Colorado Eviction Laws

Colorado notice periods for ending a tenancy and starting an eviction, each as LeaseCraft read it in the statute at the official source, with its citation and read date (most recently ).

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Colorado notice periods

Periods are as the statute states them: some are minimums, some apply unless the lease sets another. "Lease controls" means there is no statutory period; "No pre-suit notice" means none is required before filing.

SituationNotice periodSource
Unpaid rent 10 calendar days C.R.S. 13-40-104(1)(d), (5)(d) (HB19-1118; last amended HB25-1168, eff. 2025-05-22); 13-40-108
Read
Lease violation 10 calendar days C.R.S. 13-40-104(1)(e), (1)(e.5)
Read
Ending the tenancy without a chance to cure Secondary sources only
Not verified at the official source; LeaseCraft states no figure.
 C.R.S. 13-40-107.5(3)-(5); 13-40-104(1)(d.5)
Ending a month-to-month tenancy 21 calendar days C.R.S. 13-40-107(1)(c), (3) (HB24-1098, ch. 113, § 5, eff. 2024-04-19); 38-12-1303(1), (3)
Read
Tenant staying after the lease ends Lease controls C.R.S. 13-40-107(4); 38-12-1303(1), (3)
Read
Ending a week-to-week tenancy 3 calendar days C.R.S. 13-40-107(1)(d)-(e)
Read
Notice by length of occupancy Under 0.25 months: 1 day; 0.25 to under 1 months: 3 days; 1 to under 6 months: 21 days; 6 to under 12 months: 28 days; 12 months or more: 91 days C.R.S. 13-40-107(1)(a)-(e); 38-12-1302(1); 38-12-1303(3)
Read

What the Colorado statute says

Unpaid rent 10 calendar days
  • Ten days' written notice (demand for compliance or possession) requiring in the alternative payment of the rent or possession (13-40-104(1)(d)).
  • Exempt residential agreement — single-family home leased by a landlord who owns five or fewer single-family rental homes AND whose lease gives notice that the ten-day period does not apply: five days (13-40-104(1)(d), (5)(d)).
  • Nonresidential or employer-provided housing agreement: three days (13-40-104(1)(d)); CARES Act covered property: 30 days (JDF 99 A).
  • Served per 13-40-108; JDF 99 A: 'Count day 1 as the day after you've completed Service'.
  • Tenants in covered premises for 12+ months: nonpayment is a listed cause under 38-12-1303(2).
  • Since 2025-08-06 a demand for unpaid rent must include a statement that a tenant whose missed rent was caused by unlawful sexual behavior, stalking, domestic violence or domestic abuse may provide documentation and is entitled to a repayment plan of up to nine months (13-40-106(4)).

Exceptions

  • Victim-survivors (13-40-104(4), HB25-1168): nonpayment caused by or resulting from unlawful sexual behavior, stalking, domestic violence or domestic abuse, documented by a police report, a protection or restraining order, a self-attestation affidavit or a qualified third party's letter, is not an unlawful detention while the tenant complies with a repayment plan. The landlord must offer the plan no later than three business days after serving the demand or receiving the documentation, whichever is later; at least $25 a month, no more than nine months, no fees, interest or penalties (13-40-104(4)(e)).
Lease violation 10 calendar days
  • Holding over contrary to any other condition or covenant after ten days' written notice requiring in the alternative compliance or delivery of possession (13-40-104(1)(e)); three days for nonresidential/employer-provided housing; five days for exempt residential agreements.

