Before a Colorado landlord can file to evict you, they have to hand you a written eviction notice on the correct state form, wait out a specific number of days, and — for most tenancies since April 2024 — have a legally recognized reason for ending the tenancy. A Colorado eviction notice is not a single document. It is one of three standardized forms published by the Colorado Judicial Branch, and the form, the waiting period, and the delivery method all depend on why the landlord wants you out.
The Three Notice Forms Colorado Uses
Colorado funnels nearly every residential eviction through one of three forms. Picking the wrong one is one of the fastest ways a landlord derails their own case.1Colorado Judicial Branch. Residential Evictions
JDF 99A — Demand for Compliance. This is the notice used for unpaid rent, a material lease violation, or disturbing conduct. It gives you a chance to cure the problem — pay the overdue rent or correct the violation — within the notice period, which stops the eviction.
JDF 99B — Notice to Terminate Tenancy. This one ends the tenancy outright. It is used for repeat lease violations, substantial violations involving criminal behavior, or to end a tenancy that is exempt from Colorado’s cause-for-eviction rules. There is no opportunity to cure.2Colorado Judicial Branch. JDF 99B – Notice to Terminate Tenancy
JDF 99C — Notice of No-Fault Eviction. This applies when the cause-for-eviction law covers your tenancy and the landlord is pursuing a no-fault ground such as demolition, substantial renovation, a landlord move-in, or sale of the property.3Colorado Judicial Branch. JDF 99C – Notice of No-Fault Eviction
Older county court templates sometimes still reference JDF 97 or an unmodified JDF 99. The current statewide forms are the 99A, 99B, and 99C series, and using an outdated form risks rejection.
How Many Days You Get
Colorado starts counting the day after the notice is served, not the day of service itself. The length depends on the form and the underlying reason.
Demand for Compliance (JDF 99A): Usually 10 Days
For unpaid rent or a material lease violation, the standard notice period is 10 days. Paying the amount owed or correcting the violation within that window stops the eviction.4Justia. Colorado Code 13-40-104 – Unlawful Detention Defined – Definitions
A narrower 5-day period applies only to what Colorado calls an “exempt residential agreement”: a single-family home rented from a landlord who owns five or fewer single-family rentals and whose lease specifically states the shortened timeline applies. If the lease doesn’t contain that notice, the standard 10 days controls even if the landlord otherwise qualifies.
Notice to Terminate Tenancy (JDF 99B): Scales With Tenancy Length
When the tenancy is being ended outright, the notice period depends on how long you’ve lived there:5Colorado Judicial Branch. Understanding the Eviction Process
- 1 year or more: 91 days
- 6 months to less than 1 year: 28 days
- 1 month to less than 6 months: 21 days
- 1 week to less than 1 month: 3 days
- Less than 1 week: 1 day
For a substantial violation — criminal activity that endangers people or property, or violent and drug-related felonies on or near the premises — the notice period is always 3 days, no matter how long you’ve been there.6Justia. Colorado Code 13-40-107.5 – Termination of Tenancy for Substantial Violation
Notice of No-Fault Eviction (JDF 99C): 90 Days
When the cause-for-eviction law protects the tenancy and the landlord is pursuing a no-fault ground, you must receive at least 90 days’ notice before the landlord can proceed to court. The minimum drops to 45 days if the landlord or the landlord’s spouse is on active military duty.5Colorado Judicial Branch. Understanding the Eviction Process
Colorado Now Requires Cause for Most Evictions
Since April 19, 2024, HB24-1098 has prohibited landlords from evicting most residential tenants without a legally recognized reason. A landlord who tries to evict without valid cause gives the tenant an affirmative defense in court.7Colorado General Assembly. HB24-1098 Cause Required for Eviction of Residential Tenant
Valid cause falls into three buckets. Unlawful detention covers nonpayment, material lease violations, and holdover situations. Nuisance or negligent damage covers conduct that interferes with other tenants’ quiet enjoyment or harms the property. And a defined set of no-fault grounds — demolishing or converting the property, substantial renovations, the landlord or a family member moving in, withdrawing the property to sell it, a tenant’s refusal to sign a new lease with reasonable terms, or a documented history of late payments — require the 99C notice described above.
