Colorado Landlord-Tenant Laws 2026: What Renters and Landlords Need to Know
Colorado Landlord-Tenant Law: The 2026 Rundown, Statute by Statute
Two claims about Colorado renting are simply out of date, and both deny a real protection. First: Colorado does cap security deposits. Since August 7, 2023, a landlord can’t require more than two months’ rent, under C.R.S. § 38-12-102.5 (SB23-184) — there’s no “no cap” anymore. Second: Colorado does have a repair-and-deduct remedy. It’s a real, multi-step process in C.R.S. §§ 38-12-503 and 507, not a single notice-and-wait. Neither of these is a gray area or a court-made rule. Both sit in plain statutory text, and both changed the practical math for anyone renting in this state. Everything below traces back to Colorado Revised Statutes Title 38, Article 12.
Security Deposits in Colorado
| Requirement | Colorado Law |
|---|---|
| Maximum Deposit | 2 months’ rent, effective since August 7, 2023 (C.R.S. § 38-12-102.5) — this replaced the old “no statutory cap” rule |
| Return Deadline | 1 month (30 days) after the tenancy ends, up to 60 days if the lease specifically says so |
| Interest Required? | Not required statewide |
| Itemized Statement | Required for any amount withheld |
| Wrongful Withholding Penalty | Treble damages on the wrongfully withheld portion, plus attorney fees and court costs (C.R.S. § 38-12-103) |
That treble-damages remedy has a gate on it: before a tenant can sue over a withheld deposit, they have to give the landlord seven days’ written notice of the intent to file. Skip that notice, and the claim isn’t ready for court yet. The two-month cap applies no matter what the lease says, and no matter how long the lease runs.
Lease Agreements and Disclosures
Colorado’s statute of frauds (C.R.S. § 38-10-108) only reaches leases over one year — go past that mark and the deal has to be in writing to be enforceable. Stay at a year or under, and a handshake lease still binds both sides. Before signing, Colorado law puts these items on the landlord’s side of the table:
- Prior methamphetamine contamination, if known
- Source of water supply, when the unit relies on a well
- Known bed bug history
- Lead-based paint hazards for housing built before 1978 (federal requirement)
- Owner or managing-agent contact information
Rent Increases and Late Fees
Colorado doesn’t hand every month-to-month tenant the same notice period for a rent increase or a no-cause end to the tenancy — how long the tenancy has actually run decides which number applies (C.R.S. § 13-40-107):
| How Long the Tenancy Has Run | Notice Required |
|---|---|
| 1 year or longer | 91 days |
| 6 months up to 1 year | 28 days |
| 1 month up to 6 months | 21 days |
| 1 week up to 1 month, or tenancy at will | 3 days |
| Less than 1 week | 1 day |
A brand-new month-to-month tenant and a five-year month-to-month tenant aren’t in the same bucket. The first gets 21 days. The second gets 91. Neither figure can be shortened by the lease.
| Rule | Colorado Law |
|---|---|
| Rent Control | Barred statewide by state law |
| Grace Period | 7 days, mandatory, can’t be shortened by the lease (C.R.S. § 38-12-105) |
| Late Fee Cap | Greater of $50 or 5% of the past-due rent |
| Disclosure Requirement | The late fee has to be written into the lease, and the landlord has to give written notice of the fee within 180 days of the missed due date |
Since 2026, there’s also a separate fee rule with real teeth: under the “Honest Pricing” law (C.R.S. § 6-1-737, HB25-1090), a landlord has to advertise and charge one all-in “Total Price” that already includes mandatory add-ons like amenity or parking fees — not a lower base rent with junk fees tacked on later. A tenant can send a written demand for a refund if a fee wasn’t disclosed this way; ignoring that demand exposes the landlord to 18% interest on top of treble damages.
Eviction Process in Colorado
| Eviction Type | Notice Period | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Non-Payment of Rent, Most Landlords | 10 days | Written demand for the rent, then court if unpaid (C.R.S. § 13-40-104) |
| Non-Payment of Rent, Small Landlords | 5 days | Applies only to an “exempt residential agreement” — a single-family home leased by a landlord who owns five or fewer such rental homes |
| Lease Violation | Same 10-day/5-day split as non-payment | Same small-landlord exemption applies |
| No-Cause, Month-to-Month | See the tenancy-length table above — 21 to 91 days | Longer-running tenancies get more notice, not less |
One more gate sits in front of some of these filings: if the tenant receives SSI, federal disability insurance, or Colorado Works cash assistance, the landlord has to go through mandatory mediation before filing an eviction case at all. Skipping that step isn’t a shortcut — it’s a defect in the filing. How long a Colorado eviction actually takes isn’t something any court tracks and publishes as one number; a docket in a busy county and a contested hearing both stretch the timeline in ways a flat range can’t capture.
