CRS 13-40-107: Colorado Notice to Terminate Tenancy

In Colorado, the notice to terminate tenancy under CRS 13-40-107 must be in writing, signed, describe the property, state the exact date the tenancy ends, and be delivered far enough in advance to meet a minimum that ranges from 1 day to 91 days depending on how long the tenancy period is. One important change: since 2024, most residential landlords can no longer use this statute to end a tenancy without a qualifying reason. Tenants can still use it to end any tenancy on any property.

How Much Notice You Have to Give

The required minimum is tied to the length of the tenancy period, measured from the end of the current rental period or fixed term backward:¹

Tenancy of one year or longer: at least 91 days
Six months to less than one year: at least 28 days
One month to less than six months: at least 21 days
One week to less than one month, or a tenancy at will: at least 3 days
Less than one week: at least 1 day

These are floors. The notice also has to expire at the end of the applicable rental period, not partway through it. If rent is due on the first and you serve a 21-day notice on September 15 for a month-to-month tenancy, the termination date cannot land on October 6; the earliest valid end date is October 31. Miscounting here does more than push the date back. It can void the notice and send you back to the start.

Tenants with a fixed-term lease that already ends on a specific date by agreement do not have to give any written notice at all. Subsection (4) of the statute says so explicitly.¹

How the Tenancy Length Is Measured

The tier is set by the length of the recurring tenancy period, not the total time the tenant has lived in the unit. Someone who has rented month-to-month for six years is still in a month-to-month tenancy for notice purposes and falls into the 21-day category, not the 91-day one. The simplest marker is the rent cycle: weekly rent means a weekly tenancy, monthly rent means a monthly tenancy.

Fixed-term leases that run out without renewal usually convert into a periodic tenancy, typically month-to-month, unless a new written agreement says otherwise. From that point, the notice minimum follows the new periodic interval. Tenancies at will sit in their own slot and always require at least 3 days’ notice, no matter how long the arrangement has existed.¹

What the Notice Must Say

CRS 13-40-107(3) sets two content requirements. The notice has to describe the property and state the exact calendar date the tenancy will end, and it has to be signed by the person giving it, whether that is the landlord, the tenant, or an agent or attorney.¹ Missing either element gives the other side a defense.

In practice, include the full street address and unit number, the names of the parties, and a clear statement that the tenancy is being terminated. The Colorado Judicial Branch publishes a standard form, JDF 99 B (Notice to Terminate Tenancy), on its residential evictions self-help page.² Verbal notice does not count.

How to Deliver the Notice

CRS 13-40-108 allows three methods, and the order matters:³

Hand a copy directly to the tenant or other occupant.
Leave a copy with a member of the tenant’s family who is over 15 and lives on or is in charge of the premises.
Post the notice conspicuously on the property, but only after attempting personal service on at least two separate days with no one present.

Posting is a last resort. Skipping the two personal-service attempts creates a service defect that can sink an eviction case months later. After serving by any method, complete a proof of service documenting the date, time, and method. The Judicial Branch form for that is JDF 98.²

When a Residential Landlord Cannot Use This Statute at All

This is the 2024 change many landlords have not caught up with. Under subsection (1), a landlord can serve a no-cause notice under CRS 13-40-107 only if the property is nonresidential or falls into one of the exempt residential categories listed in CRS 38-12-1302.¹ The exempt residential categories are:⁴

Short-term rentals.
Owner-occupied small properties, meaning a single-family home (with or without an ADU), a duplex, or a triplex where the owner or master tenant lives on site or on an adjacent property used as their primary residence. Buildings of four or more units do not qualify.
Employer-provided housing.
A residential tenant who has occupied the premises for less than 12 months.
A residential tenant whose occupancy the landlord does not know about.

If the rental does not fit one of those, the landlord must proceed under CRS 38-12-1303, which requires a qualifying reason to end the tenancy. Qualifying grounds include nonpayment of rent, a substantial lease violation, a material violation (with notice and opportunity to cure), repeat violations after a prior written warning, and nuisance or property damage. There are also narrow no-fault grounds, such as demolition or conversion, substantial renovation, the landlord or a family member moving in, withdrawal from the rental market for sale, or the tenant’s refusal to sign a new lease with reasonable terms.⁵ Serving a bare no-cause notice on a tenant covered by the just-cause rule gives the tenant a defense that will defeat the eviction.

Tenants are not subject to this limitation. The statute lets a tenant of “any property or premises” terminate a periodic tenancy or decline to renew a fixed term using CRS 13-40-107.¹

What Happens After the Notice Period Ends

A notice to terminate ends the legal tenancy. It does not physically remove anyone. If the occupant leaves by the stated date, the matter is finished. If they stay, they become a holdover, and the next step is a forcible entry and detainer action in county court under CRS 13-40-104.⁶

A landlord cannot skip court and change the locks, cut utilities, or move the tenant’s property out. Self-help evictions are illegal in Colorado even after the notice period has expired.

Mistakes That Void the Notice

A few errors account for most failed terminations. Serving a no-cause notice on a residential tenant who is covered by just-cause is now the most common one, and it is fatal. After that, timing errors lead the list: calculating the notice forward from the date of service rather than backward from the end of a rental period, so the stated termination date lands mid-cycle. Forgetting to sign the notice, giving verbal rather than written notice, and posting on the door without first attempting personal service on two separate days all give the tenant a clean defense in court. Using the Judicial Branch form, double-checking the math against the rent cycle, and keeping a dated proof of service prevent most of those outcomes.

Servicemember Exception

Under 50 U.S.C. § 3955, an active-duty servicemember who receives qualifying military orders, such as a permanent change of station or a deployment of 90 days or more, can terminate a residential lease regardless of the lease term or Colorado’s notice minimums.⁷ The servicemember delivers written notice with a copy of the orders by hand, private carrier, or certified mail with return receipt. For a lease with monthly rent, termination takes effect 30 days after the next rent payment is due following delivery. The landlord cannot charge an early termination fee and must refund prepaid rent for any period after the effective date within 30 days.

1
Justia Law. Colorado Revised Statutes Section 13-40-107 (2024)
2
Colorado Judicial Branch. Residential Evictions
3
Justia Law. Colorado Revised Statutes Section 13-40-108 (2024)
4
Justia Law. Colorado Revised Statutes Section 38-12-1302 (2024)
5
Justia Law. Colorado Revised Statutes Section 38-12-1303 (2024)
6
Justia Law. Colorado Revised Statutes Section 13-40-104 (2024)
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3955 – Termination of Residential or Motor Vehicle Leases