{ "meta": { "name": "Deposit Record ruleset: Colorado", "description": "The verified Colorado security-deposit rules that https://deposit.orygn.tech/colorado is built from: each rule as a machine payload, its plain-English summary, its exact citation, the verbatim text of its source where quoted (sourceType says when that is not statute text), the official source URL it was verified against, and the date a human last checked it.", "state": "CO", "page": "https://deposit.orygn.tech/colorado", "dataUrl": "https://deposit.orygn.tech/data/colorado.json", "lastReviewed": "2026-09-05", "citeAs": "Deposit Record, Colorado Security Deposit Return (verified September 5, 2026), https://deposit.orygn.tech/colorado", "publisher": { "name": "Orygn LLC", "url": "https://orygn.tech/" }, "license": "CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/): free to reuse and quote with attribution to Deposit Record and a link to the page. The statutes themselves are public law.", "disclaimer": "General information, not legal advice. Every rule cites the source it was verified against; rely on the source, and on a lawyer for your situation.", "fields": { "summary": "plain-English statement of the rule, as rendered on the page", "value": "the machine payload the calculator uses (days, triggers, caps, multipliers); its keys are named for what they hold and explained by the summary", "citation": "exact pin-cite for the rule: a statute, an enacting act, a case or agency guidance (see sourceType)", "statuteQuote": "verbatim text quoted from the document at sourceUrl. Despite the name, not every quote is statute text: sourceType says what it is. An automated weekly check compares each quote with its source.", "statuteQuoteCitation": "pin-cite for statuteQuote alone, when the quote is narrower than the rule's citation", "sourceType": "what statuteQuote is. Absent or 'codified': codified statute text. 'session-law': a clause of the enacting act that was never codified. 'case': a court's words. 'agency': an agency's reading of the statute, which shows how the law is enforced in practice but is not what the statute says.", "sourceUrl": "the official source the rule was verified against, and where its quote is found. Some official hosts block automated clients.", "readableUrl": "an unofficial, easier-to-read copy of the same text, for people; rely on sourceUrl", "derivation": "'verbatim' for a literal statutory rule; 'synthesized' for our reading across sections, which the page labels as our interpretation. Absent means the rule is not labelled either way.", "effectiveDate": "when the rule's current text took effect, recorded as provenance. Read effectiveDateIsFloor before using it.", "effectiveDateIsFloor": "true means effectiveDate is only the earliest date we could prove this text was already in force. The real effective date is earlier and unverified, so do not present it as 'effective '.", "lastVerified": "the date a human last checked this rule against sourceUrl", "confidence": "'high', 'medium' or 'low': our confidence in the rule as stated", "amendedBy": "the most recent notable amending act", "notes": "traps and edge cases, as rendered on the page" }, "stateFields": { "stateCode": "two-letter state code", "stateName": "state name", "slug": "the state page is https://deposit.orygn.tech/{slug}", "lastReviewed": "when a human last reviewed this ruleset as a whole. Single rules are re-verified between reviews, so a rule's lastVerified can be later.", "summary": "plain-English summary of the state's return rules, as on the page", "letterFooter": "the source line printed at the foot of the generated letter", "cities": "city-level records; see meta.cityFields", "localLaw": "the state's position on local deposit rules. preempted is true only where a statute forecloses them, and citation then carries it; summary says what we have and have not read.", "sources": "the primary sources the page is built on", "pendingLegislation": "law signed but not yet in force (status 'enacted-not-in-force') or a bill a reader deciding today should know about ('pending'). The rule objects describe the law as it stands; this is the one forward-looking field. citySlug is set when the act is a city ordinance.", "stabilized": "New York only: the separate Gen. Oblig. Law 7-107 rules for rent-stabilized units, which reach leases entered into on or after appliesToLeasesFromISO. Each member that has a citation is a rule object." }, "cityFields": { "city": "city name", "citySlug": "stable machine key for the city", "applies": "true if the city adds a rule on top of state law. false is an explicit record that we found no city rule, and only for the kinds of rule listed in checkedFor.", "summary": "plain-English statement of the city rule, as rendered on the page", "coverageQuestion": "asked before any city math: whether the ordinance covers this rental at all. Absent means it applies citywide.", "interest": "the city deposit-interest rule and its rate data (machine payload)", "cap": "a city ceiling on the deposit. Absent means not recorded, which is not the same as none: see checkedFor.", "checkedFor": "the kinds of deposit rule we actually searched for in this city ('interest', 'cap', 'deadline', 'itemization'). A row says nothing about kinds it does not list.", "citation": "exact pin-cite for the city rule", "sourceUrl": "the official source the city rule was verified against", "lastVerified": "the date a human last checked this city rule against sourceUrl", "confidence": "'high', 'medium' or 'low': our confidence in the city rule as stated", "notes": "what to re-check and where the rule stops, as rendered on the page" }, "schema": "Every published key is described here: meta.fields for rule objects, meta.stateFields for the other keys of rules, meta.cityFields for each entry of rules.cities. Every key of rules not in meta.stateFields is one rule object, named for what it governs (deadline, cap, penalty and so on).", "version": "465c340", "dataHash": "43d01297c41099c2", "about": "version is the git commit these files were built from, ending in -dirty if the tree had uncommitted changes. dataHash is a fingerprint of a state's rules object and changes