A Denver property management company will pay the state of Colorado nearly $70,000 to settle claims that it wrongfully charged tenants for renters insurance and had unlawful language in rental applications, according to the attorney general’s office.
State officials accused Baron Properties of violating the Colorado Consumer Protection Act and Rental Application Fairness Act, the Colorado Attorney General’s Office said in a news release Tuesday.
The company runs the Belmont Buckingham at 1050 N. Sherman St. in Denver and Belcaro, a senior living community at 3475 American Drive in Colorado Springs.
In a statement, Baron Properties President Matthew Riggs said the company “strongly objects to any notion that the company was either intentionally deceiving tenants, or somehow willfully ignorant of our duties as landlord.”
According to the attorney general’s office, Baron was charging some tenants for renters insurance even after they provided proof of insurance.
Attorney General Phil Weiser described the practice as “unacceptable” in a statement Tuesday.
“With many renters in Colorado struggling to make ends meet, we will continue to take action when landlords’ unfair or deceptive conduct hits renters’ pocketbooks,” he said.
State investigators also found that language on Baron’s rental applications treated people’s pending or unresolved criminal cases as convictions, and therefore grounds to deny them, the agency said.
Baron has worked closely with the attorney general’s office for several years and committed to reimbursing all overcharged insurance claims after first learning about the issue, Riggs said. Company officials do not believe the rental application language broke the law, he added.
“Nonetheless, the company agreed to modify the aforementioned language after in-depth discussions with the Colorado AG. Baron has never used an arrest record or a record of pending charge to deny a rental application in Colorado,” Riggs said.
Under the settlement, Baron Properties will pay $7,300 in restitution to 368 tenants and $67,635 to the state. Riggs added the company believes most of the insurance overcharges were actually “minor personnel and software errors” that have been corrected.
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Alice J. Roden started working for Trending Insurance News at the end of 2021. Alice grew up in Salt Lake City, UT. A writer with a vast insurance industry background Alice has help with several of the biggest insurance companies. Before joining Trending Insurance News, Alice briefly worked as a freelance journalist for several radio stations. She covers home, renters and other property insurance stories.