How much can a landlord charge for a security deposit in Colorado?

2 months' rent — A pet deposit is separately capped at $300, must be refundable, and pet rent is capped as well. The statute does not say whether the pet deposit counts inside the two-month limit.

How long does a landlord have to return a security deposit in Colorado?

30 days. The clock starts at termination of the lease or surrender of the premises, whichever occurs last. A lease may specify a longer period, but not one exceeding 60 days (38-12-103(1)).

What happens if a landlord does not return the deposit on time in Colorado?

Wrongful retention costs the landlord treble the amount wrongfully withheld plus attorney fees and costs, and forfeits any right to withhold at all. The treble remedy requires the tenant to first notify the landlord of the demand and of the intent to sue, and give the landlord 7 days to return the disputed amount.

Do landlords have to pay interest on security deposits in Colorado?

No — Colorado does not require interest on the security deposit to be paid to the tenant. Colorado's residential landlord-tenant law (Title 38, Article 12, Part 1) imposes no interest requirement and no escrow or separate-account requirement on standard residential deposits.

What are the security deposit rules in Colorado?

Verified October 1, 2026 All Colorado topics →

Enacted but not yet in force. This page reflects the law in force today. The following measure has been signed and takes effect on the date shown:

SB26-054 (2026) — Already CHAPTERED: on and after January 1, 2027, post-closing occupancy agreements (home-seller rent-backs) become exempt from the two-month security deposit cap of § 38-12-102.5. No other change to the cap. Status: Signed 2026-04-20; the act took effect August 12, 2026, and the exemption itself operates on and after January 1, 2027 per the amended statute's own text. The figures shown do not yet reflect it. (checked August 12, 2026).

Colorado caps security deposits at two months' rent — a rule in force since August 2023 — and a major 2025 rewrite of the return rules took effect on January 1, 2026: deposits are due back within 30 days (a lease can stretch that to 60 at most), any retention needs a written statement of the exact reasons limited to four permitted causes, and tenants can demand the landlord's photos, receipts, invoices, and estimates within 14 days.

Cited to C.R.S. 38-12-102.5 (SB23-184 official bill record) and 6 more cited sources · Verified October 1, 2026

Normal wear and tear and anything that predated the tenancy can never be charged, replacing carpet throughout the unit requires substantial and irreparable damage and repainting the whole interior requires substantial damage throughout — with carpet not replaced in the last ten years off the table entirely — and either side can insist on a move-out walk-through, in person or by video. The penalty structure has real teeth: any noncompliance forfeits the right to withhold at all, and wrongful retention (no longer just 'willful') triggers treble damages plus attorney fees after a 7-day demand, with the landlord bearing the burden of proof and a statutory presumption of bad faith when the amount kept reaches 125% of actual damages. Pet deposits are separately capped at $300 refundable with pet rent limited to the greater of $35 or 1.5% of rent, and no interest or escrow account is required. Mobile home park lots follow their own rule: a deposit of no more than one month's rent, held in a separate trust account (38-12-207).

