Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Colorado
Breaking a lease
Seven years ago I broke a lease as the maintenance man was going in our apt and going thru personel items when we were not home. In 1998 the supenoed me to go to court on Nov 3. That was election day and the courts were closed. I just found out that a judgement was entered the next day. How can they change the court date without telling me? Is this legal? Thank you
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Breaking a lease
Interesting thing in this country: many Americans are quite sure that they are quite good lawyers, even though they never found the time to attend law school.
Any novice lawyer can tell you that when a specific day in the law falls on a day when the courts are closed the event will occur on the next business day when the courts are not closed.
Your attention is better directed to the fact that the event was 7 years old before being sued upon. Perhaps the statute of limitations was ignored?
Of course when suits go by default it is very hard to get them turned around, but not impossible.
You need legal representation. The lawyer you have had thus far has let you down.
Re: Breaking a lease
The previous answer was a little quick. Colorado has a 6-year statute of limitations. So they got it filed in time. Colorado courts don't close on election day and haven't in 20 years. A default judgment may be challenged any time up to six months after it is entered but not after that.