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Four Star Realty will have to pay close to $1 million dollars back to tenants Franziska Stangl
Rental management company to pay $1 million for rental fraud
Four Star Reality, a Front Range property management company, has agreed to pay $1 million to the state of Colorado. The payment comes days after a new state law took effect, allowing Colorado’s Attorney General to prosecute landlords for potential housing law violations.
According to The Denver Post, Four Star Realty, managing about 5,000 buildings across the Front Range, regularly made renters pay fees not mentioned in their contracts and withheld security deposits.
The year-long investigation by the Department of Law was the result of the state law passed in May 2022 to create fair housing conditions. Attorney General Phil Weiser stated that Four Star’s payment is likely the first of many holding Colorado landlords accountable.
New Colorado legislative session begins today
The new Colorado legislative session begins today. The Democrats, who still hold the majority in both chambers, will focus on many of the issues they championed last session, such as housing, education, and soaring property taxes.
Read more at Colorado Newsline
Auon’tai Anderson quits race for House seat
Former Denver School Board member Auon’tai Anderson announced Tuesday that he would not run for a seat as a Representative. Instead, he is shifting his focus to starting a nonprofit called The Center for Advancing Black Excellence in Education.
Anderson said he dropped out of the race for House District 8 in northeast Denver to support Black representation and cause less division of votes for Black candidates.
Read more at Colorado Politics
Sweeney-Miran sues City of Boulder
On Tuesday, former Boulder Police Oversight Panel member Lisa Sweeney-Miran sued the City of Boulder over its decision to remove Sweeney from the panel.
The City of Boulder removed Sweeney from the POP in May of 2023 after she publicly criticized police violence. According to her lawyers’ press release, she was also pressured to withdraw from an ACLU lawsuit questioning the constitutionality of Boulder’s blanket ban.
Sweeney’s lawsuit says removing her from the POP violated her First and 14th Amendment rights to free speech and due process.
CU Boulder group oppose energy plant
A climate advocacy group says upgrades to a CU energy plant don’t do enough to lower nitrogen oxide emissions. The University of Colorado Boulder announced that the Board of Regents approved a project to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by over 50%. This reduction brings the plant into compliance with new Colorado air permit requirements with a $43 million upgrade to heating and power equipment this month.
According to Colorado Newsline, the group Fossil Free CU says that the university should be doing more to divest in fossil fuels. They argue that CU was not transparent about their decision to invest $43 million in plant upgrades, which the group says will “lock-in fossil fuel emissions and air pollution on campus for decades.”
Read more at Colorado Newsline
No income tax on state refunds this season
This filing season, Colorado taxpayers will not have to pay taxes on their state refunds. Last year, there were speculations about whether Coloradans would have to pay taxes on the money they get back from the state through TABOR – the Taxpayers Bill of Rights.
According to The Denver Post, this year will be another record year for refund payouts. Most Colorado single filing taxpayers received around $750 last year. Depending on when you file your taxes, single filers can expect a check of around $800 as early as May of this year.
Last day of Cowboy Mounted Shooting at Stock Show
Today is the last day visitors of the National Stock Show in Denver can watch Cowboy Mounted Shooting, which has its roots in the times of the Old West. In the equestrian sport, participants have to shoot balloons while riding through a course as fast as possible. Even though there are no bullets in the guns, horses have to be trained well to handle the gunfire.
