Colorado or Federal accomodations for tenants with mental health issues?

[Graham Northrup]

Hey folks! Hope y'all are well.

I'm getting taken to small claims court (June 20,2024) by a tenant who is autistic and says I didn't "accommodate" her needs. She is highly noise sensitive and constantly complained that I wasn't holding her neighbors to the "quiet use" portion of the lease. Of course, we were monitoring the situations and asked neighbors to quiet down on occasions, but because they still occasionally made noise (regular household noise, not massive, all-night parties), and I didn't evict, then I'm not accommodating her needs.

Does anyone know of any special accommodations that need to be made for mental health reasons (as opposed to handicapped access, etc) that I need to know about before going to court? I have not been able to find anything to that effect in my review of Colorado's landlord/tenant law.

TIA!!

[Julie Hartman]

Do you manage the adjacent units in question as well? It sounds like maybe you do. If she didn't ask for special accommodations prior and you have documented proof that you tried to manage the noise, I would fight this. I am not an attorney but I would think the burden of proof will be on her and it would be difficult to prove you were negligent in this case. She would need the neighbors to implicate themselves on the level of noise they were causing and that you did nothing to stop it. Were you aware of her autism at the time you rented to her? Did she ever mention requiring any noise buffering for her unit due to her sensitivity? If this lawsuit is the first time you are learning of her special needs, then you may have a chance at prevailing. Locate a local landlord attorney and get some legal advice pronto.  Good luck!