Colorado security deposits at a glance

Maximum deposit	2 months' rent — A pet deposit is separately capped at $300, must be refundable, and pet rent is capped as well. The statute does not say whether the pet deposit counts inside the two-month limit. C.R.S. 38-12-102.5 (SB23-184): on and after August 7, 2023, a landlord may not require a security deposit exceeding the amount of two monthly rent payments under the rental agreement. Pet rent may not exceed the GREATER of $35/month or 1.5% of monthly rent (38-12-106, eff. 2024-01-01). A seller-rent-back exemption operates on and after January 1, 2027 (SB26-054; the act took effect August 12, 2026).
Return deadline	30 days
Deadline conditions	The clock starts at termination of the lease or surrender of the premises, whichever occurs last. A lease may specify a longer period, but not one exceeding 60 days (38-12-103(1)). The figure changed on 2026-01-01, when HB25-1249 replaced 'one month' with 'thirty days' and dropped the old 'surrender and acceptance' wording. Delivery of the statement, payment, and documentation to the tenant's last-known address, or to any email address the landlord has actual notice of, complies. Refunds returned undelivered must be held at least a year and paid within 15 days of the tenant's request. A tenant who moves out because a reported gas hazard was not repaired within 72 hours (not counting weekends and legal holidays) is owed the deposit within 72 hours after vacating (38-12-104(4)).
Itemization required	Yes
Itemization rules	A landlord retaining any portion must provide a written statement listing the EXACT reasons, with the balance paid alongside it. Since 2026-01-01, retention is allowed only for four causes — unpaid rent, unpaid utility charges, other unpaid lawful charges listed in the lease, and necessary repair work for damage or defective conditions exceeding normal wear and tear that did not preexist the tenancy — and supporting documentation (photos, inspection reports, receipts, invoices, estimates) in the landlord's possession or control must be provided within 14 days of the tenant's written request. Either party may request a pre-termination walk-through inspection, in person or by interactive video, where reasonable and practicable, and the landlord must provide one at the tenant's request. Normal wear and tear (now including ordinary-use damage and uncleanliness short of leaving the unit substantially less clean than at move-in) and preexisting conditions may never be charged; replacing carpet throughout the unit is chargeable only for substantial and irreparable damage beyond normal wear and tear, repainting the whole interior only for substantial damage to the paint throughout the unit, and carpet not replaced with new carpet within the ten years before the tenancy ended cannot be treated as substantially and irreparably damaged. The walk-through and the carpet and paint rules do not apply to a mobile home in a mobile home park (38-12-103(1.5), (11), (12), as amended by HB25-1249).
Separate account required	No
Interest owed to tenant	No
Account & interest rules	Colorado's residential landlord-tenant law (Title 38, Article 12, Part 1) imposes no interest requirement and no escrow or separate-account requirement on standard residential deposits. Mobile home parks, governed by Part 2, have their own rules.
Pet deposits	A pet deposit is capped by statute. $300 (section 38-12-106, subsection 1): a landlord may not require an additional security deposit of more than three hundred dollars as a condition of permitting the tenant's pet animal. The pet-deposit rule, pet rent and fees, and the assistance-animal rules are on the pets and assistance animals page.
Non-refundable fees allowed	Not addressed by statute
Penalty for violation	Wrongful retention costs the landlord treble the amount wrongfully withheld plus attorney fees and costs, and forfeits any right to withhold at all. The treble remedy requires the tenant to first notify the landlord of the demand and of the intent to sue, and give the landlord 7 days to return the disputed amount. The scheme is layered, and was tightened effective 2026-01-01 (HB25-1249): (1) failing to comply with the section or otherwise wrongfully withholding forfeits ALL rights to withhold any portion (38-12-103(2)); (2) WRONGFUL retention — the old 'willful' standard is gone — makes the landlord liable for treble the portion wrongfully withheld plus attorney fees and costs, provided the tenant notified the landlord of the demand and of the intent to sue at least 7 days before filing and the landlord failed to return the disputed amount within those 7 days (38-12-103(3)); (3) the landlord bears the burden of proving the withholding was not wrongful AND that the section was complied with; (4) retention is presumed unreasonable (bad faith) if the amount retained is 125% or more of actual damages (38-12-103(3.5)).
Tenant forwarding-address duty	None for an ordinary move-out: the landlord's delivery duty runs to the tenant's last-known address or any email address the landlord has actual notice of, and undeliverable refunds are held for the tenant for at least a year (38-12-103, as amended). The one statutory duty is narrow: a tenant who moves out because a reported gas hazard was not repaired within 72 hours must give the landlord a correct forwarding address (38-12-104(4)).

Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, Colorado Security Deposit Laws (verified October 1, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/security-deposits/colorado/" — free to cite and quote with a link (how these records are verified). Everything above is cited in the citations section below.

Generate a Colorado security-deposit return letter — free, no signup, built on the same verified Colorado law as this page.

Editable Colorado deposit kit — the deposit disposition letter, the move-in receipt with the custody and interest statements, a deposits-held register with the return deadline computed, and the rules fact sheet built on the verified Colorado rules on this page, in Word, fillable PDF and Excel.

