Colorado: Eviction Notice Requirements

Requirements one by one

Notice for unpaid rent

If you fall behind on rent, the landlord must serve "ten days' notice in writing...
requiring in the alternative the payment of the rent or the possession of the
premises" (§ 13-40-104(1)(d)). Paying the full amount demanded within those 10
days resolves the default, and the landlord cannot proceed on that notice. The
10 days are calendar days. Two narrow categories get less time under the same
provision: a nonresidential lease or employer-provided housing gets 3 days, and
an "exempt residential agreement" (broadly, a single-family rental from a
landlord who owns five or fewer of them and says so in the lease) gets 5 days.
Nonpayment is one of the enumerated "causes" for eviction, so this route is open
even against an otherwise-protected tenant.

Notice for a lease violation

For a material, non-rent lease violation, the landlord serves "ten days' notice
in writing... requiring either compliance with the condition or covenant or the
delivery of the possession of the premises" (§ 13-40-104(1)(e)). Fixing the
problem within 10 days stops the eviction. But a repeat matters: once you
have been given a compliance notice for a covenant, a later violation of that
same covenant lets the landlord terminate with no second chance — "the
termination of a residential tenancy is effective ten days after service of
written notice to terminate tenancy" (§ 13-40-104(1)(e.5)), and there is no cure.

Unconditional quit (no cure allowed)

The fastest termination is for a "substantial violation." Colorado defines that
narrowly (§ 13-40-107.5(3)): an act that "endangers the person or willfully and
substantially endangers the property" of the landlord, a co-tenant, or a
neighbor; a "violent or drug-related felony"; or a public-nuisance crime near the
premises that carries a potential jail sentence of 180 days or more. For those,
"a tenancy may be terminated at any time on the basis of a substantial
violation," and "the termination is effective three days after service of written
notice" with no cure (§ 13-40-107.5(4)). The landlord "has the burden of proving
the occurrence of a substantial violation by a preponderance of the evidence,"
and a tenant who is the victim of the domestic violence that caused the
violation has a statutory defense.

Ending a month-to-month tenancy

This is where Colorado changed dramatically in 2024. For a covered residential
tenant, a landlord can no longer end a tenancy just because they want the unit
back — see "Just cause," below. The old no-cause notice schedule in § 13-40-107
still exists, but it now applies only "of nonresidential real property or a
residential premises described in section 38-12-1302" — that is, to nonresidential
and statutorily exempt residential premises. Where it applies, the notice scales
to how long the tenancy has run: at least 91 days for a year or longer, 28 days
for six months to a year, 21 days for one to six months, 3 days for a
week-to-a-month tenancy or a tenancy at will, and 1 day for under a week.

Just cause to evict required?

Since April 19, 2024, Colorado has a for-cause eviction law: a landlord "shall
not serve a notice to terminate tenancy or a demand for possession or otherwise
proceed with an action for unlawful detainer... unless there is cause for the
eviction" (§ 38-12-1303). "Cause" is a closed list — nonpayment, a substantial
violation, a material lease violation, a repeat violation, and a set of narrow
no-fault grounds. The protection does not cover everyone: § 38-12-1302 exempts
short-term rentals, owner-occupied buildings of three or fewer units, mobile-home
spaces, employer-provided housing, and — importantly — any tenant who "has not
been a tenant of a residential premises for at least twelve months." So the
practical rule is that after 12 months in a covered rental, you cannot be
evicted or non-renewed for no reason.

How the notice must be served

A written notice may be served by "delivering a copy... to a known tenant
occupying the premises," by leaving it "with some person, a member of the
tenant's family above the age of fifteen years, residing on or in charge of the
premises," or — only "in case no one is on the premises after attempts at
personal service at least once on two separate days" — by "posting the copy in
some conspicuous place on the premises" (§ 13-40-108). Posting is a last resort
that requires two documented personal-service attempts first (one attempt for a
substantial-violation notice). The notice must be in writing and, for a
termination, must state the termination date and the grounds.

Tenant's right to cure/reinstate

For unpaid rent, paying the full amount within the 10-day period reinstates the
tenancy. For a material lease violation, curing within 10 days does the same.
There is no cure for a substantial violation or for a repeat of a covenant you
were already warned about. Separately, Colorado has a strong retaliation defense
(§ 38-12-509): a landlord may not terminate, refuse to renew, or "bring or
threaten to bring an action for possession" because a tenant complained in good
faith about conditions, joined a tenants' association, or exercised a tenant
right. A tenant "need only demonstrate that the tenant's protected activity...
was a motivating factor," and a proven violation yields damages of "not more
than three months' periodic rent or three times the tenant's actual damages,
whichever is greater," plus attorney fees.

