My question involves a consumer law issue in the State of: Colorado

My mother owns a shop. The owner of the whole strip has an attorney. The attorney is a scuba diving attorney (no joke). For whatever reason, the scuba diving attorney has not forwarded a written lease to any of the commercial tenants in the past 20 years. The original lease was for one year only from 1992 to 1993, with a possibility of one year renewal. There is no provision in the original lease for what happens if it expires, or reference to month-to-month tenancy. So there is no lease at all. There are verbal conversations and some short one way letters about rent and utility increases which refer to verbal conversations.

So fast forward to the present. There is a company coming in at the LL's request to do asbestos abatement. My mother's merchandise is extremely expensive and fragile. The company is supposed to have to move all her stuff in order to do their work.

This company is incredibly shady. Their insurance has a $5,000 deductible, so if they damage something you can bet they won't want to pay for it. There are numerous complaints online about the company including the quality of work, billing issues, and even failure to pay a subcontractor. The company claims to be licensed but did not show up on an online license search for general construction contractors (required by the municipality for any work that requires a building permit). When my mother emailed specifically asking if they would pay for any damages, their response was, "Accidents will happen." Seriously!! Without answering her question!

I told my mother not to let these people in the door until we know what's going on. For now, she's going to alert the LL to the complaints online. She is going to ask for a copy of anything that is being signed. She's going to call the city and verify that they aren't licensed then bring that up. I also want her to get surveillance cameras which will help prove it if anything happens. The construction company also said her LL had already signed a "work authorization" and that the LL would have to sign a "waiver letter" in order for them to start. Several times she has asked when they are starting with no answer.

Now back to the lack of lease: she doesn't actually want a lease, because she is getting onward in years and doesn't want to lock herself into a certain time period just in case she decides to retire.

So the bottom line question is this: If they end up starting and the LL is the only one that has signed off on any waiver, can she still hold them liable for damages to her stuff? Also, how does this type of insurance typically work? If there are damages could she call their insurance company directly and file a claim? Thank you for any input on this. I know this situation is full of issues.