Hello, greetings from Colorado Springs!
My name is Lance Kohler. I'm the managing broker of the Cornerstone Real Estate Team, and today I'd like to talk about part two of some common landlord misconceptions.
The first one I'd like to talk about today is the belief that the landlord can opt out or choose not to make repairs. In Colorado, that’s not the case. If you provide it, you're expected to maintain it, repair it, or replace it.
An example would be a washer and dryer set. Sometimes we have an owner come to us and say, “Well, I’m going to leave the washer and dryer, but I’m not going to fix it. The tenant can use it, and then if it breaks, I’m not replacing it.” That’s not acceptable in Colorado Springs. We do not recommend that owners leave personal property unless you are planning to maintain it, repair it, or replace it if needed.
A lot of those appliances will be considered under a warranty of habitability. I’d recommend that if you're in Colorado, you look at Senate Bill 24-094, which added a lot to the warranty of habitability.
The second topic is the idea that the landlord can evict for any reason. That’s not the case. You can evict for violations of the lease, but you can't throw a tenant out of a property for no reason or for a reason that's not stated in your lease.
If you want to process an eviction for lease violations, it first has to be listed in your lease. There are a number of reasons—specifically six in Colorado—that you can use to not renew a tenant. This non-renewal or what is now called a just cause eviction is covered in House Bill 24-1094. I would recommend that you check that out before you process an eviction or look to non-renew a tenant.
The last topic is the belief that generic lease forms are sufficient. They could be—and you can download a standard lease off the internet. We don’t see this very often anymore, but they're usually lacking in specifics. They’re not specific to your property, and they're not specific to your local or state laws.
So, we don’t recommend it. I would recommend you get legal counsel, have a lawyer draft up your lease to make sure that it’s legally compliant, legally binding, and use that lease. That’s what we do.
I hope this was of value to you. Make it a great day. Thanks!