How to Evict a Tenant in Colorado: Laws, Process, and Timeline
Colorado Eviction Timeline 2026: Notice, Court, and the Writ Deadlines Most Guides Miss
Colorado’s eviction statute — forcible entry and detainer, C.R.S. § 13-40-101 et seq. — hides more branching than most guides admit: notice periods that swing from 1 day to 91 depending on tenancy length, a mediation requirement for some tenants, a writ that clears one deadline to issue and a separate, later one to actually enforce. This page is the FED lawsuit itself, step by step. Deposits, repairs, and the graduated rent-increase table live on our Colorado landlord-tenant law guide.
Grounds and Notice Periods
Colorado doesn’t give every landlord the same clock. A “small landlord” — one who owns five or fewer single-family rental homes — gets a shorter notice period on an exempt residential agreement, and a shorter path to writ execution later in the process too.
| Ground | Notice Period | Statute | Curable? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Non-payment of rent, most landlords | 10 days | C.R.S. § 13-40-104(1)(d) | Yes — pay in full |
| Non-payment of rent, small landlord (≤5 single-family rental homes) | 5 days | C.R.S. § 13-40-104 | Yes — pay in full |
| Substantial lease violation, most landlords | 10 days | C.R.S. § 13-40-104(1)(e) | Yes — cure the violation |
| Substantial lease violation, small landlord | 5 days | C.R.S. § 13-40-104 | Yes — cure the violation |
| Substantial violation (violent/drug felony, willfully endangering property) | 3 days | C.R.S. § 13-40-104, § 13-40-107.5 | No |
| Holdover, nonresidential/employer-provided housing | 3 days | C.R.S. § 13-40-104 | N/A |
For a no-cause, month-to-month termination, Colorado runs a graduated scale — the length of the tenancy sets the notice, and longer tenancies get more notice, not less (C.R.S. § 13-40-107):
| How Long the Tenancy Has Run | Notice Required |
|---|---|
| Less than 1 week | 1 day |
| 1 week up to 1 month, or tenancy at will | 3 days |
| 1 month up to 6 months | 21 days |
| 6 months up to 1 year | 28 days |
| 1 year or longer | 91 days |
A landlord terminating a five-year month-to-month tenant with 28 days’ notice — the figure some guides still quote as the ceiling — is 63 days short of what the statute actually requires for that length of tenancy.
The Mediation Gate for Protected Tenants
Before filing against a tenant who receives SSI, federal disability insurance (SSDI), or Colorado Works cash assistance, the landlord has to go through mandatory mediation first. Skipping it isn’t a shortcut — it’s a defect in the filing that a court can act on. This gate applies before the lawsuit is even filed, separate from the writ-execution extension the same protected class gets later in the process (below).
The Court Process
- File the complaint. After the notice period runs out, the landlord files a Forcible Entry and Detainer complaint in the county court where the property sits.
- Summons. C.R.S. § 13-40-111 sets the initial appearance date 7 to 14 days after the summons issues — not after filing, after the summons itself.
- Service. The tenant must be served with the summons, complaint, and answer form at least 7 days before that court date.
- Answer and hearing. If the tenant files an answer, the court sets the actual hearing 7 to 10 days after the answer is filed — a second window, distinct from the initial appearance date. Continuance rules that apply to most FED cases don’t apply to a case built on a substantial violation.
- Judgment. A landlord who wins gets a judgment for possession, plus back rent, damages, and costs where the court awards them.
- Writ of restitution — three different floors, not one. C.R.S. § 13-40-122 sets this in layers, and conflating them understates the real timeline: (a) the court can’t issue a writ until 48 hours after judgment, for any case; (b) for a residential tenancy, the officer can’t execute the writ until at least 10 days after judgment; (c) for a tenant on SSI, SSDI, or Colorado Works, that execution floor extends to 30 days. Both extended floors — the 10-day and the 30-day — drop away if the judgment was for a substantial violation under § 13-40-107.5, or if the landlord is a small landlord under the same five-rental-home definition as the notice-period exception above.
- Sheriff removal. Once the writ is executable, the sheriff carries it out.
There’s no single verified average for how long this whole process takes. No Colorado court publishes one figure, and a busy county’s docket or a contested hearing both stretch the timeline in ways a flat range can’t capture — what’s fixed is the floors above, not the total.
What This Costs
No fee figure is given here. Get the current filing fee from the clerk of the county court where the property is located, and price the process server separately, since that is a private charge.
What a Landlord Cannot Do
Colorado law prohibits locking a tenant out, shutting off utilities, or removing belongings without going through the court process — self-help exposes a landlord to civil liability. Filing to retaliate against a tenant for a good-faith habitability complaint or for exercising a legal right is barred under C.R.S. § 38-12-509, which sets damages at three months’ rent or three times actual damages, whichever is greater, plus attorney fees; unlike some states, the statute doesn’t tie retaliation to a fixed months-based presumption window.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the writ of restitution enforceable 48 hours after judgment in Colorado? Only the court’s ability to issue the writ opens up at 48 hours — for a residential tenancy, the sheriff still can’t execute it for at least 10 more days, or 30 days if the tenant receives SSI, SSDI, or Colorado Works assistance. Those extended floors don’t apply if the judgment was for a substantial violation, or if the landlord qualifies as a small landlord (five or fewer single-family rental homes).
How much notice does a Colorado landlord have to give to end a month-to-month tenancy without cause? It depends entirely on how long the tenant has lived there — 1 day under a week, 3 days between a week and a month, 21 days between one and six months, 28 days between six months and a year, and 91 days for a tenancy of a year or more. There’s no single “21 or 28 days” answer; the tenancy length sets the number.
Does a Colorado landlord have to do anything before filing against a tenant on disability or SSI? Yes — mandatory mediation is required first if the tenant receives SSI, SSDI, or Colorado Works cash assistance. Filing without it is a defect the tenant can raise in court, and the same protected class gets an extended, 30-day writ-execution floor later in the process if the case still ends in an eviction judgment.