Please contact us if you require assistance or advice regarding filing evictions, tenant noncompliance, tenant nonpayment of rent, or any other matters.
Stay well,
Annie D. Murphy