Ending a tenancy: cause, notice to quit and early exits

Bottom line first. Since April 19, 2024, you generally need a legal cause to evict a residential tenant. The notice also has to be written, signed and served the right way, and the days depend on how long the tenant has lived there. Other notices are shorter, such as a three-day notice for a serious violation. Special rules protect tenants who are victims of domestic violence. Cities such as Denver and Boulder can add their own rules, so check your city and a lawyer before you serve anything. This is education, not legal advice.

The 2024 rule: you need cause

A landlord may not evict a residential tenant without cause, with certain exceptions (HB24-1098, 2024). The act took effect April 19, 2024. Cause means a legal reason. Under the act, cause exists in only three cases (HB24-1098, 2024):

1. The tenant is guilty of unlawful detention of the property, in the situations described in existing law as the act amended it (lesson 7).
2. The tenant's conduct creates a nuisance or disturbance that interferes with the quiet enjoyment of you or other tenants at the property or an immediately adjacent property, or the tenant negligently damaged the property. Quiet enjoyment means the right to use your home in peace.
3. A no-fault eviction ground exists, with certain limitations. A no-fault eviction is one that is not based on anything the tenant did wrong.

The act lists these no-fault grounds (HB24-1098, 2024):

• Demolition or conversion of the home.
• Substantial repairs or renovations to the home.
• You or a family member of yours moves in.
• Taking the home off the rental market in order to sell it.
• The tenant refuses to sign a new lease with reasonable terms.
• The tenant has a history of not paying rent.

Wanting a new tenant, or a higher rent, is not on the list. If you evict without cause, the tenant may seek relief under the existing laws on unlawful removal of a tenant, and may raise your violation as an affirmative defense (a reason that defeats your case) in the eviction case (HB24-1098, 2024).

What this course cannot tell you. The act has exceptions and extra conditions for the no-fault grounds. The official summary we read does not spell out the exceptions, the "certain limitations", any relocation pay (money paid to a tenant who must move) or any notice periods for a no-fault reason, so this course states none. Read the act's full text or ask a Colorado landlord-tenant lawyer before you rely on a no-fault reason. Cities may add rules too.

Ending a tenancy by notice to quit

A notice to quit is a written notice that a tenancy will end on a set date. A tenancy is the right to live in a home for a period. The statute text we reviewed sets the notice periods below (C.R.S. 13-40-107(1)). The 2024 act changed this section, so check the current text before you serve a notice for a no-fault reason. A tenant can end a tenancy with a written notice on these periods too.

How long the tenancy has run	Notice, at least
One year or longer	91 days
Six months up to one year	28 days
One month up to six months	21 days
One week up to one month, or a tenancy at will	3 days
Less than one week	1 day

A tenancy at will has no set end date. The notice must describe the property, give the exact time the tenancy ends, and be signed by the party giving it or that party's agent or attorney (13-40-107(2)).

No notice is needed when a lease is set to end on a date certain (13-40-107(4)). If the tenant stays after that date without your permission, they are holding over (13-40-104(1)(c)).

A notice to quit gives the tenant the days, but it does not give you the cause. Pick a cause from the list above first. Two more limits still apply. You cannot use a notice as retaliation for a repair complaint (C.R.S. 38-12-509, lesson 4), and for a tenancy with no written agreement, you may not use it mainly to raise rent while skipping the rent-increase rules (C.R.S. 38-12-701(2)(b), lesson 5). Fair housing rules also still apply (lesson 1).

How to serve the notice

Service means getting the notice to the tenant in a way the law accepts. You may (C.R.S. 13-40-108):

• Hand a copy to the tenant or another person occupying the home.
• Leave a copy with a member of the tenant's family who is above age fifteen and lives at or is in charge of the premises.
• If no one is there when you try, post a copy in a conspicuous place on the premises.

Keep a record of how, when and by whom the notice was served.

The three-day notice for a substantial violation

Every lease has an implied term that the tenant will not commit a substantial violation (C.R.S. 13-40-107.5(2)). That means acts by the tenant, or a guest, on or near the premises that endanger people or willfully and substantially endanger the landlord's or neighbors' property; a violent or drug-related felony of the kinds listed; or a serious crime in the building that carries a possible sentence of 180 days or more and has been declared a public nuisance (13-40-107.5(3)). The tenancy can end at any time on three days' written notice to quit, and the notice must describe the property, state the time the tenancy ends, and name the grounds (13-40-107.5(4)).

The landlord must prove the violation by a preponderance of the evidence, which means more likely than not (13-40-107.5(5)(a)). A tenant has a defense if they did not know of and could not reasonably have prevented a guest's violation and immediately told law enforcement (13-40-107.5(5)(b)). A landlord has no basis for possession when the violation was caused by domestic violence or abuse against the tenant, documented as the statute requires, though the landlord may still go after the person who committed it (13-40-107.5(5)(c)).

The demand notices in 13-40-104

For other violations, the statute defines "unlawful detention" and sets the demand periods (C.R.S. 13-40-104). Those demand notices, their days and the court case that follow are the subject of lesson 7. In short: ten days is the default for unpaid rent or another broken lease term, with shorter periods in special cases.

Early lease end for victims of domestic violence and similar

A residential tenant who is a victim of unlawful sexual behavior, stalking, domestic violence or domestic abuse, and who fears imminent danger for themselves or their children, can end the lease and leave (C.R.S. 38-12-402(2)). To do that the tenant must tell the landlord in writing and give evidence: a police report written within the previous 60 days, a valid protection order, or a statement from a medical professional or application assistant (for stalking, from an application assistant only) (38-12-402(2)(a.5)).

The tenant then owes one month's rent, due within 90 days after leaving. That one-month charge applies only if the landlord has experienced and documented damages of at least one month's rent from the early ending. The landlord need not return the security deposit until it is paid, and the two may offset what they owe each other (38-12-402(2)(b)).

Other duties for you as landlord: a lease may not let you end it or penalize a tenant for calling police or emergency help in these situations, and the tenant cannot waive that right (38-12-402(1)). You may not evict solely because a tenant is such a victim (38-12-402(3)). You may not share the fact that the tenant told you, or a new address they give you, without consent or a legal duty to do so (38-12-402(4)).

Example with real numbers

Priya has lived in Marcus's house for two years. Rent is $1,500. She decides to move and wants her tenancy to end on June 30, so she gives the notice herself.

1. A tenancy of one year or longer needs at least 91 days' notice.
2. Count back from June 30: 30 days in June, 31 in May and 30 in April add up to 91, so her signed notice must be served on or before March 31.
3. She writes a notice describing the house and the end date, signs it, and hands it to Marcus on March 20. That is more than 91 days before June 30, so it is enough.

Now Marcus wants to sell the house, and the home is rented. "I want to sell" is a listed no-fault ground, but it comes with conditions. Marcus does not just serve a notice. He reads the act's conditions or asks a Colorado landlord-tenant lawyer first. If he only wanted a different tenant, he would have no cause, and Priya could raise that as a defense.

Now a different tenant, Dana, who rents from Marcus at $1,500 with a $1,500 deposit. She gives Marcus written notice that she is a stalking victim afraid for her safety, with a protection order. Marcus has documented $1,500 of loss from the early move-out.

1. Dana may end the lease and vacate.
2. She owes one month's rent: $1,500, due within 90 days of leaving.
3. Marcus does not owe the $1,500 deposit back until she pays, and they may offset: the $1,500 deposit covers the $1,500 owed, so nothing more is due either way (if the deposit has no other deductions).