William Howard Eikenberry’s Answers

I have handled several of these and it is possible, depending upon the type of credit card (seller v. lender), that the credit arrangement falls under Colorado Revised Statute, Section 5-3-108, which would have required the credit terms to be in a written agreement, and a copy provided to the consumer at or before the time credit was extended. Otherwise, the credit obligation is not valid or enforceable. Read Section 5-3-108 in conjunction with Section 5-1-301.

It sounds like there is a payment default under the lease, and if so, the lease should set forth the notice period. Within that time period you would generally have the right to cure the default by paying the outstanding lease balance, or you can remove all personal property and tender the property back to the lessor without potentially incuring the expense the lessor may incur to formally evict and remove personal property on its own. Going forward, after expiration of the notice period, the...

It appears that you have a breach of contract claim against the contractor for failing to timely complete work, and you could recoup from the contractor the cost of hiring another contractor to complete the work. Additionally, if you have paid the contractor money for work/materials not provided on the project, then there may also be criminal and civil theft claims that could be asserted against the contractor and the individuals controlling the contractor's - see C.R.S. Section 38-22-127....

The statute requires that you give notice to the landlord. As long as the letter was sent to the landlord's last known address (or other address for notice specified in the lease agreement), it should not be an issue moving forward if the landlord was not picking up mail. Save the returned letter.

At a minimum, you should consider putting a written lease agreement in place that provides a specific lease term, sets forth the scope of repairs that will be provided as rent, holds you harmless from the individual's use of the premises, and sets forth remedies upon default, including recovery of attorneys' fees.

Assuming you were hired by the homeowner, and the insurance proceeds have already been disbursed to the homeowner, your next step could be to send a demand letter letting the homeowner know that if not paid you will move forward with a lawsuit to collect the balance owed. Possible claims include: breach of contract (which may also allow you to recover your legal fees), mechanics' lien foreclsoure (which you must commence within 6 months of last non-punch-list-type work on the project, and...

It sounds like the employer's insurance carrier has admitted liability for your accident/injuries and should be paying your medical bills, and wage replacement benefits (TTD) for the 6 hours per shift that your are unable to work. It also sounds like your treating doctor has placed you at maximum medical improvement (MMI), at which point an impairment evluation will be performed to determine the degree of your physical impairment caused by the accident. The rating is meant to account for your...

The Colorado Security Deposit Act does permit a landlord to retain deposit funds for nonpayment of rent. My overriding question would be whether the lease was effective just with the wife's signature, or was the husband's signature also required, and if so, did he sign the lease. Also, as a practical matter, is the husband really going to sue you for what I assume is a few hundred dollars, and by the same token, is it worth it to you to possibly have to defend that action if he brings it. I...

After reviwing the underlying basis for the debt there may be ways to poke holes in the claim, and if not, can work on leverage points to compel resolution at something less than the total due, which the collection firm is typcially willing to do.

Lack of a case number on the pleadings would not be a basis to set aside the default. You are probably left with negotiating something with the judgment creditor, hopefully without letting on that the judgment is potentially holding up your home purchase. Something like this is typcially handled by an attorney on an hourly basis. Could take two or three hours to negotiate the best deal possible.