when, and only when, that object changes: poll it, not version or lastReviewed, to detect new data." }, "rules": { "stateCode": "CO", "stateName": "Colorado", "slug": "colorado", "lastReviewed": "2026-09-05", "summary": "Colorado landlords must return a security deposit within 30 days after the later of lease termination or surrender of the premises; a lease may lengthen that period but not past 60 days. HB25-1249 rewrote the statute on January 1, 2026: a landlord may keep the deposit only for four listed reasons, may never charge for normal wear and tear or for damage that predated the tenancy, and now faces new carpet, paint, walk-through, and documentation rules. The deposit cap is two months’ rent. Wrongfully withholding the deposit exposes a landlord to treble damages plus attorney fees and court costs, but only after the tenant demands the deposit back, gives notice of intent to sue, and the landlord fails to return the money within seven days. Boulder is the only Colorado city we have found that adds a deposit-interest requirement.", "letterFooter": { "label": "Colorado Revised Statutes § 38-12-103", "url": "https://olls.info/crs/crs2026-title-38.htm" }, "deadline": { "summary": "The landlord must return the full deposit, or send a written statement of the exact reasons for any retention, together with the balance, within 30 days after the later of lease termination or the tenant’s surrender of the premises. A lease may set a longer period, but never more than 60 days. HB25-1249 changed the old \"one month\" to \"thirty days\" and dropped \"and acceptance\" from the trigger.", "value": { "days": 30, "maxDaysByLease": 60, "dayType": "calendar", "triggerBasis": "later-of", "triggerEvents": [ "lease-termination", "surrender-of-premises" ], "suspendUntilForwardingAddress": false, "rollsForwardOnHolidays": false }, "citation": "C.R.S. § 38-12-103(1)(a)", "statuteQuote": "A landlord shall, within thirty days after the termination of a lease or surrender of a premises, whichever occurs last, return to the tenant the full security deposit deposited with the landlord by the tenant, unless the lease agreement specifies a longer period of time, but not to exceed sixty days.", "sourceUrl": "https://olls.info/crs/crs2026-title-38.htm", "derivation": "verbatim", "sourceType": "codified", "effectiveDate": "2026-01-01", "lastVerified": "2026-09-05", "confidence": "high", "amendedBy": "HB25-1249 (2025 Ch. 401)", "notes": "The clock runs from the LATER of lease termination and the tenant surrendering the premises, so do not compute from lease-end alone if the tenant gave the unit up later. Before 2026 the statute said \"surrender and acceptance\"; the rewrite struck \"and acceptance\", so your acceptance of the keys is no longer part of the trigger and cannot delay the clock. There is no forwarding-address condition (unlike some states): the deadline runs on its own. If day 30 lands on a weekend or a Colorado legal holiday, the law may extend it to the next business day (C.R.S. § 2-4-108(2)), but no Colorado court has applied that to this statute and missing the deadline forfeits your right to keep any of the deposit, so treat day 30 as the real target." }, "forwardingAddress": { "summary": "Colorado does not condition the deposit’s return on the tenant providing a forwarding address. The landlord sends the statement and any refund to the tenant’s last-known address (or to an email address the landlord has actual notice of, or by secured electronic transfer with the tenant’s consent).", "value": { "required": false, "mustBeWritten": false, "suspendsObligation": false, "forfeitsRightIfNotProvided": false }, "citation": "C.R.S. § 38-12-103(1)(a), (10)", "sourceUrl": "https://olls.info/crs/crs2026-title-38.htm", "derivation": "synthesized", "sourceType": "codified", "effectiveDate": "2026-01-01", "lastVerified": "2026-09-05", "confidence": "high", "notes": "A tenant never loses the deposit merely for failing to give a forwarding address. The landlord is deemed to comply by sending the statement, any payment, and any required documentation to the tenant’s last-known address, so the 30-day clock is not paused by a missing address." }, "itemization": { "summary": "If the landlord keeps any part of the deposit, the landlord must give the tenant a written statement listing the exact reasons for the retention, delivered with the balance of the deposit. A full refund needs no statement.", "value": { "required": true, "mustBeWritten": true, "excusedWhen": "the landlord returns the full deposit and retains nothing" }, "citation": "C.R.S. § 38-12-103(1)(a)", "statuteQuote": "In the event that actual cause exists for retaining any portion of the security deposit, the landlord shall provide the tenant with a written statement listing the exact reasons for the retention of any portion of the security deposit.", "sourceUrl": "https://olls.info/crs/crs2026-title-38.htm", "derivation": "verbatim", "sourceType": "codified", "effectiveDate": "2026-01-01", "lastVerified": "2026-09-05", "confidence": "high", "amendedBy": "HB25-1249 (2025 Ch. 401)", "notes": "A vague statement (\"cleaning/damages\") is itself a wrongful withholding: the statute now deems a landlord to have wrongfully withheld if the statement fails to list the exact reasons (§ 103(2.5)(b)). The statement, the balance, and any documentation the tenant requested must go out together." }, "deductions": { "summary": "A landlord has actual cause to keep money from the deposit only for four things: unpaid rent, unpaid utility charges, unpaid other lawful charges listed in the lease, and necessary repair work for damage or defective conditions that exceed normal wear and tear and did not predate the tenancy. Normal wear and tear, and any preexisting damage, may never be charged.", "value": { "allowed": [ "nonpayment of rent", "nonpayment of utility charges", "nonpayment of other lawful charges listed in the lease", "necessary repair work for damage or defective conditions that exceed normal wear and tear and did not preexist the tenancy" ], "disallowed": [ "normal wear and tear", "any damage or defective condition that preexisted the tenancy", "replacing carpet throughout the