Four Star Realty restitution

Tenants who moved out of a Four Star property any time between January 1, 2020 and December 31, 2023 and had money wrongfully withheld from their security deposit to pay for maintenance, painting, cleaning, rekeying locks, or in unlawful moveout coordination fees are eligible.  

We ask that you provide as much information as possible including reconciliation statements, moveout sheets, receipts, or other information that you may have received from Four Star at the end of your lease. 

While we ask that you provide as much information or documentation as you have available to help make reviewing and processing your claim easier, your claim can still be assessed without the documentation mentioned above.  

Four Star Realty has provided the attorney general’s office with records of all tenants who lived at a property that they managed from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2023. When reviewing claims, the office will verify information on the claim with the information received from Four Star Realty.  

The statute of limitations for a claim under the Colorado Consumer Protection Act is three years from the date of a misleading or deceptive act. Colo. Rev. Stat. § 6-1-115. The settlement distribution attempts to capture all claims that took place in the statute of limitation period prior to the Attorney General’s settlement. 

The attorney general’s investigation uncovered evidence of a pattern of conduct related to Four Star overcharging for these five categories. While every tenant had a unique experience when they moved out of a Four Star property, the investigation showed that these categories are the most likely areas where Four Star’s allegedly unlawful conduct caused the most harm to tenants.  

When filling out the claim form, please provide the name you had on your lease with Four Star and your current name.  

Every eligible tenant may file a claim. If you think you are eligible and had a roommate, you should file a claim. The amount of your settlement award may be calculated based on the number of roommates you had when you lived at a Four Star property. Only file claims for yourself. Do not file any claims on behalf of your roommates. 

No. The claim form requires you to confirm that you are not submitting anyone else’s claim. To avoid problems with processing claims, please ensure that only the tenant is submitting the claim.  

This includes parents of tenants, roommates, or any other individual who might submit a claim on behalf of someone else. A claim will only be approved if it is made by the individual who leased a property form Four Star Realty.  

The final amount of settlement payments to tenants will be determined by the number and type of claims that the Attorney General receives from eligible tenants. The Attorney General will pay the entire $980,000 settlement fund on tenant claims, so individuals are encouraged to submit claims to receive their share of the settlement.   

The attorney general’s office will be reviewing claims in the order in which they are received. We hope to notify all claimants of their eligibility by December 31, 2025. 

In addition to paying $980,000 in restitution, Four Star agreed to disclose all fees, rent, and other costs to tenants clearly on lease documents. The company also agreed to change its utility billing practices to comply with state law related to utility billing. 

Four Star is required to maintain photos and records of property inspections, documentation of withholding of security deposits, and provide those records to tenants upon request. Additionally, Four Star may not withhold any money from a tenant’s security deposit unless the amount withheld is directly related to the tenant’s conduct. 

Four Star is also required to minimize repainting costs related to filling nail holes and other minor damage to paint, as well as determine if any carpet cleaning is actually necessary before charging tenants. The company will be prohibited from withholding rekeying costs from security deposits and may charge for rekeying only if Tenants choose to have Four Star rekey locks. The costs for rekeying must also be disclosed in advance. 

The Colorado Department of Law retained Rust Consulting to manage the distribution of the Four Star settlement payments. Eligible tenants will receive their checks from Rust Consulting.