Cause Is Now Required

House Bill 24-1098 was signed on April 19, 2024 and took effect immediately, prohibiting a landlord from evicting a residential tenant without cause.

Cause comes in two forms. Fault based grounds include nonpayment of rent, a substantial violation involving violent or drug related criminal conduct, a material or repeat violation of the lease, and creating a nuisance or disturbance interfering with the quiet enjoyment of the landlord or neighbors.

No fault grounds are narrower and specific: demolition or conversion of the premises, substantial repairs or renovations, occupancy by the landlord or a family member of the landlord, and expiration of time limited housing operated by a mission driven organization.

Everything else is off the table. A landlord who simply wants a different tenant, or who prefers not to renew, no longer has a mechanism unless one of those grounds applies.

The exemptions matter as much as the rule. Short term rentals are exempt. Owner occupied or owner adjacent single family homes, duplexes, and triplexes are exempt. Mobile home lots, employer provided housing, and unauthorized occupants unknown to the landlord are exempt. And critically, tenants who have been in place less than 12 months are exempt, which preserves flexibility during a first year tenancy.

A landlord who proceeds without cause hands the tenant an affirmative defense to the eviction and exposure under the unlawful removal statutes. The Colorado Bar's overview of 2024 landlord tenant changes covers this alongside the year's habitability amendments.

Colorado is not alone here. Oregon moved to a similar structure in 2019, and the practical effect in both states is that the first anniversary of a tenancy becomes a meaningful date, as we covered in our Oregon guide.

The Ten Day Demand

For nonpayment, C.R.S. section 13-40-104 requires a written notice demanding, in the alternative, payment of the rent or possession of the premises, and for residential tenancies the period is 10 days.

That is a change from Colorado's older three day standard, and it is the single most common error in Colorado filings by out of state owners and newer managers. Serving a three day demand and filing on day four produces a dismissal and a restart.

The demand must be accurate. It should state the amount of rent owed, and it should reconcile to the ledger. A demand claiming amounts that are not rent under the lease invites an argument the landlord does not need.

For lease violations that can be cured, Colorado similarly requires a written notice giving the tenant an opportunity to remedy before the tenancy can be terminated, with the period depending on the nature of the violation.

Terminating a Periodic Tenancy

Where a no fault ground applies, or where the tenancy is exempt from the cause requirement, C.R.S. section 13-40-107 sets the notice periods.

A month to month tenancy requires 21 days' written notice. The notice has to describe the property, state the particular time when the tenancy terminates, and be signed by the landlord or the landlord's agent. Shorter periods apply to shorter tenancies, and longer notice is required for tenancies of a year or more.

Two things trip landlords here. The notice must terminate the tenancy at the end of a rental period rather than mid period, and a defective description of the premises or a missing termination date makes the notice ineffective.

Filing and the Court Process

Colorado eviction actions are called forcible entry and detainer proceedings, governed by C.R.S. sections 13-40-101 through 13-40-128, and are filed in county court where the property sits.

The summons sets a return date, and Colorado's process moves quickly compared to states with lengthy answer periods. At the return date, an uncontested matter typically resolves and a contested one is set for trial.

What the landlord brings decides it. The lease with all addenda, a ledger reconciling to the amount demanded, the demand or notice with proof of service, and the maintenance request history for the unit. That last item answers the habitability defense, which Colorado strengthened again in 2024 through amendments to the warranty of habitability, making the repair record more important rather than less.

For cases subject to HB 24-1098, the complaint also has to establish the cause relied on, and a landlord who cannot articulate a qualifying ground should not be filing.

The Writ and the Ten Day Wait

If the landlord prevails, the court issues a writ of restitution directing the sheriff to remove the tenant.

Under changes made by House Bill 21-1121, the sheriff cannot execute that writ until at least 10 days after the court enters judgment for possession. That waiting period is longer than in most states and should be built into any turnover schedule, since a landlord who lines up a crew for the day after judgment will be waiting.

Counting an uncontested nonpayment case end to end: 10 days of demand, filing, a return date typically a week or two out, judgment, then 10 more days before the writ can be executed. Four to six weeks is a realistic expectation, and contested cases run longer. That is meaningfully slower than Florida or Tennessee, and landlords with multistate portfolios should not assume a common timeline, a point the comparison in eviction notice requirements by state makes clearly.

Self Help Remains Prohibited

Colorado requires the court process. Changing locks, shutting off utilities, or removing a tenant's belongings outside the FED procedure exposes the landlord to liability under the unlawful removal statutes, and HB 24-1098 explicitly points tenants toward those remedies when a landlord evicts without cause.

The exposure is worse than in many states because the tenant now has both the unlawful removal claim and the affirmative defense arising from the missing cause, which can be raised in the same proceeding.

Deposits and the Downstream Balance

Colorado's security deposit statute requires the landlord to return the deposit or provide a written statement of deductions within one month after termination, unless the lease specifies a longer period, which cannot exceed 60 days. Willful retention of a deposit without the required statement exposes the landlord to treble damages plus attorney fees.

That treble damages provision makes the deposit accounting one of the highest risk clerical tasks in Colorado property management. It also matters downstream, because the itemized statement is the document supporting any balance beyond the deposit. A late or missing statement weakens the entire post tenancy claim and is a common reason otherwise valid balances become uncollectible.

Where Colorado Cases Go Wrong

The failure modes are specific to the recent changes. Serving a three day demand instead of 10 days. Filing a no cause termination against a tenant who has been in place more than 12 months and does not fall within an exemption. Relying on lease expiration as a ground. Terminating mid period on a 21 day notice. A demand that does not reconcile to the ledger. And underestimating the habitability defense in a state that has strengthened it twice recently.

Colorado has amended its landlord tenant law repeatedly since 2019, and templates more than a year or two old should be treated as suspect.

After Possession, the Money Remains

A writ of restitution returns the unit and collects nothing. Unpaid rent, damage beyond normal wear, and recoverable costs remain owing on their own timeline, and a tenant who could not pay rent rarely satisfies a money judgment voluntarily.

What determines whether that balance is recovered is the documentation assembled during and after the tenancy, a forwarding address captured at move out, and placement before the account goes cold. Move out balances are a specialized recovery category, and the reasons generalist agencies return them are covered in landlord tenant collection services explained. Landlords operating in multiple states will find the contrast with a lighter regulatory environment in our Tennessee guide useful for calibrating expectations.

Advanced Collection Bureau works residential and apartment placements nationwide on contingency with no upfront cost, and can be reached at 321-633-4999 or through its residential services page. This is general information rather than legal advice, and Colorado landlords should confirm the current rules with a Colorado attorney before filing, since this area of law has moved repeatedly.