Colorado law gives Denver renters several defined ways to end a lease early: a strong survivor protection law updated in 2025, a right to leave when serious habitability problems go unrepaired, and federal protection for servicemembers. For other reasons, the lease and your negotiation with the landlord decide what you owe. In the city of Denver, about 171,900 of 335,400 occupied homes, or 51.2 percent, are rented, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 to 2024 American Community Survey (Homzora Denver dataset, Table B25003). The median gross rent is $1,831 a month (Homzora Denver dataset, Table B25064), and the median renter household earns $71,437 a year (Homzora Denver dataset, Table B25119), so the median rent equals about 31 percent of the median renter household’s gross income.
Homzora is a housing research publisher, not a law firm. This article explains the law in plain English and is not legal advice for your situation.
Quick answers
- Survivors: written notice plus documentation; you owe at most one month’s rent, and only if the landlord documents a loss (C.R.S. § 38-12-402).
- Unrepaired habitability problems: you may terminate with written notice of 10 to 60 days (C.R.S. § 38-12-507).
- Month to month: 21 days’ notice (C.R.S. § 13-40-107).
- Servicemembers: federal protection under the SCRA (50 U.S.C. § 3955).
Survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking
Section 38-12-402, amended in 2025, lets a tenant who is a victim survivor of unlawful sexual behavior, stalking, domestic violence, or domestic abuse, and who fears for their safety, end a lease early. A qualified third party may give the notice on the tenant’s behalf (C.R.S. § 38-12-402).
Documentation
The written notice must come with one of the following: a self attestation affidavit, a letter from a qualified third party such as a victim advocate, attorney, social worker, or medical provider, a police report from the previous 120 days, or a valid protection or restraining order. If you do not include it, you must provide it within 7 days of the landlord’s written request (C.R.S. § 38-12-402).
What you owe
You owe no more than one month’s rent, and only if the landlord documents actual economic losses within 30 days; payment is due within 90 days after you move out. You owe nothing if another tenant remains on the lease (C.R.S. § 38-12-402).
Your deposit and your privacy
The landlord may not deduct for damage caused by the abuse, and may seek that cost only from the abuser. The landlord may not disclose your status or new address, and you may change the locks if you give the landlord a key or code within 14 days, unless the landlord is the alleged abuser (C.R.S. § 38-12-402). A landlord who violates the section can owe actual damages plus the greater of three times monthly rent or $5,000, punitive damages, and attorney fees (C.R.S. § 38-12-402). The National Domestic Violence Hotline is available at 800.799.7233 (National Domestic Violence Hotline).
When the landlord will not fix serious problems
Colorado’s warranty of habitability sets repair timelines. After notice, the landlord must contact you within 24 hours and begin repairs within 24 hours for conditions that threaten life, health, or safety, and within 72 hours for other conditions. On request, the landlord must provide a comparable unit or hotel room at no cost while a serious condition is fixed (C.R.S. § 38-12-503).
If the condition is not fixed, the tenant may terminate the lease without penalty by giving written notice of at least 10 and no more than 60 days. If the same problem returns within six months after a repair, the tenant may terminate with notice given within 30 days of the recurrence (C.R.S. § 38-12-507).
A gas hazard
If a landlord fails to repair a hazardous gas condition within 72 hours, not counting weekends and holidays, the tenant may leave and the lease becomes void (C.R.S. § 38-12-104).
Servicemembers
The federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act allows servicemembers to terminate residential leases in qualifying circumstances, including permanent change of station orders and deployments of 90 days or more (50 U.S.C. § 3955).
Leaving for other reasons
A new job, a relationship change, or a home purchase is not a statutory ground to end a Colorado lease. Colorado courts have required landlords to make reasonable efforts to find a replacement tenant after a tenant defaults, as the Colorado Court of Appeals affirmed in a 2023 commercial lease case (BusinessDen report on Colorado Court of Appeals case 22CA1009). Do not rely on that alone in a residential dispute. A written agreement with your landlord is the safest exit.
- Read the lease for an early termination clause, a reletting fee, and subletting rules.
- Give written notice early and offer to help find a replacement.
- Keep the unit show ready and cooperate with showings.
- Ask in writing how the landlord is marketing the unit and at what rent.
- Get a written release before you return your keys.
A sample request
Date: 2026. To: [landlord]. Re: Lease for [address]. I need to move out on 2026, before my lease ends on 2026. I ask that you begin marketing the unit now, and I will keep it ready for showings. I can [refer a qualified applicant] [pay (amount)] in exchange for a written release from rent after 2026. My forwarding address is [address]. Sincerely, [name].