unit absent substantial and irreparable damage", "repainting the whole interior absent substantial damage throughout the entire unit", "carpet not replaced with new carpet within the preceding ten years", "fees a lease clause tries to shift to the tenant for normal-wear or preexisting-condition work (void)" ], "normalWearAndTearDefinition": "\"Normal wear and tear\" means deterioration, damage, or uncleanliness that occurs, based upon the use for which a rental unit or mobile home space, as defined in section 38-12-201.5 (6.5), is intended or reasonably and typically used, without negligence, carelessness, accident, or abuse of the premises or equipment or private property by the tenant or home owner or members of the tenant’s or home owner’s household or their invitees or guests. \"Normal wear and tear\" does not include uncleanliness that renders a dwelling unit substantially less clean than the dwelling unit was when the lease began.", "documentationThresholdUsd": null, "photosRequiredWhenDeducting": false }, "citation": "C.R.S. § 38-12-103(1)(b); § 38-12-102(4)", "statuteQuote": "Except as provided in subsection (3.5)(a)(IV) of this section, a landlord has actual cause to retain reasonable amounts from the security deposit only for: (I) Nonpayment of rent; (II) Nonpayment of utility charges; (III) Nonpayment of other lawful charges listed in the lease; or (IV) Necessary repair work for damage or defective conditions that exceed normal wear and tear and did not preexist the tenancy.", "sourceUrl": "https://olls.info/crs/crs2026-title-38.htm", "derivation": "verbatim", "sourceType": "codified", "effectiveDate": "2026-01-01", "lastVerified": "2026-09-05", "confidence": "high", "amendedBy": "HB25-1249 (2025 Ch. 401)", "notes": "This list is EXCLUSIVE (\"only for\"). HB25-1249 removed the old \"abandonment of the premises\" and \"cleaning contracted for by the tenant\" grounds, so on our reading an early-termination or cleaning charge must now fit one of the four categories, usually \"other lawful charges listed in the lease\"; the statute does not say which. \"Normal wear and tear\" is now defined by statute and expressly includes ordinary damage and uncleanliness from typical use; it does not cover uncleanliness that leaves the unit substantially less clean than at move-in. Preexisting damage may never be charged, and a lease clause assigning normal-wear or preexisting-condition costs to the tenant is void (§ 103(7)(b))." }, "interest": { "summary": "Colorado does not require landlords to pay interest on an ordinary residential security deposit. The only Colorado city that requires it is Boulder (see the city rules). Mobile-home-park deposits are held in a separate trust account, and the landlord keeps any interest earned as compensation.", "value": { "required": false }, "citation": "C.R.S. §§ 38-12-101 to 106", "sourceUrl": "https://olls.info/crs/crs2026-title-38.htm", "derivation": "synthesized", "sourceType": "codified", "effectiveDate": "2026-01-01", "lastVerified": "2026-09-05", "confidence": "high", "notes": "No state statute requires deposit interest and none requires a separate or interest-bearing account for an ordinary residential deposit. The City of Boulder is the exception (B.R.C. ch. 12-2). Mobile-home-park deposits (§ 38-12-207) must sit in a separate trust account, but the interest there belongs to the landlord as administration compensation, not the tenant." }, "cap": { "summary": "A Colorado landlord may not require a security deposit larger than two months’ rent. That amount took effect August 7, 2023 and neither 2026 act changed it. A 2026 amendment adds one narrow exception that starts January 1, 2027 and does not reach ordinary tenancies.", "value": { "hasCap": true, "capMonths": 2 }, "citation": "C.R.S. § 38-12-102.5(1)", "statuteQuote": "Except as described in subsection (2) of this section, a landlord shall not require a tenant to submit a security deposit in an amount that exceeds the amount of two monthly rent payments under the rental agreement.", "sourceUrl": "https://olls.info/crs/crs2026-title-38.htm", "derivation": "verbatim", "sourceType": "codified", "effectiveDate": "2023-08-07", "lastVerified": "2026-09-05", "confidence": "high", "amendedBy": "SB26-054 (2026 Ch. 61)", "notes": "The cap is two months’ rent. A widely-repeated claim that HB25-1249 cut it to one month is wrong: that provision was in the introduced bill and was removed before passage. \"Rent\" is not defined for this purpose, so our reading uses the base monthly rent under the lease. SB26-054 amended this section effective August 12, 2026 to add one narrow exception, and the exception itself does not begin until January 1, 2027. From that date the cap does not apply where the landlord and tenant have executed a post-closing occupancy agreement under a purchase contract by which the landlord bought the residence from the tenant. That is a seller rent-back rather than an ordinary tenancy, so two months is the answer for a normal rental both now and after that date." }, "penalty": { "summary": "Wrongfully keeping a deposit exposes a landlord to treble the amount wrongfully withheld, plus reasonable attorney fees and court costs. But the tenant must first demand the deposit back and give at least seven days’ notice, and the treble claim only lies if the landlord fails to return the money within those seven days. A landlord who acted in good faith and followed every requirement, but is found to have reasonably kept a bit too much, owes only the excess plus court costs: no treble, no fees.", "value": { "standard": "mixed", "badFaithFlatUsd": null, "multiplier": 3, "multiplierBase": "wrongfully-withheld", "multiplierIsDiscretionaryCeiling": false, "attorneyFees": true, "attorneyFeesBasis": "tenant-only", "forfeitureForFailureToItemize": true, "deadlinePresumptionDays": null, "burdenOnLandlord": true }, "citation": "C.R.S. § 38-12-103(3)(a), (3)(c), (3.5)", "statuteQuote": "The wrongful retention of a security deposit in violation of this section renders a landlord liable for treble the amount of that portion of the security deposit wrongfully withheld from the tenant, together with reasonable attorney fees