What is a Holdover in Colorado?
A holdover occurs when an original lease term expires, and the tenant does not vacate the property at the point of expiration. When a Tenant holds over beyond the terms of the lease, the landlord has the option to either treat the tenant as a trespasser or a holdover tenant.
Once the landlord has accepted payment from the tenant following the expiration of the original term and a holdover by the tenant, the landlord has chosen to treat the party as a tenant.
What Terms and Conditions Apply to the Holdover Tenant
In some cases, the original lease will have provisions stating the rules and conditions that will apply in a Holdover tenancy. Where there are no terms set out the law implies that the new lease will be controlled by the terms set out in the expired lease.1 When no new lease is made the agreement follows the character and terms of the prior term.2
Duration of The New Lease
If the prior tenancy was a year-to-year lease or more the holdover term is implied to be a year-to-year lease.3 Where the prior lease term was for less than a year, the term of the new lease should be a like term.4 A holdover Period establishes a new contract, that the law implies has the same terms from the preceding period.5
This differs from established common law principles that are utilized by many other states, where in the event of a holdover, the terms of the new tenancy are month-to-month.
To establish a month-to-month holdover tenancy in Colorado the original tenancy would have had to be a month-to-month lease, or there would need to be no original written lease with payments made monthly to the landlord.6
Implications of a Year-to-Year Tenancy
Once a holdover tenant has been accepted as a tenant, and a year-to-year new lease is implied, the tenant cannot be evicted without proper notice. The notice required for eviction is much longer for a year-to-year term than a month-to-month tenancy.
When serving a notice to quit, the time period of notice needed depends on the duration of the tenancy. When a tenancy is for one year or longer the notice period is for 91 days.
If the tenancy is for one month or longer but not six months, the period of notice is 21 days. 7 These notice periods can be protective of tenants; however, they can make it difficult for a landlord to separate from an undesirable tenant.
The nature of holdover tenancy can create ease for landlords’ who wish to maintain the same tenants without drafting a new lease but without proper legal advice can leave both landlords and tenants confused as to what the agreement terms are.
Don’t let a lease holdover leave you in uncertainty. As a property owner or manager in Colorado, you need the best advice at your side. Reach out to Baker Law Group, your Denver HOA law firm. Our skilled Colorado HOA lawyers will clarify holdover lease terms and safeguard your real estate investments.
