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How to Evict a Roommate in Colorado

Roommate situations usually start out well. A couple of friends decided to become roommates to share expenses or a friend asked to move in because he or she needed a place to stay. Things were fine for awhile, but after time, they started to go downhill and now it's time for a roommate to leave. Except he or she won't go. So now what? How is a Colorado roommate evicted?

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Evicting a Colorado Roommate is Tricky

As living expenses rise, more people are living together as a way to save money. As a result, more people are discovering that living with a roommate is not all it's cracked up to be. Some roommates want to party all night.

Others think house rules apply to everyone but them. In Colorado, getting rid of an obnoxious roommate, though, depends on a number of factors.

Is the Roommate on the Lease?

If the roommate is on the lease, then the only person who can evict him or her is the landlord, but even a landlord needs a legally valid reason to throw someone out if that person is on the lease. These reasons usually include not paying rent, using the home for illegal purposes or otherwise breaking the terms of the lease in some way.

The exception to this is if the roommate is threatening or violent toward other people in the house. If this is the case, then the court can issue a restraining order and the roommate must leave immediately.

It's worth remembering that a roommate on the lease is actually a co-tenant and has much right to live in the rental space as anyone else on the lease.

Now What?

Unfortunately for Colorado residents, options are limited if the roommate is on the lease. Politely asking him or her to leave is one option, but this doesn't always work and can lead to more conflict.

If the roommate signed an agreement outlining rules of the house, everything from noise limits to cleaning duties and he or she breaks the agreement, then he or she probably cannot be evicted but can be sued for damages in small claims court.

Examples might include the roommate having loud parties that interfere with getting work done if someone works at home or a roommate not paying his or her share of the utilities.

While these situations could be grounds for suing, the risk that suing may anger the roommate but not enough to make him or her move out.

Talking to the landlord to see if he can get the roommate to budge is an option, but most landlords are content to leave things be as long as they are getting their rent and their property is not being damaged.

An exception would the the landlord seeing that the roommate is breaking the lease in some way, such as selling drugs from the home (illegal use of the property) or has a dog when pets are specifically forbidden in the lease.

This can be tricky, though, because the roommate could claim that the dog belongs to everyone in the home and the landlord could decide to evict everyone. In Colorado, this is particularly true if the lease has a joint and/or several liability clause, which essentially means that all the tenants on a lease can be held responsible for what other tenants do.

The landlord might be a reasonable person (or company), though, and decide to evict only the offending roommate. If this is the case, it will take some time. The landlord must follow the law, which involves giving the roommate notice of the eviction and time to remedy the situation.

For example, if the grounds for the eviction are that the roommate has a dog and pets are forbidden according to the lease, then the landlord has to give the roommate adequate time to find the dog a new home. If the roommate does this, then he or she cannot be evicted. He or she can stay in the home and chances are he or she will not be a happy camper.

It is possible, too, that the roommate may just ignore the eviction notice and decide to stay in the home. In this case, the landlord will have to go to court to ask a judge to tell the roommate to go. If the judge agrees, then the sheriff will come to escort the roommate out of the property. If, though, the landlord loses in court, then the roommate can stay.

Things That Cannot Be Done with Regard to a Colorado Roommate

No matter how obnoxious the roommate is, there are things that the state of Colorado says cannot legally be done to make him or her vacate the home.

For example, he cannot be threatened and the locks cannot be changed to prevent him from entering the home. No one can steal his personal property. If any of this happens, then whoever is doing it could be looking at criminal charges. No roommate is worth that.

Is the Roommate Not on the Lease?

If the roommate is not on the lease, then there are more options for getting rid of him or her.

This can be a little dicey, too, though. If the roommate is not on the lease because he or she came to stay without the landlord knowing, then the others in the house might be the ones breaking the lease terms and end up facing eviction.