Nuisance Abatement

Options for Property Owners

If you are having problems with behavior at your property, the following is a list of positive actions that property owners and landlords may take as they participate in abating nuisances at their properties:

1. Send a warning letter to occupants with your concerns and clear guidelines of what you expect.

2. Organize a meeting with occupants to clarify expectations for property use, rendering a written agreement or guidelines from that meeting.

3. Call parents/co-signers as most leases will include a parent as a co-signer and they can be held accountable as much as the live-in tenant. Communicating issues with co-signers/parents has been deemed to be effective.

4. Contact CU Boulder directly if students are involved to notify and request support from administration, faculty, sports coaches or fraternal society liaisons.

Off-Campus Housing & Neighborhood Relations can be reached at och@colorado.edu or 303-492-7053

5. Monitor the property at regular intervals at critical times such as weekend nights and busy holiday/sporting event weekends for a specified period of time.

6. Contact neighbors to establish channels of communication by telephone, email, etc.

7. Participate in a local neighborhood associations:

  • University Hill Neighborhood Association
  • Goss Grove
  • Martin Acres

8. Improve or change screening protocols for how occupants are selected.

9. Use rental agreement provisions that clearly state tenant responsibilities for use of premises including responsibility for litter control, trash container use, noise, parking and municipal penalties and fees for conditions attributable to occupant use. Some landlords prohibit use of front porches and steps for gatherings after 10 p.m., and also prohibit couches and clutter on porches.

10. Hire a security guard service to check property during targeted times such as weekend nights.

11. Engage a qualified property manager to manage the premises. A professional manager can often increase profitability and reduce problems associated with rental residences.

12. Render a notice of termination of the lease or rental agreement with qualified legal advice.

13. File an ejectment action, such as eviction with qualified legal advice.

14. Contact City of Boulder for further support:

  • Boulder Code enforcement - 303-441-3333
  • Boulder Police Department - 303-441-3300
  • Boulder Zero Waste (trash, recycling, and compost) - 303-441-1931