Q: Can the landlord kick me off the lease in the middle of our term, and rewrite it with my wife?
It says in lease that no changes are to be made unless in writing.
A:
No, your landlord normally cannot unilaterally remove you from your lease without following the proper, statutory procedures to terminate the lease and evict you.
Colorado has a very specific and strictly enforced procedure that a landlord must follow to evict a tenant. Colorado generally does not allow a landlord to bypass this eviction process by unilaterally changing the locks, removing the tenant’s belongings, or otherwise engaging in a DIY or self-help eviction (and that would include terminating your lease and signing a new lease with a different tenant). By DIY or self-help eviction, I mean an eviction that does not follow the required judicial process.
Relevant statutes include Colorado Revised Statutes Section 13-40-104, Section 13-40-106, Section 13-40-107, and Section 13-40-107.5 to understand (a) how many (one or two?) notices you are entitled to receive from your landlord and (b) the proper timing and content of those notices. The answers to these questions largely depend on why you are being evicted.
You are entitled to hold the landlord to certain standards (especially as it relates to the statutorily required notices to you about lease violations or terminating the tenancy) even if you know that in some objective way (a lease violation or clear failure to pay rent) you deserve the eventual eviction.
As soon as you believe that your landlord is beginning the process of an illegal eviction that does not comply with Colorado law, you should try to consult a private attorney or contact Colorado Legal Services in your area to see whether they are available to assist you (especially in reviewing the legal sufficiency of any notices provided to you by your landlord).
Justia Ask a Lawyer is a forum for consumers to get answers to basic legal questions. Any information sent through Justia Ask a Lawyer is not secure and is done so on a non-confidential basis only.
The use of this website to ask questions or receive answers does not create an attorney–client relationship between you and Justia, or between you and any attorney who receives your information or responds to your questions, nor is it intended to create such a relationship. Additionally, no responses on this forum constitute legal advice, which must be tailored to the specific circumstances of each case. You should not act upon information provided in Justia Ask a Lawyer without seeking professional counsel from an attorney admitted or authorized to practice in your jurisdiction. Justia assumes no responsibility to any person who relies on information contained on or received through this site and disclaims all liability in respect to such information.
Justia cannot guarantee that the information on this website (including any legal information provided by an attorney through this service) is accurate, complete, or up-to-date. While we intend to make every attempt to keep the information on this site current, the owners of and contributors to this site make no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of the information contained in or linked to from this site.
