Colorado security deposit law

A landlord may not require a security deposit larger than two monthly rent payments under the rental agreement. A security deposit is any advance or deposit of money, whatever it is called, whose main purpose is to secure the tenant's performance of the rental agreement.

C.R.S. § 38-12-102.5(1) C.R.S. § 38-12-102(6)

• From January 1, 2027, the two-month cap does not apply to a post-closing occupancy agreement under a purchase contract in which the landlord bought the home from the tenant. C.R.S. § 38-12-102.5(2)
• A separate security deposit for a pet may not be more than $300, and it must be refundable. C.R.S. § 38-12-106(1)
• A lease term that waives or changes any part of the deposit law that protects the tenant is void. C.R.S. § 38-12-103(7)(a)

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)

Colorado's general security deposit law does not require a separate account for deposits or interest on them. Its rules cover the amount, the return and the transfer of deposits when a property changes hands.

C.R.S. § 38-12-101 to 38-12-106

• When your interest in the property ends by sale or otherwise, the deposit goes to your successor within 60 days with notice to the tenant, or back to the tenant. Once that is done, the person who held it is released, and the successor takes on your duties for it. C.R.S. § 38-12-103(4) C.R.S. § 38-12-103(5) C.R.S. § 38-12-103(6)
• Mobile home park lots follow a different rule: the deposit is capped at one month's rent, stays the home owner's property and goes into a separate trust account. C.R.S. § 38-12-207(1), (3)
• A city can add deposit-interest requirements. Boulder requires landlords to return interest on tenants' security deposits and published a 2.08 percent rate for 2026, effective January 1. Check the city's applicable rates and calculation guidance for the tenancy before calculating the refund; this rate is not a statewide requirement. City of Boulder: 2026 security deposit interest

No section of Colorado's landlord and tenant article requires a move-in inspection or checklist. The home must be fit to live in before you lease it, and you cannot later deduct from the deposit for damage that existed before the tenancy, so a dated record of the condition at move-in protects you.

C.R.S. § 38-12-101 to 38-12-1502

• Before leasing, make sure the home is habitable and free of the conditions that make a home uninhabitable; leasing it otherwise breaches the warranty of habitability. C.R.S. § 38-12-505(3)(a), (b)
• Deductions may not cover normal wear and tear or any damage or defective condition that preexisted the tenancy. C.R.S. § 38-12-103(1)(a)