What trips people up

A "repeat" violation removes your right to cure. The first time you get a
compliance notice, you have 10 days to fix the problem. If you violate the same
lease term again, the landlord can terminate outright — the 10-day clock runs,
but there is nothing to cure. Take the first notice seriously.

"Substantial violation" is a 3-day, no-cure track — but it is narrow. It is
reserved for endangerment, violent or drug felonies, and serious public-nuisance
crimes, and the landlord has to prove it in court. An ordinary lease breach does
not qualify; it runs on the 10-day cure notice instead.

The 2024 for-cause law has a 12-month trigger and real exemptions. If you
have lived in a covered rental for at least a year, your landlord needs a
statutory reason to end or not renew your tenancy. But the protection does not
apply during your first 12 months, in an owner-occupied duplex or triplex, in a
short-term rental, or in employer or mobile-home-space housing — where the older
no-cause notice schedule still governs.

Common questions

My landlord gave me a 10-day notice to pay rent. If I pay, can I stay? Yes.
Paying the full amount the notice demands within the 10 days resolves the
default, and the landlord cannot continue the eviction on that notice.

Can my landlord evict me just because they don't want to renew my lease? If
you have lived in a covered rental for at least 12 months, no — since April 2024,
Colorado requires a statutory "cause" to terminate or decline to renew. During
your first year, or in an exempt rental (owner-occupied 3-or-fewer-unit building,
short-term rental, employer or mobile-home-space housing), the landlord can still
end a periodic tenancy on the notice schedule without a reason.

What is a "substantial violation" and how fast can it evict me? It covers
endangering people or property, a violent or drug-related felony, or a serious
public-nuisance crime on or near the property. It carries a 3-day notice to quit
with no cure, but the landlord must prove the violation in court by a
preponderance of the evidence.

Can my landlord post the notice on my door? Only after trying to serve it in
person on two separate days (one attempt for a substantial-violation notice) and
finding no one there. Otherwise the notice must be handed to you or left with an
adult household member over 15.

Statutes and sources

• C.R.S. § 13-40-104 — unlawful detention / notice periods: 10-day pay-or-possession for nonpayment (1)(d); 10-day comply-or-quit for a material violation (1)(e); 10-day no-cure for a repeat violation (1)(e.5); substantial-violation cross-reference (1)(d.5).
  https://codes.findlaw.com/co/title-13-courts-and-court-procedure/co-rev-st-sect-13-40-104/ (accessed 2026-07-10)
• C.R.S. § 13-40-107 — notice to terminate a periodic/fixed-term tenancy (now limited to nonresidential and exempt residential): 91/28/21/3/1-day schedule by tenancy length.
  https://law.justia.com/codes/colorado/title-13/forcible-entry-and-detainer/article-40/section-13-40-107/ (accessed 2026-07-10)
• C.R.S. § 13-40-107.5 — termination for a "substantial violation": definition; 3-day no-cure notice; landlord's burden of proof; domestic-violence-victim defense.
  https://law.justia.com/codes/colorado/title-13/forcible-entry-and-detainer/article-40/section-13-40-107-5/ (accessed 2026-07-10)
• C.R.S. § 13-40-108 — service of the notice to vacate or demand: personal delivery, leave with a household member over 15, or post after two failed personal-service attempts.
  https://law.justia.com/codes/colorado/title-13/forcible-entry-and-detainer/article-40/section-13-40-108/ (accessed 2026-07-10)
• C.R.S. § 38-12-1303 — For-Cause Eviction: no termination or unlawful-detainer action "unless there is cause," limited to enumerated grounds (2024 HB 24-1098).
  https://codes.findlaw.com/co/title-38-property-real-and-personal/co-rev-st-sect-38-12-1303/ (accessed 2026-07-10)
• C.R.S. § 38-12-1302 — exemptions from the for-cause protections: short-term rentals, owner-occupied 3-or-fewer-unit buildings, mobile-home spaces, employer housing, and tenancies under 12 months.
  https://codes.findlaw.com/co/title-38-property-real-and-personal/co-rev-st-sect-38-12-1302/ (accessed 2026-07-10)
• C.R.S. § 38-12-509 — prohibition on retaliation; damages of the greater of 3 months' rent or 3x actual damages, plus fees.
  https://law.justia.com/codes/colorado/title-38/article-12/part-5/section-38-12-509/ (accessed 2026-07-10)