A lot of homeowners in Colorado run into issues and problems with squatting, which basically means that someone is occupying your house, or it could even be a rented room in your house, and they aren’t paying rent, and are refusing to leave. This is what is commonly referred to as “squatting” and there is a formal eviction process for this that you have to go through with the courts in order to get this process started. First, you must serve them with an order to vacate or a notice to quit, and you must make several copies (for the courts, the plaintiff (you), and the defendant (the squatter).
Isn’t Squatting Illegal?
Technically, yes it is. But there are a lot of laws in place to protect squatters, and they force the homeowner to have to go through a strenuous eviction process, by first serving them with a notice to quit or an order to vacate, and then submit copies of those documents to the courts along with a summons, which formally is pressing charges against them and forcing them to appear in court, and respond on a given date.
In order for a squatter to actually gain possession of a property, what is also commonly referred to as “squatting rights”, the person has to occupy the property for at least 18 years. It is a common misconception that a squatter can break into a home and claim “squatting rights” right away, but you will still have to go through the strenuous legal process of evicting the unwanted tenant by serving them with a notice to quit and filing a summons at your local county court office.
For more information about how to evict squatters in Colorado please read the following article: https://www.hbrcolorado.com/evicting-squatters-colorado-how-to-get-rid-of-squatters/
How To Prevent Squatters From Taking Over Your Property
It seems like a no-brainer, but in order to keep squatters from taking over your property, the best thing to do is to not let them in in the first place. The problem with the squatting laws in Colorado is that once the person has gained access to the property, the only way to legally get them to leave is, unfortunately, to file the legal paperwork through the proper channels, and that means following the previously mentioned steps listed in the above article about filing the summons at the local courthouse and getting the judge and sheriff on your side to have them physically removed.
One good method for avoiding having squatters take over your property is to not list it for single-night rentals, as this can lead to a large increase in the number of squatters that you will have in your place. The reason is simply that when you are only renting a place out for one night, there are more chances for someone to stay in there and fail to vacate the premises.
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