A holdover tenant in Colorado is one who stays in a rental unit after the lease term ends. Since April 19, 2024, a landlord in most residential settings cannot evict that tenant just because the lease expired. State law now requires a recognized reason, called “just cause,” before the eviction can proceed. The tenant, meanwhile, keeps the standard notice, hearing, and post-judgment protections that apply to any Colorado eviction, and picks up a few defenses that are specific to the holdover situation.
Just Cause Is Now Required for Most Rentals
HB 24-1098 took effect on April 19, 2024. It requires a landlord to have one of three recognized grounds before evicting a residential tenant, even one whose lease has ended.1Colorado General Assembly. HB24-1098 Cause Required for Eviction of Residential Tenant The grounds are unlawful detention under the amended statute, nuisance or negligent property damage, or a listed “no-fault” reason.
For a holdover, the relevant no-fault ground is usually that the tenant refused to sign a new lease with reasonable terms. Other no-fault grounds include demolition or substantial renovation, the landlord or a family member moving into the unit, withdrawal of the property from the rental market for sale, and a documented pattern of late rent payments.
The practical consequence is significant. A landlord who simply lets the lease run out, offers no renewal, and then files to evict will lose in most residential cases. To create a valid holdover eviction, the landlord generally has to offer a renewal on reasonable terms first. If the tenant refuses, that refusal is the cause. If the tenant is willing to stay on similar terms, the landlord needs one of the other grounds.
Which Properties Are Exempt
Some rentals fall outside the just cause requirement. On these properties, an expired lease plus proper notice is still enough.2Justia. Colorado Code 13-40-104 – Unlawful Detention Defined The exempt categories are:
- Short-term rentals.
- Owner-occupied single-family homes, duplexes, or triplexes where the landlord’s primary residence is on the property or on an adjacent property.
- Employer-provided housing.
- Tenancies that have lasted less than 12 months at the time of move-out.
Everything else, meaning most apartments and larger rental properties, is subject to just cause.
Notice Periods by Length of Tenancy
Before filing anything in court, the landlord has to deliver a written notice to quit. The required lead time depends on how long the tenancy lasted, not on the calendar length of the original lease:3Justia. Colorado Code 13-40-107 – Notice to Quit
- One year or longer: 91 days.
- Six months to less than one year: 28 days.
- One month to less than six months: 21 days.
- One week to less than one month, or a tenancy at will: 3 days.
- Less than one week: 1 day.
A month-to-month arrangement falls in the 21-day tier. If the original lease specified an end date, no separate notice to quit is required under that provision, but the just cause rule still applies in non-exempt properties.
A shorter, three-day notice is available when the tenant commits a “substantial violation”: conduct on or near the premises that endangers people or property, involves a violent or drug-related felony, or involves a criminal act carrying a potential sentence of 180 days or more that has been declared a public nuisance.
Filing and Serving the Eviction Case
If the tenant does not leave after the notice expires, the landlord files a Forcible Entry and Detainer (FED) case in county court. Colorado charges no filing fee for eviction cases.4Colorado Judicial Branch. List of Fees
The summons, complaint, and answer form have to reach the tenant at least seven days before the first hearing. Two service methods are recognized:5Judicial Legal Help Center. Landlord’s Options for Serving an Eviction
- Personal service by someone 18 or older who is not a party. Personal service is required if the landlord wants a money judgment for unpaid rent or damages along with possession.
- Posting on the property plus first-class mail, available only after diligent efforts at personal service have failed. The mailed copy has to go out the same day or the next business day after filing.
Certified mail is not a recognized method for FED papers. Skipping straight to posting without a real attempt at personal service can get the case dismissed.
What Happens at the Hearing
At the FED hearing, the landlord has to prove that the tenant stayed past the tenancy’s end and that all notice requirements were met. In a non-exempt property, the landlord also has to show a recognized ground for eviction, typically that the tenant refused a reasonable new lease or that a no-fault ground applies.1Colorado General Assembly. HB24-1098 Cause Required for Eviction of Residential Tenant In an exempt property, showing lease expiration and proper notice is enough.2Justia. Colorado Code 13-40-104 – Unlawful Detention Defined
If the landlord wins, the court enters a judgment for possession and the process moves to enforcement.