and court costs; except that the tenant shall notify the landlord of the tenant’s demand for the return of the security deposit and intention to file legal proceedings at least seven days before filing the action.", "sourceUrl": "https://olls.info/crs/crs2026-title-38.htm", "derivation": "verbatim", "sourceType": "codified", "effectiveDate": "2026-01-01", "lastVerified": "2026-09-05", "confidence": "high", "amendedBy": "HB25-1249 (2025 Ch. 401)", "notes": "HB25-1249 changed the old \"willful\" standard to \"wrongful,\" which is now defined: a landlord is deemed to have wrongfully withheld by missing the statement/documentation, giving a vague statement, missing the deadline, or keeping money in bad faith (§ 103(2.5)). Bad faith is itself defined, and keeping 125% or more of actual damages is presumed unreasonable (§ 103(3.5)(b)). Three gates protect a compliant landlord: the treble claim requires (1) a wrongful withholding, (2) the tenant’s 7-day demand-and-notice with a failure to return in that window, and (3) it is displaced by the good-faith safe harbor (§ 103(3.5)(d)). If you acted in good faith, followed the rules, and simply return the money after a demand, no treble claim lies." }, "scope": { "summary": "Part 1 governs residential security deposits, money whose primary function is to secure performance of a residential lease. A mobile home in a mobile home park has its own overlay (see the mobile-home-park rule).", "value": { "residentialOnly": true }, "citation": "C.R.S. § 38-12-102(6)", "sourceUrl": "https://olls.info/crs/crs2026-title-38.htm", "derivation": "synthesized", "sourceType": "codified", "effectiveDate": "2026-01-01", "lastVerified": "2026-09-05", "confidence": "high", "notes": "A \"security deposit\" is any advance or deposit of money, however named, whose primary function is to secure performance of a rental agreement for residential premises. A mislabeled prepaid amount held to secure performance can still be a deposit; a true final-month rent prepayment is generally not." }, "ownershipChange": { "summary": "If the landlord’s interest in the property ends (by sale, assignment, death, or a receiver) whoever holds the deposit must, within sixty days, either transfer it (less any lawful deductions) to the new owner and notify the tenant by mail of the transfer and the new owner’s name and address, or return it to the tenant. HB25-1249 replaced the old \"within a reasonable time\" with a hard 60-day deadline.", "value": { "liabilityShiftsToNewOwner": true, "transferOrReturnWithinDays": 60, "tenantNoticeByMailRequired": true }, "citation": "C.R.S. § 38-12-103(4)-(6)", "statuteQuote": "Upon cessation of a landlord’s interest in a dwelling unit, whether by sale, assignment, death, appointment of a receiver, or otherwise, the person in possession of the tenant’s security deposit, including the landlord, the landlord’s agent, or the landlord’s executor, shall, within sixty days:", "sourceUrl": "https://olls.info/crs/crs2026-title-38.htm", "derivation": "verbatim", "sourceType": "codified", "effectiveDate": "2026-01-01", "lastVerified": "2026-09-05", "confidence": "high", "amendedBy": "HB25-1249 (2025 Ch. 401)", "notes": "On a sale, the deposit follows the property: the holder transfers it to the buyer and mails the tenant notice of the transfer and the buyer’s name and address, or returns it to the tenant. Compliance releases the transferor from further liability, and the new owner steps into all of the landlord’s deposit duties." }, "depositForfeiture": { "summary": "Forfeiting the right to keep any of the deposit is not limited to a missed or defective written statement. Any failure to comply with this section, or otherwise wrongfully withholding the deposit or part of it, forfeits the landlord’s right to withhold anything at all under the section.", "value": { "forfeitsEntireDeposit": true, "goodFaithEscape": false, "curedByLateReturn": false }, "citation": "C.R.S. § 38-12-103(2)", "statuteQuote": "If a landlord fails to comply with the requirements of this section or otherwise wrongfully withholds a security deposit or any portion of a security deposit, the landlord forfeits the landlord’s rights to withhold any portion of the security deposit under this section.", "sourceUrl": "https://olls.info/crs/crs2026-title-38.htm", "derivation": "verbatim", "sourceType": "codified", "effectiveDate": "2026-01-01", "lastVerified": "2026-09-05", "confidence": "high", "amendedBy": "HB25-1249 (2025 Ch. 401)", "notes": "The pre-2026 subsection forfeited the right to withhold only for failing to provide the written statement in time. HB25-1249 widened the trigger to ANY failure to comply with the section, and added wrongful withholding as an independent trigger. Note what is absent: no bad faith is required, unlike Texas and California, where forfeiture turns on a court finding that the landlord acted in bad faith." }, "walkThrough": { "summary": "Either party may ask for a walk-through inspection before the lease ends. If the tenant requests one, the landlord must provide it, at a mutually convenient time before termination or surrender and after the tenant has had a chance to remove furniture. The inspection identifies, in writing, damage beyond normal wear and tear that did not predate the tenancy. It can be done in person or by a live video walk-through.", "value": { "eitherPartyMayRequest": true, "landlordDutyOnTenantRequest": true, "beforeTerminationOrSurrender": true, "afterFurnitureRemoval": true, "barsUndocumentedDeductions": false }, "citation": "C.R.S. § 38-12-103(1.5)", "statuteQuote": "Upon a landlord’s or tenant’s request, if reasonable and practicable, the landlord and tenant shall conduct a walk-through inspection, either in person or via a telecommunication-assisted interactive walk-through, of the dwelling unit to identify in writing any damage or defective conditions that are beyond normal wear and tear and that did not preexist the tenancy. The landlord shall provide a walk-through inspection at a tenant’s request, at a time that is mutually convenient to the parties, before the termination of the lease or the surrender of the premises, and after the tenant has had the