Breaking a lease in Colorado

Colorado gives tenants several specific rights to end a lease early: as a victim-survivor of domestic violence, domestic abuse, stalking or unlawful sexual behavior; after a tenant's death; for an unfixed habitability breach; and in some cases for a missing radon disclosure (C.R.S. § 38-12-402(2); C.R.S. § 38-12-801(3.5)).

• A victim-survivor who notifies you in writing, gives one of the listed forms of documentation and vacates owes at most one month's rent, and only if you document your actual damages within 30 days; it is due within 90 days, and nothing is owed if another tenant stays on the lease (C.R.S. § 38-12-402(2)).
• Keep a victim-survivor's status and new address confidential, and do not deduct for damage caused by the abuse (C.R.S. § 38-12-402(2)(b); C.R.S. § 38-12-402(4)).
• If a lease ends early because a tenant died, clauses requiring liquidated damages, repayment of concessions or any early termination fee are void; rent may run only to the later of the end of the month or ten business days after the unit is vacated following notice of the death (C.R.S. § 38-12-801(3.5)).
• A tenant may end the lease for an unfixed habitability breach with 10 to 60 days' written notice (C.R.S. § 38-12-507(1)(a)).See Tenant repair remedies on the Colorado page
• A tenant may void the lease if you skip the radon disclosure or fail to try to mitigate radon within 180 days of a finding of 4 picocuries per liter or more, but since January 1, 2026 that right does not apply to leases of a year or less (C.R.S. § 38-12-803(3)).
• You may end the lease, if it allows, after a sudden disaster or government action makes the home impossible or unlawful to occupy, with at least 30 days' written notice and a return of the deposit by the termination date (C.R.S. § 38-12-503(11)).
• Victim-survivor documentation may be a self-attestation affidavit, a qualified third party's signed letter, a police report from the previous 120 days, or a qualifying protection or restraining order. A landlord may seek a qualified third party's letter if submitted documentation conflicts. Other additional documentation is not required; if required documentation is missing, the tenant has seven days after the landlord's written request to provide it (C.R.S. section 38-12-402(2)(a.5)).
• Before assigning the limited early-termination debt to a third-party collector, the landlord must satisfy the actual-damages documentation rules and give the victim-survivor at least 90 days' written notice of the intended assignment using the requested communication method, or the last known electronic contact if none was requested. The debt may not be assigned if the victim-survivor complies with the lawful collection notice before that period expires (C.R.S. section 38-12-402(2)(b)-(d)).

If you breach the warranty of habitability, the tenant may end the lease with 10 to 60 days' written notice, deduct the cost of a professional repair from rent after written notice, sue for damages and court orders, or raise the breach as a defense to an eviction (C.R.S. § 38-12-507(1)).

• Repair and deduct needs ten days' written notice, or 48 hours for a condition the tenant believes in good faith threatens life, health or safety; the repair must be done by a qualified professional who is not a relative, and the tenant must give you the receipt (C.R.S. § 38-12-507(1)(c)(I)).
• A broken appliance may be replaced after three days' written notice with one of comparable quality, and the cost deducted (C.R.S. § 38-12-507(1)(c)(II)).
• A tenant who deducts in bad faith owes double the amount wrongly deducted (C.R.S. § 38-12-507(1)(c)(IV)).
• If the same condition recurs within six months of the repair, the tenant may end the lease with at least ten days' notice given within 30 days of the recurrence (C.R.S. § 38-12-507(1)(b)).
• When a breach is found, the rent value is presumed to be zero for a life, health or safety condition and half the rent for other conditions, for the period it went unfixed (C.R.S. § 38-12-507(3)).
• In an eviction, a proven habitability defense means the court denies possession if the rent owed is paid within 30 days of the amount being set, orders repairs and awards the tenant costs and fees (C.R.S. § 38-12-507(2)).
• A lease term that waives these rights is void, and a landlord recovers attorney fees in a habitability case only if the tenant's claim was frivolous (C.R.S. § 38-12-507(4), (5)).
• The attorney general may seek a civil penalty of up to $20,000 per violation (C.R.S. § 38-12-512(5)).
• A habitability termination notice must identify the unrepaired conditions, state the intent to end the lease and vacate, and give a termination date at least ten days after notice, within the section's ten-to-sixty-day range. If repairs begin or finish before that date, the parties may agree in writing during or after the repair to withdraw the termination notice and continue the existing rental agreement (C.R.S. section 38-12-507(1)(a)).

Colorado has no statute that sets a general rule on subletting a home. The lease controls, so state in it whether the tenant needs your written consent (C.R.S. Title 38, Article 12 (tenants and landlords)).

Written notice to end a periodic tenancy at the end of a period, or not to renew a fixed term, depends on the length of the tenancy: at least 91 days for one year or longer, 28 days for six months to under a year, 21 days for one month to under six months, three days for one week to under a month, and one day for less than a week. A tenant may use these notices for any home, but a landlord may end a covered residential tenancy only with a cause the for-cause eviction law allows (C.R.S. § 13-40-107(1), (2); C.R.S. § 38-12-1303(1)).

