Elderly Homeowner Regains Property After Tenant Raises Retaliation Claims

Renting out a room in one’s home can seem like an easy way to earn some money, especially if you’re on a fixed income like many aging Coloradans. But this dynamic can quickly overwhelm an elderly landlord, particularly when there are multiple tenants to consider, and not all of them are model tenants. 

This is the situation our client, an elderly woman in declining health, faced while renting rooms in her home to tenants under separate month-to-month lease agreements. The circumstances became too much for our client to manage. Put simply, our client no longer wanted to be a landlord. 

Under Colorado’s for-cause eviction law, landlords are generally required to show cause before ending a tenancy—but it carves out key exceptions. Owner-occupied single-family homes, tenancies lasting fewer than 12 months, and landlords who own five or fewer rental units fall outside the for-cause mandate, which our client qualified for, so long as she gave the tenants proper legal notice. 

Unfortunately, the combative tenant used the proper notice to threaten to sue our client for alleged retaliation, discrimination, and related claims. We took the claims against our client seriously. As we investigated them,  the factual and legal basis for the allegations began to fall apart. We pressured the tenant to provide proof of any wrongdoing on our client’s part and refused to pay the demanded amount, as our investigation turned up no evidence of violations. The tenant then moved out without renewing her demand for money or threat to sue. 

Our landlord-eviction attorneys help owner-occupied homeowners reclaim their property from problem tenants. Call 303-688-0944 to schedule a consultation or book online 24/7.