RE Lawyer Wanted in Denver Metro Area

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RE Lawyer Wanted in Denver Metro Area

Kayla Davis
Arvada, CO · Member since 2014 · 23 posts · 8 votes

Hi All,

My husband and I are planning on breaking into the RE investment business with our first SFH purchase in the coming months. We're currently searching for the right house to get started in, but could use legal advice for starting and maintaining a legal business moving forward.

We're looking for someone who is familiar with the rental restrictions and tenant/landlord laws in Denver, Lakewood, Arvada, Broomfield, Westminster, Federal Heights and Thornton. This also includes unincorporated Adams and Jefferson counties. We could use someone to help us navigate occupancy laws (# of unrelated adults per dwelling, safety standards), as well as someone who can help us establish a solid business model. 

Additionally, we have a lease and roommate agreement drafted, but would like to have it reviewed. We could also use help with adding a marijuana agreement to the mix.20 No use having a legal agreement if it doesn't stand up in court.

I'd love to exchange emails/messages with anyone interested!

Thanks so much for your time!
Kayla

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  • Robert Herrera
    Investor · Denver, CO · Member since 2015 · 492 posts · 267 votes
    10y
    Kayla Davis Hello I would like to put my 2cents In this post. Keep Marijuana OUT of your lease agreement. It's still illegal federally and won't hold up in court. Also your insurance probably won't cover a grow op that you allowed on your property. Also, if they get raided and you have an agreement that they can grow or whatever, you can be charged too. So keep it out, so you can say, you had no idea it was going on. Your insurance should cover that, and the courts will stay away from you. That being said, I have posted ads saying MMJ 420 friendly. Just state to your tenants that you have no issue with them following the law of the state. As long as they stay "legal" you don't mind and won't raise an issue. If you Don't want It in your rentals, put that in your lease and state that to your tenants.
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  • Tyler Howell
    Property Manager · Denver, CO · Member since 2016 · 107 posts · 43 votes
    10y

    @Drew Fein

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  • Kayla Davis
    OP
    Arvada, CO · Member since 2014 · 23 posts · 8 votes
    10y

    @Robert Herrera I'm not interested in starting/hosting a grow operation or something crazy like that. Leave that to the professionals. My husband and I are marijuana users, and we're talking about renting out bedrooms and sharing living spaces. There's no way the hipocrisy of "Keep it off my property!" is going to stand up on a daily basis when a tenant/roommate notices me curled up in a blanket fort, totally baked and binge watching children's cartoons.  Having things like "keep your weed/pipe/special brownies/whatever in your room so it doesn't get stolen" and "if it does get stolen, it's your fault for leaving it out", but also "no live plants" and "smoking OK only in designated areas" is important to us. 

    Mostly on this particular point, I like the blanket statement "No illegal activities, as defined by Colorado State or Federal Law, may take place on or inside the premises" for all other things, but with MJ being a grey area, that statement isn't really true. I'm not sure how to set the rules or what protections I can give myself. 

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  • Drew FeinPro Member
    Attorney · Denver, CO · Member since 2015 · 207 posts · 104 votes
    10y

    Thanks for the shout out, @Tyler Howell! @Kayla Davis, I would be happy to speak with you about your lease and roommate agreement. 

    Will you be allowing marijuana in your rental, or prohibiting marijuana? If you're prohibiting marijuana, a no marijuana provision in your lease is generally a great thing to have (our leases always have them). 

    With regard to a provision if you're allowing marijuana, I would not necessarily agree with @Robert Herrera (sorry Robert). There are circumstances where you might still want a marijuana provision. For example, if you want to allow marijuana, but you want to limit the number of plants and how the electrical can be used, and you want to ensure that the tenant is complying with state and local ordinances with proper inspections, etc., a marijuana provision in the lease could be beneficial. As Robert noted, insurance may or may not cover a marijuana grow. To me, however, allowing marijuana would not be worth the risk (but, of course, I see a lot of what goes wrong with allowing tenants to use or grow marijuana). 

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  • Kayla Davis
    OP
    Arvada, CO · Member since 2014 · 23 posts · 8 votes
    10y

    @Drew Fein - Oops, beat you to the punch - your questions, answered in my post above! 

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  • Drew FeinPro Member
    Attorney · Denver, CO · Member since 2015 · 207 posts · 104 votes
    10y

    @Kayla Davis, oops! We'll chat about what sort of provision you can put in your lease. Love your response though.  :) 

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