opportunity to remove furniture.", "sourceUrl": "https://olls.info/crs/crs2026-title-38.htm", "derivation": "verbatim", "sourceType": "codified", "effectiveDate": "2026-01-01", "lastVerified": "2026-09-05", "confidence": "high", "amendedBy": "HB25-1249 (2025 Ch. 401)", "notes": "This is new in 2026. Either party may request it, but the landlord’s duty to actually provide one is triggered by the TENANT’s request. A walk-through is strongly advisable: the written record is exactly the kind of documentation the tenant can later demand, but note the statute does not say damage left undocumented at the walk-through becomes un-chargeable (that consequence was proposed and removed before passage). It does not apply to a mobile home in a mobile home park." }, "docsOnRequest": { "summary": "For a move-out on or after January 1, 2026, if the tenant makes a written request, the landlord must hand over the documentation in its possession or control that is RELEVANT to keeping the deposit (photographs, inspection forms or reports, receipts, invoices, or estimates) within fourteen days. Relevant is not the same as helpful: a move-in photo, a walk-through form showing no damage, or an estimate you did not use is still relevant, and holding it back is what the statute treats as a failure to comply.", "value": { "triggeredByWrittenRequest": true, "days": 14, "standalonePenalty": false }, "citation": "C.R.S. § 38-12-103(8)", "statuteQuote": "For a termination of a lease or a surrender of the premises on or after January 1, 2026, if a landlord provides a tenant with a written statement pursuant to subsection (1) of this section within fourteen days after a written request by the tenant, the landlord shall provide documentation in the landlord’s possession or control, including photographs, inspection forms or reports, receipts, invoices, or estimates, that is relevant to the retention of the tenant’s security deposit or any portion of the security deposit.", "sourceUrl": "https://olls.info/crs/crs2026-title-38.htm", "derivation": "verbatim", "sourceType": "codified", "effectiveDate": "2026-01-01", "lastVerified": "2026-09-05", "confidence": "high", "amendedBy": "HB25-1249 (2025 Ch. 401)", "notes": "The duty is triggered by the tenant’s WRITTEN request; without one it is not engaged. There is no standalone fine, but failing to provide the documentation is one of the ways a withholding becomes \"wrongful\" (§ 103(2.5)(a)), which opens the door to forfeiture and treble. Read the 14-day window as running from the tenant’s written request." }, "badFaithPresumption": { "summary": "If a landlord keeps 125% or more of the actual damages, the amount is presumed to be unreasonably excessive, which is one way a withholding counts as bad faith. This is a floor, not a ceiling: a court can find a smaller overcharge unreasonable too.", "value": { "thresholdPercentOfActualDamages": 125, "isFloorNotCeiling": true }, "citation": "C.R.S. § 38-12-103(3.5)(b)", "statuteQuote": "An amount retained by a landlord is presumed to unreasonably exceed the amount of actual damages the landlord incurred if the amount retained is one hundred twenty-five percent or greater than the actual damages incurred. Nothing in this subsection (3.5)(b) prevents a court or jury from finding that a lesser amount retained by a landlord unreasonably exceeds the amount of actual damages the landlord incurred.", "sourceUrl": "https://olls.info/crs/crs2026-title-38.htm", "derivation": "verbatim", "sourceType": "codified", "effectiveDate": "2026-01-01", "lastVerified": "2026-09-05", "confidence": "high", "amendedBy": "HB25-1249 (2025 Ch. 401)", "notes": "Practical takeaway: keep only what you can actually document. Retaining 25% or more above your real, provable costs is presumed unreasonable, which proves bad faith and opens the door to treble. The landlord bears the burden of proving the amount of actual damages (§ 103(3.5)(c))." }, "goodFaithSafeHarbor": { "summary": "A landlord who kept the deposit in good faith and followed every requirement, but is found in court to have reasonably kept more than the actual damages, owes the tenant only the excess amount plus court costs: no treble damages and no attorney fees.", "value": { "liabilityLimitedToExcessPlusCourtCosts": true, "noTreble": true, "noAttorneyFees": true }, "citation": "C.R.S. § 38-12-103(3.5)(d)", "statuteQuote": "If a landlord retains a security deposit or any portion of it in good faith and otherwise complies with all requirements of this section but is found in a civil action to have reasonably retained an amount that exceeded the actual damages the landlord incurred, the landlord shall be liable to the tenant only for the excess amount retained and court costs.", "sourceUrl": "https://olls.info/crs/crs2026-title-38.htm", "derivation": "verbatim", "sourceType": "codified", "effectiveDate": "2026-01-01", "lastVerified": "2026-09-05", "confidence": "high", "amendedBy": "HB25-1249 (2025 Ch. 401)", "notes": "This is the counterweight to the treble regime, and the reason the tool never tells a compliant, good-faith landlord they face treble. Court costs yes; attorney fees no; treble no. It applies only if the landlord otherwise complied with every requirement of the section." }, "preSuitNotice": { "summary": "Before a tenant can sue for treble damages, attorney fees, and court costs, the tenant must give the landlord a demand for the deposit’s return plus notice of intent to sue, at least seven days ahead. The treble claim only lies if the landlord fails to return the deposit within seven days of that demand. Return everything in time and no treble claim exists.", "value": { "days": 7, "requiresDemandForReturn": true, "requiresIntentToFile": true, "curableByReturnWithinDays": 7 }, "citation": "C.R.S. § 38-12-103(3)(c)", "statuteQuote": "A tenant may bring a court action for treble damages, reasonable attorney fees, and court costs only if the landlord fails to return the entire security deposit or any withheld portion to the tenant within seven days after receiving a demand and notice of the tenant’s intention to file legal proceedings as described in subsection (3)(a) of this