The Post-Judgment Timeline
Winning does not mean the tenant leaves that day. The court cannot issue a Writ of Restitution, the order that authorizes physical removal, until at least 48 hours after judgment.6Justia. Colorado Code 13-40-122 – Writ of Restitution After Judgment
For residential tenancies, the sheriff then cannot execute the writ until at least 10 days after the judgment date. That waiting period stretches to 30 days if the tenant receives Supplemental Security Income, Social Security Disability, cash assistance through the Colorado Works program, or is a victim of domestic violence or stalking.7Colorado Judicial Branch. JDF 109 – Writ of Restitution Two narrow exceptions allow faster execution: substantial-violation cases, and landlords who own five or fewer single-family rental homes with no more than five total rental units.6Justia. Colorado Code 13-40-122 – Writ of Restitution After Judgment
Once the waiting period ends, the county sheriff carries out the writ during daytime hours and removes the tenant and their belongings.
Money the Landlord Can Recover
The landlord can pursue holdover-period compensation in the eviction case itself if personal service was accomplished, or in a separate civil claim.
Many leases set a holdover rent rate, often around 150% of the regular amount, and Colorado courts generally enforce those clauses when the number reasonably estimates the landlord’s damages rather than functioning as a penalty. Without a holdover clause, the landlord can claim fair market rental value. Additional damages can include lost income from a replacement tenant who could not move in on schedule, re-advertising costs, and re-leasing expenses.
After the tenant is out, the landlord can apply the security deposit to unpaid rent and to property damage beyond normal wear and tear. Whatever remains, along with a written itemization, has to be returned within one month of the tenancy ending, or up to 60 days if the lease sets that longer period.8Justia. Colorado Code 38-12-103 – Return of Security Deposit If damages exceed the deposit, a separate civil claim can cover the difference.
Defenses a Holdover Tenant Can Raise
Several defenses can defeat or delay a holdover eviction, and the strongest usually attack the landlord’s procedural compliance.
Improper Notice or No Just Cause
Wrong notice length, wrong delivery, or notice that never arrived is often enough to end the case. A tenant in a non-exempt property can also argue that the landlord never established a valid ground, for example by failing to offer a renewal before treating the tenancy as a holdover.
Rent Accepted After the Lease Ended
If the landlord accepted rent after the lease expired, the tenant can argue that a new month-to-month tenancy was created. When a court agrees, the landlord has to start over with a fresh 21-day notice and, in a non-exempt property, show just cause before refiling.3Justia. Colorado Code 13-40-107 – Notice to Quit
Retaliation
Colorado prohibits eviction in retaliation for reporting health or safety problems or for joining a tenants’ association. A tenant who proves retaliation can recover up to three months’ rent or three times actual damages, plus attorney fees.
Uninhabitable Conditions
If the property lacked working heat, running water, functional plumbing, secure locks, or met other conditions the warranty of habitability statute identifies as making a home unfit to live in, the tenant can raise habitability as a defense to the eviction.
Disability Accommodation
Under the federal Fair Housing Act, a tenant with a disability can request extra time to vacate as a reasonable accommodation. The request has to be connected to the disability, and the landlord can deny it only if granting it would create an undue burden.
Belongings Left Behind
When the sheriff carries out a writ of restitution, any property left in the unit is considered abandoned under Colorado law. No further notice to the tenant is required, and the landlord can dispose of the items immediately.6Justia. Colorado Code 13-40-122 – Writ of Restitution After Judgment If the landlord chooses to store rather than discard the belongings, reasonable storage costs can be charged to the tenant.
Different rules apply when the tenant leaves voluntarily but leaves items behind. The landlord has to send written notice by certified mail to the tenant’s last known address describing the property and giving the tenant 15 days to retrieve it. Only after that window closes can the landlord sell, donate, or throw out the items. If the tenant cannot be located, publication in a local newspaper can substitute for mailed notice.
Federal Rules That Can Change the Timeline
Two federal laws can override or pause the state process.
The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act protects active-duty military and their dependents. When monthly rent falls below an annually adjusted threshold (indexed from a base of $2,400 set in 2003), a landlord cannot evict without a court order, and the court can stay the eviction for the rest of active duty plus up to 90 days if military service materially affects the servicemember’s ability to pay rent.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3951 – Evictions and Distress
A tenant’s bankruptcy filing triggers an automatic stay that can halt eviction proceedings in some circumstances.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 362 – Automatic Stay The stay is not permanent, and a landlord who already holds a judgment for possession may be able to proceed under an exception, but the interaction between state eviction law and federal bankruptcy law usually calls for legal advice on both sides.