Month to month tenants
For a tenancy of one month to six months, which includes most month to month rentals, the notice period is 21 days; it is 28 days for tenancies of six months to a year and 91 days for tenancies of a year or more (C.R.S. § 13-40-107). Tenants may use these periods to end a periodic tenancy. Landlords face added limits: for most tenants who have lived in a unit for at least 12 months, Colorado’s for cause eviction law requires a listed reason to end the tenancy (C.R.S. § 38-12-1302; C.R.S. § 38-12-1303).
Protect your deposit
Ask for a walk through before you leave, and send your forwarding address in writing. The landlord must return the deposit or a written statement of deductions within 30 days after the lease ends or you surrender the unit, whichever is later, unless the lease sets a longer period of up to 60 days (C.R.S. § 38-12-103).
Denver rules every renter should know
- Written lease: since January 1, 2022, Denver requires a signed written lease before a tenant has lived in a unit for more than 30 days, with a copy to the tenant within 7 days (City and County of Denver, Eviction Help).
- Tenant Rights and Resources Notice: landlords must provide it at lease signing and with any demand for rent (City and County of Denver, Eviction Help).
- Rental license: anyone renting residential property in Denver for 30 days or more needs a residential rental license, and the license number must appear in advertisements (City and County of Denver, Residential Rental Property License).
- No lockouts: only the sheriff may carry out an eviction, and only after a court order (City and County of Denver, Eviction Help).
Key terms
- Victim survivor: the term Colorado’s lease termination law uses for the protected tenant (C.R.S. § 38-12-402).
- Qualified third party: a professional, such as a victim advocate or medical provider, who can document your situation.
- Warranty of habitability: the landlord’s duty to keep the unit fit to live in (C.R.S. § 38-12-507).
- Mitigation: reasonable efforts by the landlord to rerent and reduce losses.
Build your evidence file
Landlord and tenant disputes are usually decided by documents. Keep these together from the day you sign:
- The signed lease, every addendum, and every renewal.
- Receipts or bank records for the deposit and each rent payment.
- Dated photos and video of every room at move in and move out.
- Copies of every repair request and the landlord’s replies.
- Every notice you send or receive, with proof of delivery.
Keep copies somewhere other than your phone, such as an email to yourself, so they survive a lost device.
Before you sign your next lease
- Ask who owns and who manages the property, and get contact details in writing.
- Read the clauses on early termination, subletting, renewal, late fees, and notice before you sign.
- Confirm the deposit amount, where it will be held, and how it will be returned.
- Walk through the unit, note existing damage in writing, and keep a signed copy.
- Ask how much notice the landlord gives before a rent increase or a non renewal.
Help in Denver
Colorado Legal Services provides free civil legal help to eligible residents, including on evictions, rent increases, lockouts, security deposits, and unsafe conditions (Colorado Legal Services). The City and County of Denver pays for lawyers in eviction cases for households at or below 80 percent of area median income, runs a free eviction clinic, and lists Colorado Housing Connects, a free landlord and tenant counseling line, at 1.844.926.6632 (City and County of Denver, Eviction Help). Rent, income, and tenure figures for this guide are free to download from the Homzora Denver data library.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a police report to leave as a survivor?
No. A self attestation affidavit, a qualified third party’s letter, a recent police report, or a protection order each satisfies the requirement (C.R.S. § 38-12-402).
Can my landlord keep my whole deposit if I leave under the survivor law?
The landlord may hold the deposit until any documented one month amount is paid, but it may not deduct for damage caused by the abuse (C.R.S. § 38-12-402).
How much notice to end a month to month lease?
Twenty one days for most month to month tenancies (C.R.S. § 13-40-107).
Sources
- Homzora Denver dataset, Table B25003
- Homzora Denver dataset, Table B25064
- Homzora Denver dataset, Table B25119
- C.R.S. § 38-12-402
- C.R.S. § 38-12-507
- C.R.S. § 13-40-107
- 50 U.S.C. § 3955
- National Domestic Violence Hotline
- C.R.S. § 38-12-503
- C.R.S. § 38-12-104
- BusinessDen report on Colorado Court of Appeals case 22CA1009
- C.R.S. § 38-12-1302
- C.R.S. § 38-12-1303
- C.R.S. § 38-12-103
- City and County of Denver, Eviction Help
- City and County of Denver, Residential Rental Property License
- Colorado Legal Services
- Homzora Denver data library