Not every tenancy is covered. The cause requirement does not apply if you’ve lived in the unit less than a year, if your housing is tied to employment, if the arrangement is a short-term rental, or if the landlord lives in the same single-family home, duplex, or triplex. For those exempt tenancies, a landlord can use the 99B Notice to Terminate Tenancy without stating a no-fault reason.3Colorado Judicial Branch. JDF 99C – Notice of No-Fault Eviction
How the Notice Has to Be Delivered
A correct notice served the wrong way is still a bad notice. Colorado recognizes three methods of service.8Justia. Colorado Code 13-40-108 – Service of Notice to Vacate or Demand
Personal hand delivery to any known tenant occupying the property is the cleanest method. Alternatively, the notice can be left with a member of the tenant’s family who is above the age of 15 and who lives at or is in charge of the premises.
Posting on the property is also allowed, but only after the landlord has attempted personal service on at least two separate days and found no one present. Skipping those two prior attempts and jumping straight to a posted notice is a frequent mistake, and it can void service entirely. If a landlord taped a notice to your door without first trying to deliver it in person on two different days, that’s worth raising.
What Happens After the Notice Period Ends
If the notice period runs out and you haven’t cured the violation or moved, the landlord can file a forcible entry and detainer action in county court. The filing uses JDF 101 (the Eviction Complaint) and JDF 102 (the Eviction Summons), along with a copy of the notice that was served.1Colorado Judicial Branch. Residential Evictions There is no filing fee for an eviction case in Colorado.9Colorado Judicial Branch. List of Fees
The court sets a hearing between 7 and 14 days out, and you must be served with the summons and complaint at least 7 days before that date.10Justia. Colorado Code 13-40-111 – Summons
Before filing, the landlord has to address a mediation requirement. If the tenant receives Supplemental Security Income, Social Security Disability Insurance, or Colorado Works cash assistance, and disclosed that in response to a written inquiry, the landlord must participate in mandatory mediation before the court will accept the complaint. The requirement does not apply if the tenant never disclosed benefits, if the landlord is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that already offers mediation, or if the landlord owns five or fewer single-family rentals totaling no more than five units.11Justia. Colorado Code 13-40-110 – Action – How Commenced – Report
Only after a court judgment and a writ of restitution can the sheriff physically remove a tenant. A landlord who changes locks, cuts off utilities, or hauls out belongings without that writ is committing an illegal lockout.12Justia. Colorado Code 13-40-115 – Judgment
Common Ways a Bad Notice Gets Defeated
Because the notice is the gateway to the whole case, defects in it are among the most effective tenant defenses. The Colorado Judicial Branch publishes a standardized answer form listing the common ones.13Colorado Judicial Branch. Eviction Answer and Defenses
For a nonpayment case, a tenant can argue the amount claimed is wrong, that they tried to pay the full amount during the cure period and the landlord refused, that the required 10-day (or 5-day) notice period wasn’t given, or that late fees in the demand are illegal or unenforceable. A warranty of habitability defense — that the unit has conditions making it unsafe or unlivable — requires depositing the full rent owed with the court at the time of filing the answer, or the defense defaults.
For a lease violation case, a tenant can deny the violation happened, show that the conduct resulted from domestic violence documented in a police report or protection order, or ask for a reasonable accommodation if they have a disability. For substantial violation cases, a tenant can argue that neither they nor their guests committed the act, or that they had no knowledge of a guest’s criminal activity and immediately notified law enforcement.
One trap worth knowing: accepting a partial rent payment after serving a Demand for Compliance can waive the right to proceed with the eviction. Colorado courts have treated acceptance of rent with knowledge of a violation as inconsistent with an intent to terminate. A landlord who takes money during the notice period may have handed the tenant a defense.
Retaliation is also a defense. Colorado prohibits a landlord from filing or threatening an eviction (or raising rent, cutting services, or imposing new fees) in response to protected tenant activity like making a good-faith habitability complaint, joining a tenants’ association, or exercising rights under the warranty of habitability statute. The tenant doesn’t have to show retaliation was the only motive — a motivating factor is enough.14Justia. Colorado Code 38-12-509 – Prohibition Against Retaliation
If you’ve received a notice, the first things to check are whether the form matches the reason given, whether the full number of days has actually run, whether service was done correctly, and — if a no-fault ground is being used — whether the cause-for-eviction law applies to your tenancy. A problem with any one of those can be enough to defeat the case before it starts.