John Logan Laff Gordon Bennett Logan jlogan@lafflaw.com Strange - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

John Logan Laff Gordon Bennett Logan jlogan@lafflaw.com

Strange things are afoot at the circle dome

Lease law changes

 Huge residential lease changes

Application procedures Time to cure residential lease

violations

Warranty of habitability Bed bugs

Lease application changes

 Application fee can only cover actual costs  Costs must be disclosed  Can’t consider rental or credit history more than 7

years old

 Can’t consider criminal history more than 5 years old,

unless it involves meth or sex

 Must give written notice of reasons for declining lease  Penalties include triple the application fee, court costs

and attorney fees

Time to cure lease violations

Changes from 3 days to 10 5 days if you have five or fewer single

family properties

But it must be disclosed in the lease

Still 3 days for commercial properties

Warranty of habitability

 Breach warranty of habitability if premises are:

 Uninhabitable or otherwise unfit for human habitation

• r in a condition that materially interferes with a

tenant's life, health, or safety; and

 Landlord has received written or electronic notice of the

condition and failed to commence remedial action by employing reasonable efforts within:



• a. 24 hours, where the condition materially

interferes with the tenant's life, health, or safety; or



• b. 96 hours, where the premises is uninhabitable
• r otherwise unfit for human habitation.

New ‘uninhabitable’ triggers

 Premises lack a functioning refrigerator, range, or

• ven

 Mold

 Landlord has 24 hours from notice to mitigate

the immediate risk for mold and install a high efficiency particulate air filter system

 Must remediate mold “within a reasonable time”

Tenant’s right to new unit

 If a tenant gives a landlord notice of a condition that is

imminently hazardous to life, health, or safety the landlord, at the request of the tenant, shall

 Move the tenant to a reasonably comparable unit under

the control of the landlord or

 Pay for a tenant to stay in a hotel room, but the tenant

must continue to pay rent

Tenant right to deduct

 Allows tenant to deduct from rent the cost to repair or

remedy condition, or to repair or replace appliance

 Tenant must give the landlord 10 days notice and the

landlord then has 4 business days to get estimates for the cost of the work and starts repairs as soon as possible.

 If tenant has the work done, the work must be done by a

contractor, not the tenant.

 Tenant can’t deduct for conditions caused by tenant,

unless the condition results from stalking, domestic abuse or sex assault and the tenant lets the landlord know the cause.

Tenant right to terminate

 If same condition that recurs within 6 months after

repair, tenant may terminate the lease 14 days after notice

 If appliance malfunctions again within 6 months after

repair, tenant may terminate the lease on 14 day’s notice unless landlord fixes appliance again.

Don’t retaliate

 If a landlord retaliates against a tenant making a good

faith complaint, tenant may:

 terminate the lease and  recover the greater of three times the monthly rent or

actual damages

 plus attorney fees.

Bed bugs

 Requires tenant promptly notify landlord of bed bugs  Landlord has 96 hours to inspect  Tenant entitled to 48 hours notice of inspection but

can’t unreasonably deny access

 Landlord must start removing bed bugs within 5

business days after inspection.

 Landlord pays for costs of removal  Tenant responsible for preparing residence for

inspection and treatment

Bed bugs, part 2

 Landlord must (if asked) disclose bed bugs for the previous

8 months.

 Tenant who “knowingly and unreasonably fails to comply

with inspection and treatment requirements” is liable for the cost of subsequent bed bug treatments if the need for the treatments arises from the tenant's noncompliance.

 Landlords who fail to comply are liable for tenant’s actual

damages.

 If a tenant fails to comply, landlord can get a court order

forcing access and awarding damages for tenant’s non- compliance.

Groundwater problems

 Many buildings have sump pumps to get rid of

groundwater

 Colorado groundwater has excessive levels of selenium  CDPHE requiring that groundwater be treated to lower

selenium levels to Federal discharge levels

 Can add enormous costs to construction and ongoing

• perating costs

 $8,000 to $12,000 per month in water hauling fees  CDOT spend $1.6 million trucking water from I-25 and

Santa Fe because of high arsenic levels

Coming soon to a legislature near you…

Rent control Retainage caps on construction Limited growth initiative

Denver is getting…

An actual quote…

 I don’t believe that our current economic system

actually works… I think that we’re in late-phase capitalism, and we know it doesn’t work and we’ve got to move into something new. I believe in community ownership of land, labor, resources, and distribution of those resources. And so, whatever that morphs into, I think is what will serve community the best, and I’m excited to usher it in by any means necessary.

Transit demand programs - TDM

 Coming Spring 2020 for Denver buildings

 Change travel behavior  Reduce single occupancy vehicle (SOV)

trips by 50%

 Mass transit screens, bike parking

requirements

 Building transit coordinators  TDM obligations that run with the building  Modeled on Seattle and Portland programs

Transit demand programs - TDM

 Tier 1 new development

 24-44 residential units  20,000-49,000 Office SF

Identify and construct infrastructure on or

• ffsite (eg: extend bike lane to property, bike

parking, showers for bike commuters, have transportation coordinator, report to city)

Transit Demand Programs - TDM

Tier 2 new development

All Tier 1 requirements, PLUS

 Implement program strategies  Conduct surveys to measure TDM

impacts

 Achieve designated commute rate

Transit Demand Programs - TDM

 Enforcement

 No TDM plan – No construction permit  Failure to report – Administrative fines  Failure to achieve SOV goals – Possibly

requirement to spend on incentives or switch strategies

 Mandatory reporting  Central contact point for city (eg: property

manager)

Electrification

Denver goals

100% renewable electricity for

municipal buildings by 2025

100% renewable electricity by

2030 for Denver

All buildings on electric – no gas!

