Colorado: Rent Increase Notice Requirements
The short answer
Colorado requires at least 60 days' written notice before increasing rent in a residential tenancy with no written agreement. It does not set a general statewide percentage cap, but it prohibits more than one rent increase in any 12-month period of the tenant's consecutive occupancy.
Ask Ezel about your situation
This is the general rule in Colorado. Ezel applies current Colorado law to your specific facts and answers with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law | Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 38-12-701 to -702 |
|---|---|
| Advance notice required | No written agreement: ≥60 days' written notice (§ 38-12-701(2)(a)); no general period stated here for a written agreement |
| Statewide limit on the increase | No general statewide percentage or dollar cap |
| Homes and landlords exempt from the cap | N/A No statewide amount cap |
| How often rent may increase | No more than 1 increase in any 12 months of consecutive occupancy, regardless of agreement type or term (§ 38-12-702) |
| Notice form, content, and service | Written notice required for a tenancy with no written agreement; no special content or service method stated (§ 38-12-701(2)(a)) |
| Increase during a fixed lease | The 12-month limit expressly covers fixed tenancies, but §§ 38-12-701 to -702 do not themselves authorize a unilateral midterm change |
| Tenant's remedies | No rent-increase-specific invalidity, damages, or agency remedy stated in §§ 38-12-701 to -702 |
Compare this rule across all 50 states + DC →
Requirements one by one
Notice period and form
For a residential tenancy with no written agreement, Colo. Rev. Stat. §
38-12-701(2)(a) requires at least 60 days' written notice before an increase.
The section does not prescribe special content or a service method, and it does
not state a general advance-notice period for a tenancy governed by a written
agreement.
Subsection (2)(b) also prevents a landlord from using a termination notice with
the primary purpose of obtaining an increase inconsistent with the section. That
provision is not a separate termination-notice period for this survey.
Frequency limit
Section 38-12-702 permits no more than one rent increase in any 12-month
period of the tenant's consecutive occupancy. The statute makes the limit apply
regardless of whether the agreement is written, how long the tenancy lasts, or
whether it is fixed, month-to-month, or indefinite.
The section regulates frequency, not amount. It states no statewide percentage
or dollar ceiling and no part-7 damages formula.
What trips people up
The 60-day rule is not universal. Its text applies when there is no written
agreement between landlord and tenant. The once-per-12-month rule is broader
and expressly reaches written and fixed tenancies.
Coverage of a fixed tenancy by the frequency limit does not itself authorize a
landlord to rewrite the rent before the agreed term ends. Sections 38-12-701 and
-702 do not answer whether a particular written agreement permits a midterm
change.
Common questions
Does Colorado cap the percentage of an increase?
Not under these general state sections. Section 38-12-702 limits how often
rent may increase, not the size of an increase. Local law may separately matter.
Does a written lease get the 60-day rule?
Section 38-12-701(2)(a) states the 60-day requirement for a residential
tenancy in which there is no written agreement. The written agreement and other
applicable law must be checked for a written tenancy.
Can the landlord raise rent twice if both notices were timely?
Not within one 12-month period of consecutive occupancy. Section 38-12-702
imposes the frequency limit independently of the notice rule.
Statutes and sources
- Colo. Rev. Stat. § 38-12-701(2). Sixty-day written notice for a residential
tenancy without a written agreement and the anti-circumvention termination
rule. Official 2025 code PDF
(accessed July 12, 2026). - Colo. Rev. Stat. § 38-12-702. Once-per-12-month frequency limit across
agreement and tenancy types.
Official 2025 code PDF
(accessed July 12, 2026).
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
Get the answer for your situation
You just read how Colorado handles this in general. Ezel applies current Colorado law to your facts and answers your specific question, with citations.
Opens in Ezel Pro. Every answer cites the authority it relies on.