The bill introduces significant changes to Colorado's construction defect claims and landlord-tenant laws:
1. Construction Defect Claims:
Revised Criteria for Claims: Limits construction defect negligence claims to instances where the defect results in:
Actual damage to real or personal property due to violations of building codes, manufacturer's instructions, or industry standards.
Actual loss of use of real or personal property.
Bodily injury or wrongful death.
An imminent and unreasonable risk of bodily injury or death, or a threat to the life, health, or safety of the property's occupants.
2. Warranty of Habitability Modifications:
Reversion to Previous Standards: Repeals recent updates to the warranty of habitability laws, reinstating prior provisions. Changes include:
Altering procedures for landlords and tenants when a habitability claim is made.
Removing the rebuttable presumption that a landlord failed to address uninhabitable conditions under certain circumstances.
Modifying notice requirements tenants must provide to landlords regarding uninhabitable premises.
Adjusting laws related to rental agreements, record-keeping, and procedures for remedying uninhabitable conditions.
Attorney General's Authority: Eliminates the Attorney General's power to independently initiate actions enforcing warranty of habitability laws.
Jurisdictional Adjustments: Amends county courts' jurisdiction over cases involving tenant remedies in habitability disputes and unlawful evictions.
Summons Statement Revision: Updates the required statement in summonses issued to defendants in possession actions initiated by landlords.
3. Eviction Process Revisions:
Repeal of Specific Provisions: Removes certain eviction-related requirements, including:
Mandatory mediation between landlords and tenants receiving cash assistance before eviction proceedings.
Prohibition on executing a writ of restitution until 30 days post-judgment for tenants receiving cash assistance.
Mandate that eviction notices inform tenants receiving cash assistance of their right to mediation.
Requirement for rental agreements to state the prohibition of source-of-income discrimination and the obligation for non-exempt landlords to accept lawful, verifiable income sources.
Prohibition against including waivers of mandatory mediation or clauses allowing landlords to recoup mediation costs in rental agreements.
4. Energy Code Adoption Criteria:
Cost-Effectiveness Mandate: Requires that any energy code provisions adopted by counties or municipalities on or after January 1, 2026, be cost-effective. "Cost-effective" is defined as ensuring that the economic benefits of proposed energy efficiency standards exceed their costs, based on an incremental multi-year analysis.
These legislative changes aim to refine the legal framework governing construction defects, landlord-tenant relationships, eviction processes, and energy efficiency standards in Colorado.
Summary
Current law restricts construction defect negligence claims unless
the negligence claim arises from a construction defect which results in actual damage to or loss of the use of real or personal property; bodily injury or wrongful death; or a risk of bodily injury or death to, or a threat to the life, health, or safety of, the occupants of the residential real property. Section 1 of the bill changes this restriction so that all construction defect claims are restricted unless the claim arises from a construction defect that causes: •
Actual damage to real or personal property caused by the violation of a building code, manufacturer's instructions, or industry standard;
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Actual loss of the use of real or personal property;
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Bodily injury or wrongful death; or
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An imminent and unreasonable risk of bodily injury or death to, or an imminent or unreasonable threat to the life, health, or safety of, the occupants of the residential real property. Sections 2 through 12 modify existing warranty of habitability
laws by repealing recent updates and reenacting the laws as they were prior to the updates. The modifications include repealing certain procedures for both landlords and tenants when a warranty of habitability claim is alleged by the tenant; repealing a rebuttable presumption that a landlord failed to remedy an uninhabitable premises in certain conditions; modifying requirements regarding notice given to a landlord of an uninhabitable premises; and modifying other laws related to rental agreements, records, and procedures for remedying uninhabitable premises. Section 13 repeals law that allows the attorney general to
independently initiate and bring actions to enforce laws relating to the warranty of habitability. Section 14 makes a conforming change to law governing county courts' jurisdiction over cases involving tenant's remedies in warranty of habitability cases and tenant's remedies in cases of unlawful removal. Section 15 modifies the statement included in a summons issued to a defendant in a court proceeding regarding an action for possession brought by a landlord. Sections 16 through 20 repeal provisions related to evictions of
residential tenants, including repealing:
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Requirements that a landlord and residential tenant participate in mandatory mediation prior to commencing an eviction action if the residential tenant receives cash assistance;
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A prohibition on a law enforcement officer's ability to execute a writ of restitution until 30 days after the entry of judgment if the residential tenant receives cash assistance;
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Requirements that a written demand include a statement that a residential tenant who receives cash assistance has a right to mediation prior to the landlord filing an eviction complaint;
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Requirements that a written rental agreement include a statement that current law prohibits source of income discrimination and requires a nonexempt landlord to accept any lawful and verifiable source of money paid directly, indirectly, or on behalf of a person; and •
Requirements that prohibit a written rental agreement from including a waiver of mandatory mediation or a clause that allows a landlord to recoup any costs associated with mandatory mediation. Sections 21 and 22 require any provision of any energy code
adopted by a county or municipality on or after January 1, 2026, to be cost effective. Cost effective means, using the existing energy efficiency standards and requirements as a base of comparison, that the economic benefits of the proposed energy efficiency standards and requirements will exceed the economic costs of those standards and requirements based upon an incremental multi-year analysis.