section.", "sourceUrl": "https://olls.info/crs/crs2026-title-38.htm", "derivation": "verbatim", "sourceType": "codified", "effectiveDate": "2026-01-01", "lastVerified": "2026-09-05", "confidence": "high", "amendedBy": "HB25-1249 (2025 Ch. 401)", "notes": "For a landlord, this is a genuine second chance: even after a dispute, returning the entire deposit (or the withheld portion) within seven days of the tenant’s demand forecloses the treble claim. A late accounting does not cure it, only returning the money does." }, "deliveryMethods": { "summary": "The landlord may send the refund by mailing it to the tenant’s last-known address or, with the tenant’s consent, by a secured electronic transfer of funds. The statement and any documentation may also go to an email address the landlord has actual notice of. Compliance is measured by sending, not by the tenant receiving it.", "value": { "mailToLastKnownAddress": true, "emailWithActualNotice": true, "securedEftWithConsent": true, "complianceOnDispatch": true }, "citation": "C.R.S. § 38-12-103(1)(a), (10)", "statuteQuote": "A landlord may send a payment refunding a tenant’s security deposit or any portion of it as required by this section to the tenant by mailing the payment to the tenant’s last-known address or, with the tenant’s consent, by using a secured electronic transfer of funds.", "sourceUrl": "https://olls.info/crs/crs2026-title-38.htm", "derivation": "verbatim", "sourceType": "codified", "effectiveDate": "2026-01-01", "lastVerified": "2026-09-05", "confidence": "high", "amendedBy": "HB25-1249 (2025 Ch. 401)", "notes": "Mail to the last-known address is the default and works even with no forwarding address. Electronic transfer needs the tenant’s consent. Because compliance is by sending, mail or send by day 30 (you do not have to prove the tenant received it) but keep proof of what you sent and when." }, "returnedPaymentHold": { "summary": "If a mailed refund comes back undeliverable, the landlord must hold the money for at least one year and pay it to the tenant within fifteen calendar days after the tenant asks for it.", "value": { "holdYears": 1, "disburseWithinCalendarDaysOfRequest": 15 }, "citation": "C.R.S. § 38-12-103(9)", "statuteQuote": "If a landlord’s payment refunding a tenant’s security deposit or any portion of it as required by this section is returned to the landlord after it is sent to the tenant’s last-known address, the landlord shall hold the payment for at least one year after receiving it and shall disburse the payment to the tenant within fifteen calendar days after the tenant’s request.", "sourceUrl": "https://olls.info/crs/crs2026-title-38.htm", "derivation": "verbatim", "sourceType": "codified", "effectiveDate": "2026-01-01", "lastVerified": "2026-09-05", "confidence": "high", "amendedBy": "HB25-1249 (2025 Ch. 401)", "notes": "The disbursement window is fifteen CALENDAR days, not \"3 business days\" as some summaries state." }, "voidLeaseClauses": { "summary": "A lease clause that tries to charge the tenant for repairs, cleaning, or other work due to normal wear and tear, or for damage that predated the tenancy, is against public policy and void. The general anti-waiver rule also voids any clause that waives OR modifies a Part 1 protection for the tenant.", "value": { "wearAndTearShiftingVoid": true, "preexistingConditionShiftingVoid": true, "waiverOrModificationVoid": true }, "citation": "C.R.S. § 38-12-103(7)(a)-(b)", "statuteQuote": "A provision, whether oral or written, in or pertaining to a rental agreement, which provision assigns a fee or charge to a tenant for repairs, cleaning, or other necessary work due to normal wear and tear or for any damage or defective condition that preexists the tenancy, is deemed to be against public policy and void.", "sourceUrl": "https://olls.info/crs/crs2026-title-38.htm", "derivation": "verbatim", "sourceType": "codified", "effectiveDate": "2026-01-01", "lastVerified": "2026-09-05", "confidence": "high", "amendedBy": "HB25-1249 (2025 Ch. 401)", "notes": "A \"you pay for professional cleaning / repainting / carpet at move-out\" clause cannot override the deposit rules where the work is really normal wear and tear or fixes a preexisting condition. HB25-1249 also broadened the general anti-waiver to cover clauses that MODIFY (not just waive) tenant protections across all of Part 1." }, "carpetPaintLimits": { "summary": "A landlord cannot use the deposit to re-carpet the whole unit unless there is substantial AND irreparable carpet damage beyond normal wear and tear that did not predate the tenancy, and carpet cannot be deemed substantially and irreparably damaged if it was not replaced with new carpet within the last ten years. On our reading that forecloses a replacement charge but not a charge to repair the specific damage; the statute does not say so in terms. Whole-interior repainting requires substantial paint damage throughout the entire unit. The landlord may still charge to replace a damaged portion if that portion has substantial damage (paint) or substantial and irreparable damage (carpet, and on our reading only carpet replaced within the last ten years).", "value": { "carpetNeedsSubstantialAndIrreparable": true, "carpetNotReplacedWithinYears": 10, "paintNeedsSubstantialThroughout": true }, "citation": "C.R.S. § 38-12-103(11)(a)-(c)", "statuteQuote": "A landlord shall not deem carpet to be substantially and irreparably damaged if the carpet has not been replaced with new carpet within ten years preceding the termination of the lease or surrender of the premises.", "statuteQuoteCitation": "C.R.S. § 38-12-103(11)(c)", "sourceUrl": "https://olls.info/crs/crs2026-title-38.htm", "derivation": "verbatim", "sourceType": "codified", "effectiveDate": "2026-01-01", "lastVerified": "2026-09-05", "confidence": "high", "amendedBy": "HB25-1249 (2025 Ch. 401)", "notes": "Carpet: no whole-unit replacement charge unless the damage is substantial AND irreparable, and old carpet (not replaced in the last ten years) can’t be called substantially and irreparably damaged. On our reading that forecloses a replacement charge, whole-unit or portion, while a charge to repair the specific damage survives under the general repair