Colorado Landlord Compliance
Everything you're responsible for as a landlord in Colorado
Rent control, just-cause eviction, deposits, entry, repairs and recordkeeping, written for people who own or manage a few units, checked against the official sources, and kept current when the rules move.
Jurisdiction
key details
Rent cap · Detail
No statewide cap on rent increases. C.R.S. 38-12-301 bars counties/municipalities from controlling rent on private residential property (voluntary affordable-housing agreements and deed restrictions excepted).
Deposit cap · Detail
Security deposit may not exceed two monthly rent payments (SB23-184, eff. 2023-08-07).
Rent increase notice · Detail
For residential tenancies with no written rental agreement, rent may be increased only on at least 60 days' written notice. Tenancies under a written lease follow the lease; no separate statutory minimum.
City rules · Detail
Counties and municipalities may not enact ordinances controlling rent on private residential property; voluntary affordable-housing agreements and deed restrictions allowed. Just-cause protection is statewide (HB24-1098), not local.
Just cause · Detail
HB24-1098 (eff. 2024-04-19): cause needed to evict or non-renew; no-fault grounds (demolition, major repairs, owner move-in, sale, refusal of reasonable new lease) need 90 days' notice. Exempt: tenancies under 12 months, owner-occupied 1–3 units.
Return deadline · Detail
Refund or itemized statement plus balance within 30 days after lease termination or surrender/acceptance of premises, whichever later; a written lease may extend to at most 60 days. HB25-1249 (eff. 2026-01-01) replaced 'one month' with 30 days.
Nonpayment notice · Detail
Written demand for compliance or possession: 10 days for residential tenancies; 5 days under an 'exempt residential agreement' (single-family home, landlord owns 5 or fewer such homes and the lease discloses the 5-day period).
What are you trying to do?
Start from the task. Each route gathers the guides, checklists and forms that apply to it in Colorado.
Essential local guides
If you're new to owning here, these five cover most of what will come up in your first year.
View All GuidesDenver Relocation Assistance Law: What Owners Must Offer When a Unit Is Declared Unfit for Habitation
A unit placarded unfit for human habitation used to leave tenants largely on their own to find somewhere else to stay while repairs happened. Denver Ordinance No. 469-25, in force since May 19, 2025, gives the city's health department a direct order it can issue to the landlord instead: pay for the tenant's temporary relocation, or the city will, and bill the property for it.
Guide
Colorado Survivor Lease-Break and Lock-Change Rights 2025: Who Is Covered and What Landlords Must Allow
A tenant fleeing an abusive partner shouldn't have to choose between staying somewhere unsafe or paying out an entire lease term to leave. HB25-1168 widens who qualifies for Colorado's survivor housing protections and spells out, in specific dollar and day terms, what a landlord can and can't demand.
Guide
Colorado Substandard Rental Property Law 2025: Courts Can Appoint a Receiver After a Pattern of Neglect
A multifamily property with rats in the walls, no working fire suppression, and a landlord who never returns calls used to be mostly a tenant's problem to chase through individual complaints. SB25-020 changes who can go after that landlord directly, and gives a court a new option beyond eviction or a lawsuit: taking the property away from the landlord's control entirely.
Guide
Colorado Lease Termination After a Tenant's Death: Limits on the Rent a Landlord Can Require
A grieving family shouldn't also be fighting a landlord over a lease-break fee. HB25-1108, known as Letty's Act, has been in force in Colorado since September 1, 2025, and it directly bars several charges a landlord could previously build into a lease when a tenant dies before the term ends.
Guide
Colorado Security Deposit Deductions 2026: New Definition of Normal Wear and Tear
A landlord who's routinely charged outgoing tenants for a fresh coat of paint or new carpet is working under a much narrower set of rules in Colorado now. HB25-1249, in force since January 1, 2026, tightens what counts as a deductible deduction and adds a specific, numeric trigger for when a landlord is presumed to have withheld a deposit in bad faith.
Guide
Recent changes
Only substantive changes, not copy edits.
29 May 2025
Residential screening rules revised
HB 25-1236 changes parts of the residential applicant-screening process and related disclosures.
23 May 2025
Security-deposit documentation protections expand
HB 25-1249 bars deductions for pre-existing damage and adds document-access protections tied to deposit disputes.
19 Apr 2024
Statewide just-cause protections take effect
HB 24-1098 limits when a covered residential tenancy may be ended after the statutory occupancy period.
Full Colorado collection
Filter by what you're doing or by the kind of resource you need.
| Resource | Type | Task | Reviewed |
|---|---|---|---|
Colorado RUBS Utility Billing Rules 2026: Total Tenant Charges Can't Exceed the Utility's Actual Bill A tenant who's ever been billed for a share of a building's water bill that seems to have no connection to what they actually used has run into ratio utility billing, and until recently, Colorado had little specific to say about how that allocation had to work. HB26-1013 changed that, and because the bill carried a safety clause, it took effect the moment the Governor signed it, March 26, 2026. | Guides | Keep the right records | Sep 29, 2026 |
Colorado Landlord-Tenant Law | Complete Legal Overview This article provides a complete overview of Colorado landlord-tenant law and practical compliance guidance for 2026. | Guides | Keep the right records | Feb 8, 2026 |
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From reading to managing
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What you read about
Rent increase dates and notice
In Platuni
Obligation tracking with reminders
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Move-in and move-out photos
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Records kept per unit, per tenancy
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Repair requests and responses
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Maintenance log with timestamps
What you read about
Everything a hearing could ask for
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One-click audit package