Maintenance and Repair Obligations
Implied Warranty of Habitability
Colorado’s warranty of habitability duty can’t be waived by the lease, and it covers essential services, structural safety, and conditions that materially affect life, health, or safety.
Step One: Notice, and a Response Window That Depends on the Problem
Everything starts with written notice to the landlord (C.R.S. § 38-12-503(2)). There’s no flat response window. It’s 24 hours if the condition materially interferes with life, health, or safety. It’s 96 hours if the unit is outright uninhabitable — and that longer clock only runs if the tenant’s notice also gives the landlord permission to enter. Miss the window, and the landlord has breached the warranty of habitability.
Step Two: What a Tenant Can Actually Do About a Breach
C.R.S. § 38-12-507 lays out several distinct paths once that breach exists, and they aren’t interchangeable. A tenant can terminate the lease on 10 to 30 days’ written notice — not 60 — as long as that same notice gives the landlord 5 business days to fix the problem first; a timely fix cancels the termination. A tenant can ask a court for injunctive relief, though the landlord can head that off by paying the court-set damages within 2 business days. A tenant already facing a nonpayment case can raise the breach as a defense, but the court then orders the disputed rent paid into the court’s own registry, not into the tenant’s pocket — unless the tenant qualifies as indigent under the statute’s income test.
Then there’s the deduction remedy itself. It’s not just “notice, wait, deduct.” The landlord has to miss the 24-or-96-hour window above first. Only then does the tenant send a second, separate notice — at least 10 days before deducting anything — naming the problem and attaching a professional’s good-faith repair estimate. The landlord then gets 4 business days to bring its own competing estimate or start the work. Only if the landlord does neither can the tenant deduct rent up to the amount of that estimate, and only by hiring a licensed, unrelated professional — never doing the work personally. If the actual cost comes in under the estimate, the tenant owes the landlord the difference within 10 business days. None of this is available if the tenant (or a guest) caused the condition in the first place, unless the tenant is a domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking survivor and the condition traces back to that. It’s also unavailable in most federally subsidized or tax-credit housing. Deduct in bad faith, and a court can hand the landlord double the amount back, plus the unit.
Tenant Rights and Protections
| Protection | Colorado Law |
|---|---|
| Entry Notice | No statewide statute sets a specific number of hours or days; a lease’s own notice clause, commonly 24 hours, is what actually governs |
| Retaliation Protection | C.R.S. § 38-12-509 bars retaliation for a good-faith complaint or exercising a tenant right, with damages of three months’ rent or three times actual damages, whichever is greater, plus attorney fees — but the statute doesn’t set a specific months-based presumption window the way several other states do |
| Domestic Violence / Sexual Assault / Stalking | C.R.S. § 38-12-402: written notice plus one of three documents — a police report from within the last 60 days, a valid protective order, or a written statement from a medical professional or a qualified victim advocate — lets a tenant terminate and vacate with no further rent obligation. A landlord also can’t penalize a tenant for calling 911 in one of these situations, and has to keep a relocated tenant’s new address confidential. |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a cap on security deposits in Colorado? Yes, as of August 7, 2023 — two months’ rent, under C.R.S. § 38-12-102.5. Guides describing Colorado as having no deposit cap are describing a rule that no longer exists.
Does Colorado have a repair-and-deduct law? Yes, but it’s two notices, not one. First, the landlord gets 24 or 96 hours (depending on the problem) to respond to the original habitability notice. Only after that window passes does the tenant send a second notice — 10 days’ warning plus a professional’s repair estimate — before deducting anything, and only through a licensed contractor. Lease termination, a court injunction, and a court defense in a nonpayment case are the other paths in the same statute.
How much notice does a Colorado landlord need to raise the rent on a month-to-month tenant? It depends on how long the tenancy has run — 21 days for a tenancy under 6 months, 28 days for 6 months to a year, and 91 days for a year or longer. A long-running tenant is owed far more notice than a new one.
What documentation does a domestic violence victim need to end a Colorado lease early? Written notice plus one of three things: a police report from the last 60 days, a valid protective order, or a written statement from a medical professional or qualified victim advocate. Any one of the three works.