Insights

Denver, Colorado – Otten Johnson Robinson Neff + Ragonetti PC (Otten Johnson) is proud to announce that the firm was awarded a 2023 Gold Fourteeners Award from The Marketing Alliance.

Recently, the Colorado Supreme Court made a significant ruling regarding the thirty-day notice to vacate required under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (the “Cares Act”) which Congress passed in 2020 as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The court determined that the notice requirement in the CARES Act has not expired and remains in effect in Colorado. The decision carries significant implications for landlords in the state.

Last week, a bill championed by Governor Jared Polis was introduced in the Colorado General Assembly proposing to limit local governments’ ability to prohibit moderate-density housing in transit-oriented areas and single-family neighborhoods. The bill would also require local governments to plan for housing needs, and also contains provisions intended to support manufactured housing. If passed, the 106-page bill, which sets parameters for local governments’ planning and zoning decisions, would depart from Colorado’s heavily “local control”-oriented regulatory framework pertaining to land use and would reserve authority to the state government to limit the state’s current patchwork approach to land use control.

The Colorado House of Representatives is currently considering House Bill 23-1171, which proposes substantial changes to the procedures and substance of lawful residential evictions in Colorado. In its current form, the bill would amend Section 12 of Article 38 of the Colorado Revised Statutes (“C.R.S.”) to (i) create of a “just cause” requirement for landlords seeking eviction of a residential tenant, and (ii) create certain “no-fault” eviction scenarios, coupled with obligations on residential landlords to provide, among other things, relocation assistance to residential tenants in the event of a “no-fault” eviction.

A retail tenant holding more negotiating power tends to resist providing a full guaranty of its retail lease. This may cause concern for a retail landlord wanting certain assurances of the tenant’s financial backing. With some creativity and cooperation, landlords may consider structuring a limited guaranty satisfactory to both parties.

Colorado air quality regulators are mulling new rules to implement a 2021 law that requires most large buildings statewide to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and report on their efforts. In 2021, the General Assembly passed HB 21-1286 aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions of covered buildings by 7% from 2021 levels in 2026 and 20% by 2030. As required by that law, the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission (“AQCC”) has published proposed rules implementing the statutory scheme. The rules are set to go into effect on June 1, 2023.

The Colorado Supreme Court and Colorado Court of Appeals have recently issued several opinions addressing novel issues in easement law. Specifically, they address (i) whether a claimant’s acknowledgement of the record owner’s title during the asserted prescriptive period for a prescriptive easement interrupts the prescriptive use, thereby defeating the claimed easement; (ii) whether, in addition to conferring rights of access, an easement that arises by necessity may confer a right to install utility lines; and, (iii) whether a utility company that has an easement to maintain a water pipeline over private property may recover expenses incurred in relocating the pipeline after the property owner’s unreasonable interference with the easement places the pipeline at risk. Though most easement cases are highly fact-specific, these cases do have notable implications for property owners, developers, associations, and utility providers alike.

As cities across the United States grow and adapt to different demands and needs of their communities in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, many have been struggling to balance an excess of office space with a lack of housing, particularly affordable housing.

For the fourth year in a row, Otten Johnson Robinson Neff + Ragonetti PC (Otten Johnson) has been named an honoree of The Civic 50 Colorado by CSR Solutions of Colorado and Points of Light, the world’s largest organization dedicated to volunteer service.