Durring this economic fall out, I have lost my job. Placing my wife as the sole bread winner in the family, for a family of 4. Our household consists of my wife, my self, a 2yr old and a 3yr old. Things have been tough with my job search, there for causing some back rent to be owed to my landlord. The past few e-mails from her have contained some very intimidating and threatening content, at least in my mind. My question is, are the following quotations technically qualified as "landlord harassment"?

"Perhaps it's time for me to have the sheriff serve Leah (my wife) with eviction papers at work--I'd be sure to catch her there, right?"

"This is extremely serious. As we have discussed before, I do not want to be forced to take you to court, obtain a judgement, and garnish your wages-BUT I WILL.
If that happens, it will be VERY UGLY for you if you ever try to rent or buy anything else--it will be on your record that you got a judgement entered against you AND NO ONE WILL WANT TO DO BUSINESS WITH YOU. It may very well prevent you from getting employment"

There are some other e-mails that I am unable to find at this moment, but they also discribe how she (landlord) will make my life absolutely miserable and inflict as much pain onto me and my family as she (landlord) possibly can.

Please just a little advice.

Thank You!!!

If you dont pay rent the Landlord can start eviction. This means serving you. This is not harassment.

Your landlord has to start by giving you written 3-day notice to pay rent or move out. The written notice has to include the date, your address, the amount owed, and notice to either pay up or move out. It has to be signed by the landlord (or the landlord's agent.) If you can pay within the three days, the eviction process is canceled. The three-day period begins the day after notice is given, and the last of the days cannot be on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday.

On the fourth day, the landlord no longer has to accept payment from you and can start eviction proceedings in county court -- this is the point at which you would be served. The eviction papers will have a court date on them - you must respond to the eviction proceedings before the court date, appear in court to respond, vacate within 48 hours of the court date, or be forcibly removed by the sherriff's department. At this point she could sue you for unpaid rent. It is possible that a judgement could be entered against you, and a garnishment order set up. This will show up on your record, and it could affect your employment (most likely in certain industries, especially those that deal with cash handling or investments.)

Nothing you mentioned was illegal that I can see. Unpleasant, absolutely, but not illegal.

Your county or city may have more specific rules. You might want to check their websites. The document I found for the State of Colorado also refers people to Tenant Landlord Counseling (303-237-0230) and Community Housing Services (303-831-1935) for further assistance.

I thought they usually give 30 days to move?

The court date can take a while.

In colorado a landlord CAN count weekends (not holidays) in the Three days. Evicting a tenant in colorado is fairly quick...usually less than 30 days from start to finish.

Threatening to have the law enforced is never wrongdoing.