ground; the statute does not say either in terms. Paint: no whole-interior repaint charge unless there is substantial paint damage throughout the entire unit (there is no paint-age safe harbor). These limits do not apply to a mobile home in a mobile home park." }, "mobileHomePark": { "summary": "For a mobile home in a mobile home park, the deposit rules combine: the park may charge no more than one month’s (lot) rent, the deposit stays the home owner’s property and must sit in a separate trust account with no commingling, and the § 103 return machine (30-day deadline, statement, treble) still applies, except the walk-through and carpet/paint rules do not.", "value": { "capMonths": 1, "separateTrustAccountRequired": true, "noCommingling": true, "walkThroughApplies": false, "carpetPaintApplies": false }, "citation": "C.R.S. § 38-12-207; § 38-12-103(12)", "statuteQuote": "The owner of a mobile home park or the owner’s agents may charge a security deposit in an amount not greater than one month’s rent.", "sourceUrl": "https://olls.info/crs/crs2026-title-38.htm", "derivation": "verbatim", "sourceType": "codified", "effectiveDate": "2026-01-01", "lastVerified": "2026-09-05", "confidence": "high", "notes": "A mobile home in a park is different from an ordinary rental in two ways: the cap is one month’s lot rent (not two), and the deposit must be held in a separate trust account as the home owner’s property (the landlord may keep the interest earned as compensation). Everything else: the 30-day return, the written statement, wrongful-withholding forfeiture and treble, still applies. The walk-through and carpet/paint limits do NOT apply here. A mobile home on private land (not in a park) is treated as an ordinary residential rental (two-month cap, full § 103)." }, "gasHazard": { "summary": "This track starts with the gas utility, not the tenant. It runs when service personnel from a gas provider become aware of a hazardous condition in a gas appliance, piping, or other gas equipment and notify the customer of record in writing; the tenant must then immediately notify the landlord in writing. The landlord has 72 hours from actually receiving that notice, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, to have it repaired by a professional. If the repair is not made and the building is still hazardous, the tenant may vacate, the lease becomes void, and the landlord has 72 hours after the tenant vacates to deliver the deposit plus any rent rebate. If that seventy-second hour falls on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, delivery is due by noon on the next day that is not one of those. The tenant must give a correct forwarding address, which the ordinary 30-day process does not require. Missing the deadline is deemed willful and wrongful and entitles the tenant to twice the deposit plus attorney fees.", "value": { "repairHours": 72, "tenantMayVacate": true, "deliverAfterVacateHours": 72, "deliverRollsToNoonNextBusinessDay": true, "doublePenalty": true }, "citation": "C.R.S. § 38-12-104", "statuteQuote": "If the tenant does not receive the entire security deposit or a portion of the security deposit together with a written statement listing the exact reasons for the retention of any portion of the security deposit within the time period provided for in this section, the retention of the security deposit shall be deemed willful and wrongful and, notwithstanding the provisions of section 38-12-103 (3), shall entitle the tenant to twice the amount of the security deposit and to reasonable attorney fees.", "sourceUrl": "https://olls.info/crs/crs2026-title-38.htm", "derivation": "verbatim", "sourceType": "codified", "effectiveDate": "2026-01-01", "lastVerified": "2026-09-05", "confidence": "medium", "notes": "This is a separate, faster track for a specific emergency (an unrepaired hazardous gas condition) not the ordinary 30-day deposit process. Its penalty is TWICE the deposit (not treble), and its clocks run in hours, not days." }, "petLimits": { "summary": "A landlord may charge an additional pet security deposit of no more than $300, and it must be refundable. Additional pet rent may not exceed the greater of $35 per month or 1.5% of the monthly rent. Service and assistance animals are not pets and carry no deposit or pet rent.", "value": { "depositCapUsd": 300, "depositRefundable": true, "rentCapFlatUsd": 35, "rentCapPercentOfRent": 1.5, "excludesServiceAnimals": true }, "citation": "C.R.S. § 38-12-106", "statuteQuote": "A landlord shall not demand or receive an additional security deposit of more than three hundred dollars from a prospective or current tenant as a condition of permitting the tenant’s pet animal to reside at the residential premises with the tenant, and the security deposit must be refundable to the tenant.", "sourceUrl": "https://olls.info/crs/crs2026-title-38.htm", "derivation": "verbatim", "sourceType": "codified", "effectiveDate": "2024-01-01", "lastVerified": "2026-09-05", "confidence": "high", "notes": "Our reading is that the $300 pet deposit sits on top of the two-month base cap, because § 38-12-106(1) calls it an \"additional security deposit.\" The statutes do not say so expressly: § 38-12-102(6) defines a security deposit as any deposit \"regardless of its denomination,\" so a court could read the two-month cap as covering the combined total, and no case has decided it. The cautious course is to keep base deposit plus pet deposit within two months’ rent. The pet deposit must be refundable. Pet rent is capped at the greater of $35/month or 1.5% of monthly rent (so above about $2,333/month rent the 1.5% figure controls). A service or assistance animal is not a \"pet animal,\" so no pet deposit or pet rent may be charged for it under fair-housing law." }, "cities": [ { "city": "Boulder", "citySlug": "boulder", "applies": true, "summary": "The City of Boulder requires landlords to pay simple interest on residential security deposits. The tenant owns the deposit, and the interest must be returned within one month after the later of lease termination or surrender of the premises. The City sets the rate each year, computing it as the average one-year certificate-of-deposit