What to Know About Roommate Evictions in Colorado
It was a great idea until it wasn’t – letting your friend stay with you. A couple of nights on the couch and suddenly your living room is their bedroom. To make matters worse, your friend isn’t chipping in for rent or utilities – oh, and haven’t you heard? They’re throwing a party at your place tonight!
Realizing your friend is not a friend is never easy. Unfortunately, when you’re living together, knowing when to call it quits is the easy part. The challenge lies in removing them after you’ve asked them to leave and they say “no.”
This legal guide tells you everything you need to know about evicting your official – or unofficial – roommate in Colorado.
Bottom Line:
While you can evict a problematic roommate in Colorado, you may face complications if your roommate’s name is also on the lease.
In this Article:
Roommate Classification and the Eviction Process
How to Evict a Co-Tenant Roommate
How to Evict a Subtenant Roommate
Dealing with a Hostile Roommate
Roommate and Cohabitation Agreements
Roommate Classification and the Eviction Process
The first step is to figure out what kind of roommate you have. Are you trying to evict a co-tenant or a roommate as tenant? I know they sound like the same thing, but they’re not. Let me explain.
Roommates as co-tenants are named on the lease and pay rent to a landlord. The roommates share equal power, and each is obligated to the landlord. In these scenarios, the landlord doesn’t live with them.
In Colorado, it’s much harder to evict a co-tenant than it is to evict a sub-tenant because co-tenants can be:
Friends who rent together
Unmarried adult family members
Unmarried partners who rent together
Roommates as tenants have a different power dynamic. In these situations, a homeowner or primary tenant is named on the property’s deed or lease. This individual can evict other people living with them (tenant roommates) because their names are not on the deed or lease. The tenant roommate could be paying rent to the homeowner, contributing to rent owed by the master tenant, or not paying any rent. In any case, this type of roommate is considered a tenant and has entered into an agreement, even if verbal, directly with the head of the home.
Tenant roommates can include individuals such as adult children living with parents or romantic partners.
What is Eviction?
An eviction is a civil process where a landlord or master tenant can legally remove a tenant from their rental property. In Colorado, a landlord can move to evict if the tenant:
Stops paying rent without cause
Breaches one or more terms of the lease agreement
Creates a nuisance for other tenants
In Colorado, these are considered reasons to evict for cause. Roommate evictions require advanced written notice before any proceedings can begin.
You Cannot Evict Your Roommate On Your Own
As frustrating as it is living with someone you don’t like, you don’t have the right to take matters into your own hands. Neither does your landlord, your master tenant, or any of your co-tenants. You cannot kick a roommate out by changing the locks or dumping their belongings on the curb. These actions are called wrongful evictions, and they are illegal.
How to Evict a Co-Tenant Roommate
When two or more tenants sign a lease or rental agreement, each of them is a co-tenant with equal rights and obligations. Even if each tenant agrees to pay rent equally, each is liable for the entire amount of rent due. This means that if one tenant stops contributing his or her portion, the other(s) still have to pay the entire amount, or the landlord can evict the whole group.
You Must Get the Landlord’s Help
Only the landlord can legally evict a tenant whose name is on the rental or lease agreement. Therefore, the only way to remove a troublesome co-tenant is to seek your landlord’s help.
Keep in mind, most landlords have zero interest in getting involved in disputes between roommates. However, if you can demonstrate that the troublesome roommate not only refuses to pay his or her share of the rent but has also:
Breached the lease agreement in one or more ways,
Threatened or attempted violence against you or other tenants,
Caused damage to the unit, or
Engaged in criminal activity,
… then there is a slight possibility the landlord will only act against your troublesome roommate. The possibility is even greater if you can demonstrate that you have been an exemplary tenant outside this dispute. Appealing to how this eviction will improve the overall situation for your landlord, including the reliability of on-time rent payments and a drama-free future tenancy.
How to Evict a Tenant Roommate
It’s easier to get rid of a troublesome roommate who's not on the lease. If your landlord (or homeowner with a roommate) gave you express or implied permission to take on a roommate — a friend, relative, or romantic partner — then you have become a subletter, and this designation allows you to evict the tenant roommate, provided you follow the proper steps.
Step One: Provide Legally Sufficient Notice
There are many ways to evict a roommate in Colorado, but all of them start with giving notice. How long this process takes will depend on certain factors, such as the duration of tenancy, the type of unit you share, and other key issues.
In Colorado, eviction classifications are divided into two main types: For-cause and no-fault.
For-cause, No-fault, and Exceptions
In Colorado, you must have cause to evict your roommate unless the tenancy falls under an exception rule.
You can provide a 10-day written notice to evict for the following causal reasons:
Not paying rent or their share of it
Causing damage to the property
Making excessive noise or being disruptive to co-tenants in other ways
If the eviction is based on a substantial violation, for instance, your roommate committed a violent or drug-related felony, you only need to give three days' notice.
No-fault Evictions
Certain no-fault evictions are permitted in Colorado only after a lease term expires. Additionally, no-fault evictions are typically reserved for demolition, repairs, or sale of the property.
Exceptions
Colorado eviction law is notoriously complicated because exceptions may apply under certain circumstances.
