Hello, greetings from Colorado Springs!
My name is Lance Kohler. I'm the managing broker of the Cornerstone Real Estate Team.
Today, I'd like to cover some common landlord misconceptions. This is part of our Landlord Education Series, and I’d like to go over three items—or three facts—you should know if you're going to be a do-it-yourself landlord. The information I’m providing today is specific to Colorado. I’m only familiar with Colorado laws, so if you're in another state, please check your local and state laws. And just a quick disclaimer—I’m not a lawyer.
The first landlord misconception is that the landlord has 60 days to return a security deposit.
When I’m talking about returning a security deposit, it's either a refund of the deposit that you are holding, or it may be some funds from the security deposit and a full accounting of how the remainder of those funds were spent. In Colorado, the requirement is that you provide that accounting and provide that refund within 30 days. There is a caveat to that law: if it's addressed in your lease, you have up to 60 days. So, if your lease states that you're going to return the security deposit and provide a final accounting within 60 days, then you are allowed to have up to the 60 days. It’s important that you address that in your lease so you have the full amount of time to account for those funds.
If you have a lease, it may say differently. We inherited a lease one time from an owner that was managing themselves, and the lease said that the full accounting and return of the security deposit had to be done within 15 days. So even though Colorado will allow you up to 60 days, we only had 15 days to do that accounting. Other states may have different timelines, so again—check your state and local laws.
The second misconception I’d like to address is: the landlord can enter the property at any time.
We’ve run into this when we've taken over management from an owner that has maybe been self-managing the property themselves, and they’re used to dropping by to make sure that the lawn’s taken care of, or that there are no leaks, or that the sprinkler system’s operating right. I understand that you, as the owner—you’re the landlord, you own the property. But when you sign a lease with a tenant—as a landlord or owner—or if we’re a property management company for you and we sign the lease on your behalf—you still own the property, but you're giving possession of that property to the tenant. And the tenant has the right to quiet enjoyment.
What that means is that you can't barge in on their family dinner or be at the property without advance notice and notification to the tenants. Notification has to be reasonable notification. And if you’re doing a visit or an inspection, it has to be at a reasonable time of day. In Colorado, that's interpreted as at least 24 hours’ notice. Again, this is a topic that you should address in your lease—at least 24 hours’ notice, and a reasonable time of day, meaning typically business hours (8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.), something like that. You can coordinate another time with the tenant if it's agreeable to them, but those are the requirements. So no, you can’t enter the property at any time.
Lastly: if it’s in the lease, it’s legally binding.
Some owners think that, “Hey, it’s in the lease, the tenant has to abide by that.” Well, if it’s legally binding, I guess would be the caveat—because you could have anything written in your lease, but if it’s not legally binding or legally enforceable, then it won’t be held up in court if you end up in court for an eviction case or a habitability case.
An example would be just what we talked about—landlord entering the property at any time. You can write in your lease that the landlord has the right to enter the property at any time without notice. You could write that—but it’s not legally enforceable. It’s not legally binding because Colorado has ruled that the tenant has the right to quiet enjoyment, and they have the opportunity to enjoy the property. And you, as the owner/landlord, have to provide notice to them.
Another example would be if you wrote in your lease that if the tenant paints the bedroom pink, they forfeit their security deposit. I would recommend you don’t put that in your lease. That’s something that could be in your lease, but it wouldn’t be legally enforceable.
I hope this information was of value to you.
Make it a great day. Thanks.