rate at the top three financial institutions in Boulder by market share. For a fixed-term lease the rate is the one in effect when that lease period began, and it re-sets at each renewal; for a month-to-month tenancy the lease is treated as renewed monthly, so the rate changes every January 1. The rate used for the last month also covers the 30 to 60 day window the landlord holds the deposit while reconciling. This right cannot be waived. It does not apply to a deposit paid to a mobile home park for a mobile home space.", "interest": { "required": true, "mode": "boulder-simple", "annualRates": [ { "year": 2004, "ratePercent": 1.08 }, { "year": 2005, "ratePercent": 1.85 }, { "year": 2006, "ratePercent": 3.01 }, { "year": 2007, "ratePercent": 3.89 }, { "year": 2008, "ratePercent": 3.69 }, { "year": 2009, "ratePercent": 1.88 }, { "year": 2010, "ratePercent": 0.43 }, { "year": 2011, "ratePercent": 0.35 }, { "year": 2012, "ratePercent": 0.3 }, { "year": 2013, "ratePercent": 0.25 }, { "year": 2014, "ratePercent": 0.17 }, { "year": 2015, "ratePercent": 0.16 }, { "year": 2016, "ratePercent": 0.16 }, { "year": 2017, "ratePercent": 0.16 }, { "year": 2018, "ratePercent": 0.16 }, { "year": 2019, "ratePercent": 0.75 }, { "year": 2020, "ratePercent": 0.39 }, { "year": 2021, "ratePercent": 0.07 }, { "year": 2022, "ratePercent": 0.06 }, { "year": 2023, "ratePercent": 2 }, { "year": 2024, "ratePercent": 2.33 }, { "year": 2025, "ratePercent": 2.92 }, { "year": 2026, "ratePercent": 2.08 } ] }, "checkedFor": [ "interest" ], "citation": "Boulder Rev. Code §§ 12-2-5 to 12-2-8", "sourceUrl": "https://bouldercolorado.gov/city-boulder-interest-security-deposits-calculation-formula", "lastVerified": "2026-09-05", "confidence": "high", "notes": "Interest is owed on all refundable deposits, including pet deposits, but not on last month’s rent held by the landlord (the City states the pet-deposit example on its calculation page; the code reaches it through the § 12-2-2 definition covering any deposit \"regardless of its denomination\" whose primary function is to secure performance). Accrued interest must be returned within one month after the later of lease termination or surrender and acceptance of the premises (§ 12-2-6(a)). There is no minimum holding period, but the City’s published rate history starts December 5, 1985. The penalty is for the “willful and wrongful retention” of interest (B.R.C. § 12-2-6(c), read verbatim from the City’s codification, Supp. 167): $100 or treble the amount retained, whichever is greater, plus reasonable attorney fees and court costs, and the tenant must give notice of intent to file suit at least seven days before filing. The standard is conjunctive, willful AND wrongful, so an arithmetic slip corrected on notice is not the conduct it targets. Under § 12-2-6(d) the person holding the deposit bears the burden of proving the retention was not wrongful. Leases entered into before March 19, 2004 earn a flat 5.5% simple interest under § 12-2-7(d); this tool does not compute that band yet. A landlord may withhold interest only for the same reasons they may lawfully withhold from the deposit itself. The right cannot be waived by any lease provision (§ 12-2-8, \"Waiver Void\"). Section 12-2-6(f) exempts a deposit paid to a mobile home park for a mobile home space, which is why this engine suppresses interest for that case. The City prepared its calculation under Ordinance 7320 (adopted February 17, 2004). Chapter 12-2 has not been amended since 2021 (Municode codified through Ord. 8748, effective May 16, 2026), so the live risk here is the annual RATE, not the ordinance text: a stale rate produces a wrong number, so the table is re-verified against the City’s rate page. The 2027 rate is calculated on December 15 and publishes around then." } ], "localLaw": { "preempted": false, "summary": "Colorado requires no deposit interest statewide, and the City of Boulder is the one Colorado city we found that does require it, by its own ordinance. We also checked Denver, Fort Collins, Aurora, Colorado Springs, Lakewood, Longmont and Aspen and found no deposit-interest rule in any of them. That sweep asked about interest, so it does not rule out a city rule of another kind elsewhere in the state.", "lastVerified": "2026-09-06" }, "sources": [ { "label": "Colorado Revised Statutes, Title 38 (2026 edition), Office of Legislative Legal Services: the official codification of §§ 38-12-101 to 106 and § 38-12-207, current through the 2026 Second Regular Session", "url": "https://olls.info/crs/crs2026-title-38.htm" }, { "label": "HB25-1249 (2025 Ch. 401), Final Act: the Jan. 1, 2026 rewrite of §§ 38-12-102(4), 38-12-103", "url": "https://leg.colorado.gov/bill_files/84524/download" }, { "label": "SB26-054 (2026 Ch. 61), Final Act: the Aug. 12, 2026 amendment of § 38-12-102.5 (post-closing occupancy exception from Jan. 1, 2027)", "url": "https://leg.colorado.gov/bill_files/114163/download" }, { "label": "Colorado Revised Statutes, Title 2 (2026 edition): § 2-4-108 (Computation of time). § 24-11-101 (Legal holidays) is in Title 24 of the same edition", "url": "https://olls.info/crs/crs2026-title-02.htm" }, { "label": "2026 CRS Titles for Download (leg.colorado.gov), the index page the two files above are published from", "url": "https://leg.colorado.gov/agencies/office-legislative-legal-services/2026-crs-titles-download" }, { "label": "City of Boulder: Interest on Security Deposits Calculation Formula (B.R.C. ch. 12-2, Ord. 7320)", "url": "https://bouldercolorado.gov/city-boulder-interest-security-deposits-calculation-formula" }, { "label": "People v. Shell, 148 P.3d 162 (Colo. 2006): the Colorado unauthorized-practice-of-law standard" } ], "pendingLegislation": [ { "label": "SB26-054 (2026 Ch. 61), C.R.S. § 38-12-102.5(2)", "url": "https://leg.colorado.gov/bill_files/114163/download", "status": "enacted-not-in-force", "effectiveDate": "2027-01-01", "note": "The two-month deposit cap will stop applying in one narrow case: a landlord who bought the home from the tenant and lets the tenant stay on under a post-closing occupancy agreement. Every other Colorado tenancy keeps the cap.", "lastVerified": "2026-09-05" } ] } }