CO HB1397

Expands acceptable notice of warranty violations to include electronic notice via email, text messaging, or other electronic means, and establishes specific timeframes for landlord remedial action: 24 hours for imminently hazardous conditions, 72 hours for loss of refrigerator/range/oven/major plumbing fixture, reasonable time for unforeseeable emergencies, and 10 days for all other cases.

Adds absence of mold to the basic requirements for habitable residential premises when such absence materially affects or endangers tenant health or safety.

Authorizes tenants to deduct repair costs from subsequent rent payments if they obtain professional estimates, provide 10-30 days' advance written or electronic notice to the landlord, and follow specific procedures; wrongful deductions subject tenant to possession loss or monetary penalties including double damages for bad faith.

Expands county court jurisdiction (including small claims court) to hear injunctive relief cases related to warranty breaches and eliminates the requirement that tenants notify local government before seeking injunctions.

Modifies retaliation prohibitions by removing rebuttable presumptions based on timing alone and establishing specific damages of up to three months' rent or three times actual damages (whichever is greater) plus reasonable attorney fees when landlords retaliate.