Some exceptions that could apply to your situation include:
You are staying in a short-term rental property
You are a master tenant of a single-family home, duplex, or triplex
You are the owner of the home, and it is your primary residence
Your tenant roommate has lived on the premises for less than 12 months
Your landlord didn’t know about the other tenant
Under these circumstances, the for-cause eviction statute isn’t applicable. However, you must give your roommate 91 days’ written notice, unless:
The tenant is an at-will tenant, then you only have to give three days' notice
The tenancy is month-to-month, in which you must give 21 days notice
Note: If you pay rent once a month, you may be considered a month-to-month tenant, which wouldn’t necessitate the 91-day notice, making that notice period rare.
Regardless of eviction type, you cannot begin the legal eviction process until the notice has expired.
To avoid disputes, writing and delivering the notice to the roommate by certified mail is best. This way, the notice is documented and cannot be disputed in court.
Step Two: File a Notice to Terminate Tenancy
You’ve served the eviction notice, but the troublesome roommate still won’t leave your property. Now it’s time to file a Notice to Terminate Tenancy with the local county clerk’s office.
You can download the Notice to Terminate Tenancy form or, to ensure it’s done correctly, have one of our eviction attorneys draw one up.
By this point, you will have made it clear to the roommate that you want them to leave. So, what if they still refuse to vacate the property? You can obtain the right to secure the property.
Step Three: Obtain a Forcible Entry and Detainer
You have followed all the legal steps, and the problematic roommate still won’t budge. Now it’s time to go to court and make your case for why the subtenant should be forcibly removed from the property.
To secure a Forcible Entry and Detainer (FED) order, explain your situation to the court as clearly as possible. Present any and all documents that prove your case, including:
Copies of notices you served on the troublesome roommate, and
A copy of the original tenancy agreement, if one was written
Once you have obtained the FED, local law enforcement will force the defiant roommate to leave the premises. The court may also order your roommate to repay reasonable rent, plus late charges, for the period they remained on the property without having the right.
As the master tenant, you also could be entitled to recover damages, reasonable attorney’s fees, and court costs.
Dealing with a Hostile Roommate
Sharing a residence with an uncooperative and disruptive roommate is undoubtedly uncomfortable. Living with someone who knows you’re trying to evict them? That could be worse than awkward. It could be dangerous. If that’s the case, you essentially have three choices:
Temporarily move out of your home during the eviction process,
Tough it out and live with the troublesome, now-hostile roommate, or
Obtain a restraining order.
Roommate eviction should be a civil process. However, if you have reason to fear for your safety, the third option is advisable.
Getting a Restraining Order
If the roommate you are trying to evict becomes violent or even threatens violence, you can go to court and file the necessary forms to obtain a temporary restraining order (TRO). This can remove the person from your property while the eviction proceeds.
Generally, when cause is shown, the court will issue such an order immediately.
When the temporary order is issued, the court will schedule a future hearing to determine if the order should be made permanent. The hearing will also give the restrained person an opportunity to defend themself.
Note: Even though a restraining order effectively forces the hostile roommate to leave the residence, it only creates potentially temporary space from the hostile roommate and does not allow you to legally remove their items. It does not create an eviction action by itself. You must continue the legal process, step by step, until the tenant agrees to move out or you obtain a court order.
Roommate and Cohabitation Agreements
Living with a friend, a stranger, or a romantic partner is a great way to get your own place while saving some money on expenses like rent, food, and utilities. But just because you get along with someone doesn’t mean they’ll be a good roommate.
An attorney can assist you with creating a written contract that all roommates sign before moving in together. Not only can having a written, signed agreement strengthen your hand if a roommate or co-tenant stops contributing rent or becomes unbearable to live with, but it can also set out what happens if one of you should vacate the home before the lease is up.
Who Should Get a Roommate Agreement?
A roommate agreement is a contract that specifies the rights, liabilities, and duties between two or more roommates who are not romantically involved. It’s an agreement that only applies to people actually living together, unlike a lease.
Roommate agreements are legally binding in court except for clauses that detail who must do which chores. A court doesn’t care who takes out the trash or washes dishes but will generally uphold other key parts of the agreement, such as:
What happens to the security deposit if a roommate moves out during the lease
Who pays the remaining rent and utilities if a roommate moves out during the lease
What recourse one tenant has if the other stops paying rent and/or violates lease conditions
In other words, you may be able to sue a co-tenant for damages if they breach their part of the agreement and stick you with all the costs. You can find roommate agreement forms online or have an eviction attorney draft one specifically for your situation.
Cohabitation Agreements
A cohabitation agreement is everything a roommate agreement is and more. It’s a written contract between romantic partners who choose to live together without planning to marry in the near future.
A cohabitation agreement outlines what happens if one roommate moves out early and it comprehensively details what happens to shared property, such as bank accounts, motor vehicles, joint assets, pets, and even shared children if the couple decides to split up.
Both roommate and cohabitation agreements protect you if a roommate should move out or must be asked to move out. Having a contract in place is better than finding out later you’re responsible for the remaining rent and utilities. Make sure an agreement is drawn up and signed before deciding to live together.
We Can Help With Your Roommate Eviction
If you’re a Colorado tenant or homeowner who needs to evict a bad roommate, our Evictions & Landlord Attorneys can help. Our experienced team has handled many cases like yours and can help. Call 303-688-0944 to begin your case assessment.
