Colorado landlord compliance resources
Plain-English guides to the parts of your lease template that most often fall out of compliance — no legal jargon. Each topic starts with an overview, then digs into the specifics.
Compliance overview
What changed in Colorado landlord-tenant law and what to check first.Colorado Landlord Lease Compliance: What Changed and What to Check
An overview of recent Colorado landlord-tenant law changes — deposit caps, prohibited clauses, late fees, and non-renewal rules — and what to check in your own lease template.
Which Colorado Cities Require a Rental License
Colorado has no statewide rental licensing law — Denver and Boulder require a license and inspection, Fort Collins requires registration, Colorado Springs requires neither for long-term rentals.
Read →Colorado Landlord Law Changes: The Full January 1, 2026 Checklist
A single checklist covering every Colorado landlord-tenant law change taking effect January 1, 2026 — deposits, junk fees, and what to check in your lease before then.
Read →Renting Out a Colorado HOA Unit: What the Association Can (and Can't) Restrict
An HOA can restrict rentals in Colorado, but only through a recorded declaration amendment approved by a 67% owner supermajority — not a board rule. What that means for landlords.
Read →Every Fine and Penalty Colorado Landlords Can Face (2026 Roundup)
A single reference list of the statutory penalties, treble damages, and fines covered across this site — deposits, fees, disclosures, and screening — with the current dollar figures.
Read →Lead-Based Paint Disclosure: A Required Addendum for Pre-1978 Colorado Rentals
Federal law requires a lead-based paint disclosure addendum for any Colorado rental built before 1978 — what it has to include, the EPA pamphlet requirement, and the penalty for skipping it.
Read →Why Lease Compliance Is Good Business: The Real Cost of Getting It Wrong
Fixing a lease clause upfront costs a fraction of what a Colorado landlord pays when the same issue surfaces as an eviction, a deposit dispute, or a statutory penalty.
Read →Colorado's Radon Disclosure Requirement — and What Changed January 1, 2026
Colorado requires landlords to disclose radon information before a lease is signed, and a 2026 change narrows the tenant's right to void a lease over a failed disclosure.
Read →Rental Application Fees in Colorado: What You Can Charge and What You Must Refund
Colorado's Rental Application Fairness Act limits application fees to actual processing cost, requires itemized disclosure, and requires refunding unused amounts within 20 days.
Read →Colorado's Source-of-Income Law: Small Landlords and HB25-1240
HB25-1240 did not repeal Colorado's small-landlord exemptions — but it added a new cooperation duty that reaches every landlord, even exempt ones. Here's what actually changed.
Read →Uniform Tenant Screening in Colorado: What the Law Requires and Limits
Colorado requires landlords to apply the same screening criteria to every applicant, limits criminal-history lookback, and requires accepting portable tenant screening reports.
Read →What a $69 Compliance Check Actually Saves You
LeaseCheck's compliance check starts at $69. Here's how that compares to the actual dollar cost of the disputes and penalties an out-of-date lease template can trigger.
Read →Lease templates
Is your stock or off-the-shelf lease form still compliant?Is My Colorado Lease Template Still Legal? A Landlord's Guide
A guide for Colorado landlords to check whether a stock or off-the-shelf lease form — or a modified version of one — still complies with current landlord-tenant law.
What Every Colorado Lease Must Disclose: The Landlord Name, Address, and Copy Rules
Colorado requires a lease to name the landlord, give tenants a signed copy within 7 days, and notify tenants within 1 business day if ownership or management changes. What to check.
Read →Lease Clauses That Became Void on January 1, 2026
A checklist of specific Colorado lease clauses that became void or unenforceable on January 1, 2026 — cleaning fees, processing fees, tax passthroughs, and what to replace them with.
Read →Renewals
Rent-increase timing, notice rules, and non-renewal requirements.Colorado Lease Renewal Compliance: Rent Increases, Notice, and Non-Renewal Rules
What Colorado landlords need to check before renewing or declining to renew a tenant — rent-increase timing, notice periods, and the HB24-1098 non-renewal rules.
