Colorado Eviction Process: Notice Periods, Timeline, and Costs

C.R.S. § 13-40-104(1)(d) requires ten days' written notice demanding in the alternative payment of the rent or possession of the premises for residential tenancies. The count is calendar days: exclude the day of service, count every day after including weekends and holidays, and if the last day lands on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday the period runs to the next business day. The demand must state the exact amount due and be signed by the landlord or an authorized agent, and under C.R.S. § 13-40-106 it must be written in English, Spanish, or any other language the landlord knows or has reason to know is the tenant's primary language. Serve it personally, leave it with a household member over fifteen, or post it conspicuously after two attempts at personal service on separate days.

A curable lease violation uses the same ten-day demand for compliance or possession under C.R.S. § 13-40-104(1)(e), and the notice must identify the specific lease term violated and the cure required. A 'substantial violation' under C.R.S. § 13-40-107.5 — conduct endangering people or property, a violent or drug felony, or an on-site crime carrying 180 days or more — terminates the tenancy three days after written notice and carries no right to cure.

C.R.S. § 13-40-107(2) scales the no-cause notice to how long the tenancy has run: 91 days for a tenancy of one year or longer, 28 days for six months to a year, 21 days for one to six months, 3 days for week-to-week or at-will, and 1 day for under a week. A long-running month-to-month therefore needs 91 days, not 21. Separately, Colorado's for-cause eviction law (HB24-1098, C.R.S. §§ 38-12-1301 to 1305) bars ending a covered tenancy without statutory cause once the tenant has lived there twelve months, and each no-fault ground carries its own 90-day notice.

Forcible entry and detainer cases are filed in the county court where the property sits, or in district court if the damages claimed exceed the county court limit. Filing fees generally run about $85 to $135 depending on the county, with separate sheriff fees for service and for executing the writ of restitution.

Under C.R.S. § 13-40-111 the eviction summons commands the tenant to appear on a return date not less than seven and not more than fourteen days after the summons issues, and the answer is due on or before that appearance date. The court cannot enter a default judgment for possession before the close of business on that date, and the summons must be served at least seven days before it.

Uncontested, budget five to nine weeks: a ten-day demand, filing and service, a return date seven to fourteen days out, judgment, a writ of restitution issued about 48 hours later, and then sheriff scheduling. Mandatory pre-eviction mediation, a contested answer, a no-fault ground requiring 90 days' notice, or a defective demand notice can add months.

C.R.S. § 38-12-510 makes it unlawful to remove or exclude a tenant without court process, and it expressly counts willfully shutting off utilities or removing doors, windows, or locks as an unlawful exclusion. A landlord who does it owes the tenant actual damages plus the greater of three months' rent or $5,000, along with attorney fees and costs, and the court can order the tenant restored to possession. Cutting utilities can also draw a separate criminal tampering charge, so the only lawful route is a writ of restitution executed by the sheriff.

HB24-1098, effective April 19, 2024, added a statewide for-cause eviction requirement at C.R.S. §§ 38-12-1301 to 1305, limiting no-cause terminations and non-renewals for tenants of twelve months or more and requiring 90 days' notice for each enumerated no-fault ground. Since then, HB25-1240 (effective May 29, 2025) added a 30-day nonpayment notice and federal-notice compliance for subsidized tenants, SB25-020 (effective August 6, 2025) expanded attorney general and local enforcement, and HB25-1249 tightened security deposit rules effective January 1, 2026; the 2026 session's HB26-1106 and HB26-1047 eviction bills failed, so the core notice periods are unchanged.

The single most misreported rule in Colorado is the five-day demand. It survives, but only as an 'exempt residential agreement' under C.R.S. § 13-40-104(5)(b): the unit must be a single-family home, you must own five or fewer single-family rental homes, and the lease itself must say the ten-day period does not apply. Condos and townhomes are not single-family homes for this purpose, and if the lease is silent you get ten days, so most small landlords who think they have five days actually have ten. Colorado's for-cause law exempts owner-occupied single-family homes, duplexes, and triplexes where you live on site or adjacent, but a small off-site landlord with a few units is fully covered once a tenant hits twelve months. Pre-eviction mediation under HB23-1120 is mandatory if the tenant receives SSI, SSDI, or Colorado Works cash assistance, though landlords with five or fewer single-family rentals and no more than five total units are exempt; skipping required mediation can get your case dismissed. Denver and Boulder layer on additional local requirements.

• C.R.S. § 13-40-104
• C.R.S. § 13-40-107
• C.R.S. § 38-12-1302