We have helped bring multiple class action lawsuits against landlords challenging unlawful move-out charges and security deposit retentions. Such charges are often assessed to penalize tenants who end their lease early without any relation to the actual time it takes a landlord to relet a unit (for example, a move-out fee that equals 2-months rent when a landlord can replace a tenant within 2 weeks) or to recoup a landlords renovation or “turn” costs to prepare a rental for a new tenant. These abuses can perpetuate housing insecurity as tenants are frequently stripped of security deposit refunds needed to obtain new housing and are pursued by collections agencies for the balance, which, in addition to undue stress and anxiety, hampers a person’s credit worthiness when seeking future housing. Our lawsuits in this space, brought against giant corporate landlords such as Greystar, AMC and MG Properties, seek monetary damages, credit restoration, and putting an end to such abuses on behalf of tens of thousands of proposed class members.

We are also engaged in several class action lawsuits to combat industry wide violations to the Rental Application Fairness Act (RAFA), which prohibits excessive rental application fees that strip renters of the bargaining power they need to ensure a functioning, competitive rental market that can help keep rent prices in check. Since RAFA’s enactment, landlords have been circumventing or ignoring the law by charging “administrative,” “move-in,” and “holding” fees to applicants. These fees, charged during the application process, often exceed $200 and are described as non-refundable to deter applicants from continuing to shop for housing. Our RAFA litigation, which would impact over 100,000 Coloradans should we succeed in obtaining class certification, seeks to end these abusive practices and to obtain monetary damages for rental applicants who paid improper charges.

Despite provisions to the Colorado Consumer Protection Act (CCPA), corporate landlords increasingly incorporate hidden and misleading “junk fees” for services like pest control, valet trash, utilities, and payment processing costs. In 2024, we achieved first-of-its kind, class action certification of an action bringing a “Junk Fee” claim against a property management company in Colorado that manages over 3,000 rental units. Our pioneering class action litigation challenging Junk Fees in the residential housing space was the first of its kind in Colorado and has been a catalyst for tenant rights legal advocacy across the nation. We are actively pursuing a host of “junk fee” class actions, including against the largest corporate landlord in Colorado and the nation, Greystar. If certified, these cases have the potential to benefit well over 50,000 Coloradans. In addition to ending these profit-gouging practices that exacerbate housing insecurity, these class actions seek to put money back in the pockets of renters and to clear up tarnished credit and eviction records that can haunt renters for years. In total, our active junk fee class actions challenge the practices of hundreds of thousands of Colorado renters.