Colorado Eviction Notices: Demand for Compliance, Notice to Quit, and What Happens Next
The Colorado eviction process starts with one of several notice types depending on the reason — nonpayment, first violation, repeat violation, or substantial violation — each with its own notice period.
Read →What a Botched Eviction Notice Actually Costs You
Serving the wrong eviction notice doesn't just delay the case — it gets it dismissed and restarts the clock, often doubling the cost of an otherwise straightforward eviction.
Read →Which Tenancies Are Exempt From Colorado's For-Cause Renewal Law
HB24-1098's for-cause renewal requirement doesn't apply to every tenancy — owner-occupied duplexes, short-term rentals, and tenancies under 12 months are exempt. What that means for your lease.
Read →Ending a Month-to-Month Tenancy in Colorado: How Much Notice You Actually Owe
Colorado's notice period for ending a month-to-month tenancy scales with how long the tenant has lived there — 21, 28, or 91 days — and 12+ months triggers just-cause rules too.
Read →The 6 No-Fault Reasons Colorado Landlords Can Still Use to Not Renew
Colorado's for-cause renewal law still allows non-renewal for 6 specific no-fault reasons — demolition, owner move-in, selling, and more. What each one actually requires.
Read →How Much Notice Colorado Law Actually Requires for a Rent Increase
Colorado's rent-increase notice rule depends on whether there's a written lease — a distinction generic templates often get wrong. What the statute actually requires.
Read →Security deposits
The current cap, return timeline, and itemization rules.Colorado Security Deposit Rules for Landlords: The 2026 Cap, Return Deadlines, and Itemization
What Colorado landlords need to know about the new one-month security deposit cap, return timeline, and itemization requirements — and the penalty for getting it wrong.
Boulder's Security Deposit Interest Requirement
Boulder landlords must pay tenants interest on security deposits — a city-specific rule that doesn't exist under Colorado state law. The current rate, the formula, and what to check.
Read →The 125% Rule: How Colorado Decides If a Landlord Wrongfully Withheld a Deposit
Colorado's 2026 deposit law sets a specific test for bad faith — retaining 125% or more of actual damages is presumed unreasonable, and the landlord carries the burden of proof.
Read →The $1,500 Deposit That Became a $4,500 Problem
A walkthrough of how a routine Colorado security deposit dispute compounds into treble damages — and the specific documentation gaps that turn a disagreement into a judgment.
Read →Security Deposit Installments: Colorado Now Requires Landlords to Offer a Payment Plan
Colorado's 2026 deposit law requires landlords to let tenants pay a security deposit in installments on request — what the rule requires and what a landlord can't do about a missed payment.
Read →Pre-Move-Out Inspections: What Colorado Now Requires Landlords to Offer
Colorado's 2026 deposit law gives tenants the right to request a pre-move-out walk-through inspection — what it requires, and how it changes deposit disputes.
Read →Colorado's Redefined 'Normal Wear and Tear': What Actually Changed in 2026
HB25-1249 rewrote Colorado's definition of normal wear and tear for security deposits — the exact language, what it excludes, and what it means for cleaning and damage charges.
Read →Fees
Late fee caps, grace periods, and add-on charge language.Colorado Late Fee Rules for Landlords: The Cap, the Grace Period, and What Not to Call It
The Colorado late-fee cap, the required grace period, and why a late fee cannot be labeled "additional rent" — plus what to check in your own lease.
Colorado's 'Free Payment Option' Rule: What Actually Satisfies It
A payment-processing fee is only legal in Colorado if tenants also have a genuinely free way to pay rent. What counts as "reasonably available" — and what doesn't.
Read →Colorado's Junk Fee Ban: What Landlords Can No Longer Charge (HB25-1090)
HB25-1090 bans hidden and padded rental fees in Colorado starting January 1, 2026 — what's prohibited, what's capped, and what your lease needs to disclose.
Read →Move-out & liability
Damage assessment, wear and tear, and itemization at move-out.Move-Out and Damage Charges: What Colorado Law Requires Landlords to Prove
What Colorado landlords need to document and prove when assessing move-out damage charges — normal wear and tear, itemization, and the "sole discretion" trap.
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