"
Sometimes the law mandates using a
great many words to say nothing at all.
The statute dictates that the landlord
will commence remedial action within
24 hours for an issue that “materially
interferes with the tenant’s life, health
or safety” or within 96 hours for the
long list of less serious required repairs
(working appliances, leaking roofs,
hot water etc.), but it doesn’t say what
commencement might be. response time, statements like we
will commence remediation work by
“inspecting the problem to determine
what needs to be done”, “causing a
maintenance representative to respond
to the unit”, or “ordering necessary
replacement parts” will go a long way to
creating “commencement” when it might
otherwise not exist.
Obviously, the greater the progress
on the repair, the more likely a landlord
will be able to win the argument that the
steps taken within the mandated time-
frame represent commencement. The more information that may be
available regarding the scope and timing
of the work, the more meaningful the
information that can be provided to the
resident. Other than making promises
that can’t be kept, there is nothing wrong
with providing more information than
the statute requires. However, given
However, when little progress can
be anticipated within the mandated
"
the short time for the response and the
mandatory minimum content, there will
be times when the even the most diligent
and transparent landlord will be forced
to make very little information sound
like statutory compliance. For those
times consider:
We intend to make all necessary
repairs. We will commence the repair
process by inspecting and diagnosing the
problem to determine needed supplies,
equipment and repair person(s) within
____ hours. We will be entering the
unit for that purpose during this time-
frame. We estimate that the repairs
will be completed when the necessary
materials and repair persons can be
coordinated at the unit.
11TH EDITION
(2019 SUPPLEMENT)
F O R R E N TA L H O U S I N G I N C O L O R A D O
THE 11TH EDITION OF THE LEGAL HANDBOOK HAS BEEN
UPDATED AND A SUPPLEMENT IS AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD.
IT INCLUDES UPDATES TO THE FOLLOWING CHAPTERS:
•
•
•
•
•
APPLICATIONS & SCREENING
LANDLORD’S ENTRY RIGHTS
WARRANTY OF HABITABILITY AND DUTY TO REPAIR
EVICTIONS
BED BUGS AND PEST INFESTATION
DOWNLOAD THE SUPPLEMENT AT WWW.AAMDHQ.ORG
MUST HAVE AN OWNER/MANAGEMENT MEMBERSHIP LOGIN TO DOWNLOAD
18 | TRENDS OCTOBER 2019
www.aamdhq.org