Don’t forget about benchmarking!!

 Denver has had an energy ordinance requiring

energy use reporting for buildings over 25,000 square feet since 2016

 Requires building owners to annually assess and

report by June 1 on energy performance using the EPA's ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager tool

 Data available online at

http://www.energizedenver.org useful information

 But….camel’s nose under the tent – are mandatory

retrofits coming?

Landmark designation changes

 Effective November 1, 2019  Landmark Preservation planners review all applications for

demolition and for certificates of demolition eligibility (CDEs)

• citywide. Reviews determine whether the property has potential

for designation.

 Properties that do not have potential are cleared for demolition

• r granted the CDE.

 For properties that do have potential, notice of the demolition

/CDE application is posted for three weeks.

 The executive director of Community Planning and

Development, a member of City Council or three residents of Denver may submit a notice of intent to file a designation application, extending the period before a demolition permit may be issued up to 60 days. A city-facilitated stakeholder meeting would also be required by day 40 of the posting period

Landmark designation changes

 Day 1

Demo app received

 Day 14

App approved or publicly posted

 Day 21

Posting deadline

 Day 35

Pause if demolition opposed

 Day 75

Demo approved or designation submitted

 Day 106

Public hearing

 Day 120

City council Committee meeting

 Day 141

City Council public hearing

 Day 145

Mayor’s signature

Smart lease project

Denver beginning a ‘smart lease’ project

Unsure of the goal Mandatory lease langue regarding energy

usage?

Committee meetings just beginning Surveys sent to Denver building owners

Don’t forget about green roofs

 Now called the Green Buildings Ordinance  Applies to the following:

• New buildings 25,000 square feet or larger
• Roof permits for existing buildings 25,000 square feet or

larger - Note: different requirements for roof recovers versus roof replacements

• Additions of 25,000 square feet or larger

Overview new buildings

 New buildings will need to install a ‘cool roof’ and

• ne additional compliance option from:

 Green space/roof  Solar onsite or purchase  Energy efficiency  Green building certification  Payment to fund  Combination approaches

Overview existing

 Existing buildings will need to do a ‘cool roof’ and one

additional compliance option:

 Green space/roof  Solar onsite  Energy efficiency (additions only)  Green building certification  Payment to fund  Energy program (roof permits only)

y program (roof permits only)

Partially exempt – Cool roof still required

 Residential buildings 4-5 stories, or under 62.5 feet in

height

 Roof recover only  Existing green roof or the building/campus has already

met the ordinance

 Emergency roof replacement (wind or fire damage, not

hail)

 Hail damage with insufficient insurance coverage (ONLY

until Nov. 2, 2019)

Compliance new buildings Cool roof plus…..

 Green space or green roofs – 10% of the building gross floor area, 60%

• f total roof area or all available roof area

 Payment to green building fund of $50 square foot of green space

required but not provided

 On site solar panels on 70% of total roof area or that generate 100% of

electricity

 Purchase off site solar energy equal to 100% of average annual use (or)

same amount solar panels on roof would have produced and energy savings above code of at least 6%

 Energy conservation of at least 12% above building code  LEED v4 BD+C Gold, Enterprise Green, NGBS, ICC/ASHRAE 700 Gold  Combination of green roof (3% of building, 18% of total roof area, or all

available roof area) AND either on site solar panels, buy offsite solar or energy cost savings at least 5% above codes

Compliance current buildings and

• additions. Cool roof plus…

 Green space or green roofs (2% of gross floor area of building,

18% of total roof area or all available roof area)

 Payment to green building fund of $50 per square foot of green

space required but not provided

 On site solar panels of 5% of building gfa, 42% of total roof area

• r generating 100% building average electrical use

 For additions only, 4% energy cost savings over building code

requirements

 Third-party green building certifications (LEED BD+C or O&M

Silver, Enterprise Green Communities, NGBS, ICC/ASHRAE 700 Silver or equivalent

 For roof replacements only, sign up for energy program with

• ption to purchase off site solar energy

Cool roof example

Cool roof consequences

 The cool roof requirement and the compliance

• ption you choose stays with the building for the

life of the building

 Cannot value engineer out something required for

your compliance option

 Penalties could include revoking occupancy,

permits, civil fines, liens on the property, and legal action

Roof due diligence

 Roofs are critical part of Denver real estate deals

 Inspections critical  Sellers should never agree to replace roof  Roof certifications for closing?  Value needs to take green roof compliance into

account

 Code issues raising replacement cost by 40%  Code issues resulting in roof equipment changes

Denver Parking Maximums

 Denver concerned that mass transit ridership

percentage has not moved up

 Considering requiring that some new developments

have ‘parking maximums’, either no parking or limited parking

 With no parking, users force to use mass transit  Considered for River Mile and some RiNo areas

Annnnd…he’s back

 Proponents of the Green Roof Ordinance have something

new – Tax of $o.oo5 per kWh on electricity and $0.04 per Therm on gas to fund Denver Office of Climate Action

Sample results: Building 1 - 4.47% increase in electric to .078 per/sf. Building 2 - 4.57% increase in electric to .080 per/sf. Gas 7.20% increase at .006 per/sf Building 3 - 4.87% increase in electric, cost increase of $76,087 Building 4 - 4.93% increase in electric, cost increase of $83,384. Gas increase of 7.05% or $1,840.