Exceptions

  • Repeat violation of the same covenant after a prior demand: notice to terminate with no cure right, same periods (13-40-104(1)(e.5)); official form JDF 99 B.
Ending a month-to-month tenancy 21 calendar days
  • Notice to quit for a tenancy of one month or longer but less than six months: at least twenty-one days before the end of the tenancy period (13-40-107(1)(c) as rewritten by HB24-1098).
  • Residential tenants who have been tenants of the premises for at least 12 months (and are not otherwise excluded by 38-12-1302) may be removed only for cause; a no-fault termination requires a written notice served at least 90 days before the termination date stating the legal and factual basis (38-12-1303(3)).
  • Notice must describe the property and the particular termination date and be signed by the landlord or agent (13-40-107(3)); served per 13-40-108.
Tenant staying after the lease ends Lease controls
  • No written notice is necessary from a tenant whose fixed-term tenancy ends at a time certain (13-40-107(4)); holdover after the term is an unlawful detention ground (13-40-104) — but for covered residential tenants with 12+ months' tenancy the landlord needs a 38-12-1303 cause, and a no-fault nonrenewal needs 90 days' notice.
Ending a week-to-week tenancy 3 calendar days
  • Tenancy of one week or longer but less than one month, or a tenancy at will: at least three days' notice to quit (13-40-107(1)(d)); less than one week: at least one day (13-40-107(1)(e)).
Notice by length of occupancy Under 0.25 months: 1 day; 0.25 to under 1 months: 3 days; 1 to under 6 months: 21 days; 6 to under 12 months: 28 days; 12 months or more: 91 days
  • 13-40-107(1): tenancy for one year or longer — 91 days; six months to one year — 28 days; one month to six months — 21 days; one week to one month or at will — 3 days; less than one week — 1 day. Tiers key to the length/kind of tenancy, not strictly to occupancy.
  • 38-12-1303(3): once a residential tenant has 12 months' tenancy in covered premises, any no-fault termination needs 90 days' written notice with a statement of the legal and factual basis.

Just cause, delivery, form and local rules in Colorado

How the notice may be delivered

Secondary sources only LeaseCraft has not verified this at the official source (C.R.S. 13-40-108), so this page states no rule.

Required form or contents

No mandatory statutory form; the Colorado Judicial Branch publishes official optional forms — JDF 99 A Demand for Compliance or Right to Possession (R: 2025-09-04), JDF 99 B Notice to Terminate Tenancy (repeat/substantial violations), JDF 99 C Notice of No-Fault Eviction: https://www.coloradojudicial.gov/media/14512 . Mandatory contents: 13-40-107(3) (describe the property, state the termination date, signature); 13-40-107.5(4) (grounds for substantial violation); 38-12-1303(3) (statement of the legal and factual basis for a no-fault eviction); MANDATORY STATEMENT since 2025-08-06: 13-40-106(4) (HB25-1168 section 3) — a demand or notice under 13-40-104 or 38-12-1303 that includes a demand for unpaid rent "MUST INCLUDE A STATEMENT THAT IF THE TENANT HAS EXPERIENCED UNLAWFUL SEXUAL BEHAVIOR, STALKING, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, OR DOMESTIC ABUSE THAT HAS CAUSED THE TENANT TO MISS A RENT PAYMENT, THE TENANT MAY PROVIDE THE LANDLORD WITH DOCUMENTATION ... AND IS ENTITLED TO A REPAYMENT PLAN THAT ALLOWS THE TENANT TO REPAY THE UNPAID RENT OVER A PERIOD OF TIME NOT TO EXCEED NINE MONTHS."

C.R.S. 13-40-107(3); 13-40-107.5(4); 38-12-1303(3); 13-40-106(4) (HB25-1168 §3, eff. 2025-08-06) · read

Statewide just-cause rule

Yes: a statewide law requires a stated legal reason to end some tenancies

  • Covered housing: every residential premises in the state except those excluded by 38-12-1302(1); a landlord shall not serve a notice to terminate tenancy or a demand for possession or proceed in unlawful detainer unless there is cause (38-12-1303(1)).
  • Cause = the unlawful-detention grounds of 13-40-104 (nonpayment, covenant violations after demand, repeat violations, substantial violations, nuisance/disturbance conduct, holdover after proper notice) or a no-fault ground: demolition/conversion (incl. to short-term rental), substantial repairs requiring 30+ days' vacancy, landlord/family move-in within 3 months (45 days if active military), withdrawal of a single-family home/duplex/triplex/condo for sale, tenant's refusal of a new lease with reasonable terms, or more than two late rent payments (10+ days late) in the period (38-12-1303(2)-(3)).
  • No-fault terminations require written notice at least 90 days before the termination date including a statement of the legal and factual basis (38-12-1303(3)).

