GOVERNOR EXTENDS 30-DAY RENT DEMAND REQUIREMENT. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE NEW EXECUTIVE ORDER

On Friday, July 2, Governor Polis announced Executive Order 120, extending for the third time the requirement for landlords to serve 30-day rent demands instead of 10-day rent demands. In addition, the new order keeps EO-110 in effect, which requires landlords to serve the DOLA FAQs with every type of eviction notice. The new order expires July 30 (30 days from June 30), the day before the CDC’s eviction moratorium is set to expire. 
 
Please read EO-120 in its entirety here. 
 
Meanwhile, on Friday, June 25, Governor Polis signed two bills, HB-1121 and SB-173, into law. 
 
Both laws will significantly change the landscape for landlords and the rental industry. For starters, HB-1121 extends the time period from when a judge issues a writ directing a sheriff to evict a tenant to 10 days from judgment when it used to be 48 hours. This means that tenants have at least 10 days in the property after a judgment enters (there is still a 48-hour time period between the judgment entering and the writ issuing). The bill also limits landlords to increasing rent only once per year, including month-to-month rentals. 
 
The big takeaway: HB-1121 has already taken effect. This law has changed the way eviction proceedings take place, and Tschetter Sulzer will be rolling out recommendations over the course of the next month, including webinars and articles, to keep everyone informed. 
 
Meanwhile, SB-173 is effective on October 1, 2021. SB-173 has various changes, including capping late fees at $50 or 5 percent of a tenant’s rent, while also not allowing landlords to charge those late fees until seven days past the rent due date.  
 
The big takeaway: Landlords have until October 1, 2021, to change their leases in order to comply with this new law. Over the next few months, Tschetter Sulzer will be rolling out an efficient and user-friendly process to help our clients change their leases. 
 
The efforts of Tschetter Sulzer’s attorneys and clients–in addition to the Apartment Association of Metro Denver and other industry trade groups–were successful at curbing some of the more harmful aspects of this bill.
 
In his testimony at the House Committee on Business Affairs & Labor on May 13th, Senior Associate Attorney Pete Muccio articulately argued that the bill would not benefit the industry as a whole. 
 
“...I want everyone to understand that this bill is not really about COVID-19,” Pete began. “This bill really only benefits two different categories of parties, and I’m pretty sure that’s not really what the original drafters of the bill intended, but that’s what it does. It benefits delinquent tenants, and it benefits attorneys.”
 
“This bill does not really bring solutions to problems really to housing; it brings lawsuits,” Pete continued. “And I’m pretty sure that’s not what the intent was.”
 
Tschetter Sulzer would like to thank all of our clients who vocally opposed this bill.
 
Please find the full text of HB-1121 here and the full text of SB-173 here. 

To listen to Pete’s testimony in front of the Senate, please find it here. Pete begins talking at approximately 8:20 p.m.