• The for-cause rule does not cover, among others, short-term rentals, single-family homes, duplexes and triplexes where the owner lives on site or next door, employer-provided housing, and tenants who have been in the home less than twelve months; for those, the landlord may use the notice periods alone (C.R.S. § 38-12-1302(1); C.R.S. § 13-40-107(1)).
• For a covered tenancy, no-fault grounds such as sale, demolition, substantial renovation, the owner or a family member moving in, or refusal to sign a new lease with reasonable terms generally need at least 90 days' written notice stating the legal and factual basis; an owner on active military duty moving in needs 45 days (C.R.S. § 38-12-1303(3), (5)).
• The notice must describe the property and the date the tenancy ends, and be signed by the party or their agent or attorney (C.R.S. § 13-40-107(3)).
• A tenant whose fixed term ends on a set date does not need to give notice (C.R.S. § 13-40-107(4)).
• A lease may not charge a fee or penalty for a tenant's failure to give notice of nonrenewal, beyond your actual losses (C.R.S. § 38-12-801(3)(a)(IV)).

Return the full deposit within 30 days after the lease ends or the tenant surrenders the home, whichever happens last. The lease may set a longer period, but no more than 60 days. If you keep any part, give the tenant a written statement listing the exact reasons, together with the balance and any documentation the law requires. You may keep reasonable amounts only for unpaid rent, unpaid utilities, other lawful charges listed in the lease, and repairs of damage beyond normal wear and tear that did not exist before the tenancy (C.R.S. § 38-12-103(1)).

• Sending the statement, payment and documentation to the tenant's last known address, or to an email address you actually know of, counts as delivery. The refund may be mailed, or sent by secure electronic transfer with the tenant's consent (C.R.S. § 38-12-103(1)(a); C.R.S. § 38-12-103(10)).
• On either side's request, where reasonable and practicable, conduct an in-person or live-video walk-through to identify in writing damage beyond normal wear and tear that did not preexist the tenancy. At the tenant's request, provide it at a mutually convenient time before lease termination or surrender, after an opportunity to remove furniture. Subsection (12) excludes occupancy of a mobile home in a mobile home park from this walk-through provision (C.R.S. § 38-12-103(1.5); C.R.S. § 38-12-103(12)).
• For lease terminations or surrenders on or after January 1, 2026, subsection (8) requires relevant documentation in the landlord's possession or control when the landlord provides the deduction statement within 14 days after the tenant's written request. This includes supporting photos, inspection records, receipts, invoices or estimates. Check this precise trigger alongside the separate 30-day return deadline and any permitted lease extension (C.R.S. § 38-12-103(8)).
• You may not charge for replacing carpet throughout the home, or repainting the whole interior, unless the damage is substantial (and for carpet, irreparable), beyond normal wear and tear and not preexisting. Carpet not replaced with new carpet in the ten years before move-out cannot be treated as substantially and irreparably damaged. Supported damage to a portion is addressed separately; a localized issue does not establish a whole-home charge. Subsection (12) excludes occupancy of a mobile home in a mobile home park from subsection (11) (C.R.S. § 38-12-103(11); C.R.S. § 38-12-103(12)).
• Missing a requirement, or wrongfully keeping any part, forfeits the right to keep any of the deposit. A wrongful retention can cost three times the amount wrongfully withheld plus attorney fees and costs, but only after the tenant gives at least seven days' notice of the demand and intent to sue and you do not return the money within those seven days. You bear the burden of proving the withholding was not wrongful (C.R.S. § 38-12-103(2); C.R.S. § 38-12-103(2.5); C.R.S. § 38-12-103(3)).
• Keeping 125 percent or more of your actual damages is presumed to unreasonably exceed them, which is one of the ways a retention becomes bad faith (C.R.S. § 38-12-103(3.5)).
• If a mailed refund comes back, hold it for at least one year and pay it within 15 calendar days after the tenant asks (C.R.S. § 38-12-103(9)).
• When your interest in the property ends, whoever holds the deposit has 60 days to transfer it to the successor and tell the tenant by mail, or to return it to the tenant (C.R.S. § 38-12-103(4)).
• A lease term charging the tenant for repairs or cleaning due to normal wear and tear, or for a preexisting condition, is void (C.R.S. § 38-12-103(7)(b)).
• The 125-percent presumption is not a permitted markup: a smaller excess can still be unreasonable. Under subsection (3.5)(d), a landlord who acts in good faith and meets every other requirement, but is found in a civil action to have reasonably retained more than actual damages, is liable only for that excess and court costs. Preserve the actual-loss evidence; a dispute alone does not establish which remedy applies (C.R.S. § 38-12-103(3.5)(b)-(d)).
• Review the starting condition and actual use before charging for cleaning or smoking damage. Normal wear includes deterioration, damage or uncleanliness from intended or reasonably typical use without negligence, carelessness, accident or abuse; it excludes uncleanliness leaving the unit substantially less clean than at move-in. A routine turnover or professional-cleaning invoice alone does not establish a permitted deduction (C.R.S. § 38-12-102(4); 38-12-103(1), (7)(b)).