C.R.S. 38-12-1301 to 38-12-1304 (HB24-1098, ch. 113, eff. 2024-04-19; 38-12-1302 amended by HB25-1168, ch. 229, § 16, eff. 2025-05-22) · read

For Colorado landlords

  • Find the period for your situation in the table above and count it from the day the notice is delivered.
  • Deliver the notice the way Colorado law allows and keep a record of how and when.
  • A notice is not a court order and does not by itself remove a tenant.

For Colorado tenants

  • Compare the notice you received with the period for its situation in the table above and the date it reached you.
  • A notice is not a court order. If a case is filed, the court papers say how and by when to respond.
  • Local legal aid and tenant organizations can explain your options.

How an eviction generally proceeds

A general outline, not Colorado law: the steps, their names and their deadlines differ by state and court. The Colorado rules LeaseCraft has verified are the ones above.

  1. Written notice. The landlord gives the notice the situation calls for and waits out its period.
  2. Court filing. If the tenant has not paid, cured or left, the landlord files an eviction case in court.
  3. Hearing. Both sides can be heard; the tenant may raise defenses such as an improper notice.
  4. Judgment. The court decides who has the right to the property.
  5. Removal. If the court rules for the landlord, removal follows its order. A notice is not a court order and does not by itself remove a tenant.

Colorado eviction questions

  • 10 calendar days, under C.R.S. 13-40-104(1)(d), (5)(d) (HB19-1118; last amended HB25-1168, eff. 2025-05-22); 13-40-108. Ten days' written notice (demand for compliance or possession) requiring in the alternative payment of the rent or possession (13-40-104(1)(d)). LeaseCraft read this at the official source on 2026-11-01.

  • 10 calendar days, under C.R.S. 13-40-104(1)(e), (1)(e.5). Holding over contrary to any other condition or covenant after ten days' written notice requiring in the alternative compliance or delivery of possession (13-40-104(1)(e)); three days for nonresidential/employer-provided housing; five days for exempt residential agreements. LeaseCraft read this at the official source on 2026-11-01.

  • 21 calendar days, under C.R.S. 13-40-107(1)(c), (3) (HB24-1098, ch. 113, § 5, eff. 2024-04-19); 38-12-1303(1), (3). Notice to quit for a tenancy of one month or longer but less than six months: at least twenty-one days before the end of the tenancy period (13-40-107(1)(c) as rewritten by HB24-1098). LeaseCraft read this at the official source on 2026-09-27.

  • Yes: a statewide law requires a stated legal reason to end some tenancies, under C.R.S. 38-12-1301 to 38-12-1304 (HB24-1098, ch. 113, eff. 2024-04-19; 38-12-1302 amended by HB25-1168, ch. 229, § 16, eff. 2025-05-22). Covered housing: every residential premises in the state except those excluded by 38-12-1302(1); a landlord shall not serve a notice to terminate tenancy or a demand for possession or proceed in unlawful detainer unless there is cause (38-12-1303(1)). LeaseCraft read this at the official source on 2026-09-27.

  • 3 calendar days, under C.R.S. 13-40-107(1)(d)-(e). Tenancy of one week or longer but less than one month, or a tenancy at will: at least three days' notice to quit (13-40-107(1)(d)); less than one week: at least one day (13-40-107(1)(e)). LeaseCraft read this at the official source on 2026-09-27.

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Cities and counties can add rules. LeaseCraft is not a law firm and this is not legal advice.