A Colorado lease agreement is a written contract between a landlord and a tenant that sets the rent, the length of the tenancy, the security deposit, and each party’s responsibilities for the property. Colorado law governs security deposits, late fees, required disclosures, and notice periods under Title 38, Article 12 of the Colorado Revised Statutes. Landlords and tenants use this document for a house, apartment, or room, or a commercial space. Build yours below in minutes.
Last Updated: September 2026. This guide is reviewed and updated regularly to reflect current Colorado law. If you notice an error or outdated information, please contact us.
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A Colorado lease agreement is also called a Colorado rental agreement or a Colorado residential lease. Some landlords also use the term "rental contract." These names all refer to the same document.
Colorado lease agreements are governed by Title 38, Article 12 of the Colorado Revised Statutes. A lease typically states the rent amount, how long the tenant may stay, the security deposit, and each party’s maintenance duties. Once both parties sign, most leases take effect right away, with no automatic waiting period to cancel.
It is good practice for a landlord to apply the same screening standard to every applicant. For example, if you run a background or credit report on one prospective tenant, run the same report for every other prospective tenant.
Colorado law caps a security deposit at two months’ rent.[2.1] The landlord must return the deposit within one month after the lease ends, unless the lease sets a longer period, which state law limits to sixty days.[2.2]
Many renters assume Colorado sets no limit on the security deposit. State law caps it at two months’ rent.[2.1]
For example, on a rent of eighteen hundred dollars a month, the maximum security deposit the landlord could collect would be thirty-six hundred dollars.
The term normal wear and tear refers to ordinary deterioration from everyday use, not damage from misuse or an accident.
A landlord may not keep any part of the security deposit to cover normal wear and tear (Section 38-12-103(1)).[2.18]
Popular Local Rental Lease Agreement Forms
Most Colorado leases spell out several practical terms so both sides know what to expect. A written lease commonly addresses the lease length, the rent and any penalty for paying late, who handles repairs, whether subletting is allowed, and the security deposit terms.
Colorado law requires two things in writing. Before the tenant signs, the landlord must give the written radon disclosure the state requires.[2.13] After signing, the landlord must give the tenant a fully signed copy of the lease no later than the seventh day after the tenant signs it.[2.12]
"Before signing a lease agreement for residential real property, the landlord shall disclose and provide in writing to the tenant the following information in a document that the tenant signs to acknowledge receipt of the disclosure."
Colorado law requires written notice before ending most tenancies, and the amount of notice depends on how long the tenancy has run.[1] The table below shows the minimum notice period for each length of tenancy under Colo. Rev. Stat. § 13-40-107. You can count the exact date with FormsPal’s deadline calculator.
| Length of Tenancy | Minimum Notice to End It |
|---|---|
| Less than one week | One day |
| One week or longer but less than one month, or a tenancy at will | Three days |
| One month or longer but less than six months | Twenty-one days |
| Six months or longer but less than a year | Twenty-eight days |
| One year or longer | Ninety-one days |
A landlord who removes or locks out a tenant without following this process can owe the tenant statutory damages. The damages equal the tenant’s actual damages plus the greater of three times the monthly rent or five thousand dollars, along with other damages, fees, and costs owed.[2.10]
In a residential tenancy with no written lease, Colorado law requires at least sixty days of written notice before the rent can go up.[2.11] A written lease like this one avoids that notice requirement entirely, so it can help you set expectations for rent increases from the start.
Colorado law limits how and when a landlord can charge a late fee. The landlord cannot charge it until the rent is at least seven calendar days late. The fee cannot exceed the greater of fifty dollars or five percent of the past-due rent. The landlord can charge it only if the fee is disclosed in the lease and written notice of the fee was given within one hundred eighty days of the due date.[2.3]
For example, on a rent payment of one thousand dollars, the late fee could not go above fifty dollars, since fifty dollars is greater than five percent of one thousand dollars.
If a landlord allows pets, Colorado law limits what it can charge for them. An additional pet deposit cannot exceed three hundred dollars. Any additional pet rent cannot exceed thirty-five dollars per month or one and one-half percent of the tenant’s monthly rent, whichever is greater.[2.4]
For example, on a rent of two thousand dollars a month, one and one-half percent is thirty dollars, so the flat thirty-five-dollar rate would apply instead, since it is the greater amount.
When a tenant gives the landlord the written notice state law requires for a habitability problem, the landlord must respond within twenty-four hours. The landlord may take up to seventy-two hours if the property is inaccessible because of an environmental public health event.[2.9]
A landlord also may not offer a unit for rent that the landlord knows or reasonably suspects has bed bugs.[2.17] Once notified of a possible infestation, the landlord must arrange a professional inspection within ninety-six hours.[2.16]
Applications commonly ask for the applicant’s income, current address, and rental history as part of the standard screening process.
If a landlord denies a rental application, the landlord must give the applicant a written statement of the reasons for the denial.[2.15] Where the landlord owes the applicant money back from the application process, the landlord must make a good-faith effort to send it within twenty calendar days after processing the application.[2.14]
Colorado has a separate set of rules for space in a mobile home park. A lease for a mobile home park space must be in writing. The park cannot end the tenancy until it has served a notice to quit or a notice of nonpayment of rent.[2.5]
The table below summarizes the Colorado Rental Lease Agreement form. If you download the blank template instead of using the builder above, you can fill in all 119 fields online with FormsPal’s PDF editor before printing.
| Document Name | Colorado Rental Lease Agreement Form |
| Other Names | CO Rental Lease, Colorado Residential Lease Agreement |
| Relevant Laws | Colorado Revised Statutes, Title 38, Article 12 |
| Security Deposit Amount | Capped at two months’ rent |
| Security Deposit Return | Within one month after the lease ends (up to sixty days if the lease says so) |
| Avg. Time to Fill Out | 18 minutes |
| # of Fillable Fields | 119 |
| Available Formats | Adobe PDF |
Here are quick answers to the questions landlords and tenants ask most often about a residential tenancy, from deposit limits to how a tenancy properly ends, each backed by the specific statute that supports it.
A landlord must return the security deposit within one month after the lease ends and the tenant has moved out, unless the lease sets a longer period, which state law limits to sixty days.[2.2]
State law caps the security deposit at two months’ rent under the rental agreement.[2.1]
Yes. Ending a tenancy requires written notice, and how much notice depends on how long the tenancy has run.[1]
Generally, no. Colorado law requires written notice before a tenancy can be ended, with the notice period set by how long the tenancy has run.[1] A landlord who removes or locks out a tenant without following this process can owe the tenant statutory damages.[2.10]
Not exactly. Colorado’s notice periods run from one day to ninety-one days depending on the length of the tenancy, and none of them is a flat two weeks. A month-to-month tenancy, for example, requires twenty-one days of notice.[1]
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General information, not legal or tax advice.
Unless noted otherwise, the sources below are from the Colo. Rev. Stat..