Notes and caveats

Stale-source trap #1: 'no deposit cap' has been wrong since 2023 — Pre-2023 sources say Colorado has no deposit cap — wrong since SB23-184 took effect August 7, 2023.
Stale-source trap #2: HB25-1249 did NOT cut the cap to one month — Several 2025–2026 blogs claim HB25-1249 reduced the cap to one month's rent with mandatory installment plans. False — those provisions were in the introduced bill and were stripped by amendment. The official enrolled act touches only the 38-12-102 definitions and 38-12-103.
Older copies show the old deadline — Some older copies of section 38-12-103 still show the pre-2026 'one month' return deadline. The official 2026 Colorado Revised Statutes carry the thirty-day text.
The 2026 headlines: 'wrongful' replaces 'willful,' plus the 125% presumption — The two changes to know from the rewrite: treble damages now attach to WRONGFUL retention (the old 'willful' standard is gone), and retention is presumed to be in bad faith when the amount kept is 125% or more of actual damages.
No deductions for damage from domestic violence or abuse — A landlord may not deduct from a security deposit, or otherwise charge a victim-survivor, for damage caused by unlawful sexual behavior, stalking, domestic violence or domestic abuse the victim-survivor experienced, and may pursue only the responsible party for it (38-12-402(2)(b), as rewritten by HB25-1168; cross-referenced in 38-12-103(1)(a)).
Deposits must transfer within 60 days when the property sells — On sale of the property, deposits must now transfer to the new owner within 60 days — the old standard was only 'a reasonable time.'
Nonrefundable move-in fees do not work in Colorado — Two provisions close the door. A security deposit is any advance or deposit of money, regardless of what it is called, whose primary function is to secure performance of the rental agreement (C.R.S. 38-12-102(6)), so a charge that works as security is a refundable deposit whatever the lease names it, and the Colorado Supreme Court has held that the parties' own label does not settle the question. Separately, any nonrefundable fee taken before the tenancy begins counts as a rental application fee (C.R.S. 38-12-902(5)), and a landlord may charge one only to cover the cost of processing the application and must send back any part of it that was not spent on that, making a good-faith effort to do so within twenty calendar days after processing the application (C.R.S. 38-12-903). The pet deposit, the one add-on the deposit statute names, must itself be refundable and may not exceed $300 (C.R.S. 38-12-106(1)). In a mobile home park, any entry fee as a condition of tenancy is barred (C.R.S. 38-12-209(1)). The 2026 pricing law (HB25-1090, C.R.S. 6-1-737) requires a landlord to disclose whether an amount is refundable and bars several kinds of fees outright, but it does not make an otherwise lawful fee refundable.
Where the statute text comes from — The deposit rules are read on the official Colorado Revised Statutes as the General Assembly's Office of Legislative Legal Services publishes them, with the enacted bills on the General Assembly's site for history.

Common questions: Colorado security deposits

Each answer is the verified value from the table above, restated as a direct answer. Free to quote with a link to this page.

How much can a landlord charge for a security deposit in Colorado?: 2 months' rent — A pet deposit is separately capped at $300, must be refundable, and pet rent is capped as well. The statute does not say whether the pet deposit counts inside the two-month limit.
How long does a landlord have to return a security deposit in Colorado?: 30 days. The clock starts at termination of the lease or surrender of the premises, whichever occurs last. A lease may specify a longer period, but not one exceeding 60 days (38-12-103(1)).
What happens if a landlord does not return the deposit on time in Colorado?: Wrongful retention costs the landlord treble the amount wrongfully withheld plus attorney fees and costs, and forfeits any right to withhold at all. The treble remedy requires the tenant to first notify the landlord of the demand and of the intent to sue, and give the landlord 7 days to return the disputed amount.
Do landlords have to pay interest on security deposits in Colorado?: No — Colorado does not require interest on the security deposit to be paid to the tenant. Colorado's residential landlord-tenant law (Title 38, Article 12, Part 1) imposes no interest requirement and no escrow or separate-account requirement on standard residential deposits.
Can a landlord charge a non-refundable fee in Colorado?: Not addressed by statute.

Citations

C.R.S. 38-12-102.5 (SB23-184 official bill record) (verified 2026) Official source
C.R.S. 38-12-103, as amended by HB25-1249 (official enrolled act, eff. 2026-01-01) (verified 2026) Official source
C.R.S. 38-12-106 (HB23-1068 official bill record) (verified 2026) Official source
C.R.S. 38-12-103 (2026 Colorado Revised Statutes, Title 38 — official Office of Legislative Legal Services publication) · (1)-(3.5) (verified 2026) Official source
C.R.S. 38-12-102 (definitions; security deposit means any advance or deposit of money regardless of its denomination) · (6) (verified 2026) Official source
C.R.S. 38-12-902 (rental application fee defined to include any nonrefundable fee that precedes the onset of tenancy) · (5) (verified 2026) Official source
C.R.S. 38-12-106 (pet security deposit must be refundable) · (1) (verified 2026) Official source

How this record was verified: Direct read of the Colorado Revised Statutes in the 2026 edition published by the General Assembly's Office of Legislative Legal Services (the files for Titles 2, 6, 13 and 38 on olls.info). October 1, 2026: every section the security deposit, rent increase, late fee, entry and eviction answers rest on was read there: C.R.S. §§ 38-12-101 to 38-12-106, 38-12-204, 38-12-207, 38-12-209, 38-12-213, 38-12-222, 38-12-301, 38-12-402, 38-12-503, 38-12-510, 38-12-701, 38-12-702, 38-12-902, 38-12-903, 38-12-1004, 38-12-1301 to 38-12-1307 and 38-12-1502; 13-40-101 to 13-40-123 and 13-6-311; 6-1-737; and 2-4-108. The acts behind them were read on the General Assembly's site, among them SB23-184, HB23-1068, SB21-173, HB21-1121, SB24-094, HB25-1090, HB25-1168, HB25-1240 and HB25-1249, with SB26-054 and HB26-1196 for their January 1, 2027 operative dates. The Colorado Rules of County Court Civil Procedure and forms JDF 99 A and JDF 126 were read on the Judicial Branch's site.