Colorado Rent Increase Laws: The Landlord and Tenant Guide
No Statutory Cap · Once Per 12 Months · 60-Day Notice · Rent Control Preempted · Retaliation Limits
Colorado is a no-cap state, but that does not mean anything goes. There is no statutory percentage limit on how much a landlord may raise the rent, and Colorado Revised Statutes section 38-12-301 bars local governments from adopting one. What state law does control is the timing and the process: under Colorado Revised Statutes section 38-12-702 a landlord may raise a tenant’s rent no more than once in any twelve-month period, and under section 38-12-701 a no-written-agreement tenancy requires at least sixty days’ written notice. Layer on the mid-lease rule, the retaliation limits in section 38-12-509, and source-of-income protection, and Colorado rent-increase law becomes a discipline of process rather than price. Get the process right and your increase holds; miss a piece and a tenant can refuse it and use the defect against you.
The stakes are practical. A second increase inside twelve months, an increase served with defective notice, or one timed right after a habitability complaint is not just risky — it can be unenforceable, and it can become a defense if you later try to evict for nonpayment of the raised rent. Because Colorado’s residential rent statutes have been amended several times since 2021 and a repeal of the rent-control preemption has been attempted, treat every figure in this guide as a starting point and verify the current statute before you serve anything.
Below, a detailed overview video summarizes the Colorado framework; the sections that follow break down each piece — why there is no cap, the once-per-year frequency limit, the notice rules, when you may raise rent at all, the rent-control preemption, retaliation and fair housing, source-of-income protection, and a step-by-step landlord playbook — plus a Colorado-specific FAQ.
Colorado Rent Increase Rules at a Glance
Statewide Cap
None (no statutory limit)
Frequency
Once per 12 months (section 38-12-702)
Notice
60 days if no written lease (section 38-12-701)
Local Rent Control
Preempted (section 38-12-301)
Why Colorado Has No Rent Cap
The first thing to understand about Colorado is what it does not have. Unlike California with its Tenant Protection Act or Oregon with its statewide percentage cap, Colorado imposes no statutory limit on how much a landlord may raise the rent. There is no annual percentage, no consumer-price-index formula, and no dollar ceiling written into state law. A Colorado landlord may, in principle, raise the rent by any amount — five percent, fifteen percent, or more — provided every other rule is satisfied.
That free-market posture is reinforced from below as well as above. Below the state, Colorado Revised Statutes section 38-12-301 preempts local rent control, so no county or municipality may enact an ordinance capping rent. The result is a state where the amount of an increase is essentially unregulated, and the entire body of rent-increase law is about how and how often you raise it, not how much.
No cap does not mean no rules
The absence of a percentage ceiling is the single most misunderstood point in Colorado rent law. Landlords sometimes read “no cap” as “no restrictions” and serve a second increase within a year, or skip the notice period, or raise rent the week after a repair complaint. Each of those is independently unlawful in Colorado regardless of the dollar figure. The cap is gone; the frequency limit, the notice rule, and the retaliation rule are very much alive.
Takeaway
Colorado sets no statutory cap on the amount of a rent increase, and section 38-12-301 stops cities from setting one either. But “no cap” governs only the number — the frequency, notice, mid-lease, and retaliation rules still apply in full. Verify the current statutes before you rely on the free-market framing.
The Once-Per-12-Months Frequency Limit
Colorado’s most important rent-increase rule is not about amount at all — it is about frequency. Under Colorado Revised Statutes section 38-12-702, first enacted through HB21-1121 and refined by later amendments, a landlord may not increase the rent more than one time in any twelve-month period of consecutive occupancy by the tenant. One increase per rolling twelve months, full stop.
It Applies to Every Tenancy Type
The statute is deliberately broad. The once-in-twelve-months limit applies regardless of whether there is a written rental agreement, and regardless of whether the tenancy is a fixed tenancy, a month-to-month tenancy, or an indefinite term. A landlord cannot avoid the limit by arguing the tenant is on a handshake arrangement or by pointing to a lease that tries to reserve the right to raise rent more often. For a rolling month-to-month tenant, this is the rule that most often bites: you may adjust the rent once, then must wait a full twelve months before adjusting it again.
You cannot reset the clock by churning the tenancy
The measure is twelve months of consecutive occupancy by the tenant, not the term of any single agreement. A landlord who tries to end one tenancy and immediately re-paper it with the same tenant to justify a second increase inside a year is raising rent in a manner inconsistent with the statute. Section 38-12-701 separately warns against terminating a no-written-agreement tenancy for the primary purpose of getting around the increase rules. Wait out the full twelve months.
Takeaway
Under section 38-12-702, a Colorado landlord may raise a tenant’s rent no more than once in any twelve-month period of consecutive occupancy — fixed term, month-to-month, or indefinite, written lease or not. The limit is on frequency, not amount, and you cannot reset it by re-papering the tenancy.
Notice: How Many Days You Must Give
Even a properly-timed increase fails if you deliver it with the wrong notice. Colorado’s written-notice rule lives in Colorado Revised Statutes section 38-12-701, which was amended in 2024, and its scope is narrower than many landlords assume.
| Tenancy | Minimum written notice | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| No written agreement between landlord and tenant | At least 60 days before the increase takes effect | Colorado Revised Statutes section 38-12-701 |
| Written lease, at renewal | As the lease and renewal terms require; commonly 60 days is used as the safe default | The lease itself, plus the once-per-year limit |
| During a fixed term | No increase unless the lease contains an escalation clause | Contract law and the lease |
Section 38-12-701 is written for the tenancy in which there is no written agreement between the landlord and the tenant. For that category — a common situation on informal or long-running month-to-month arrangements — the landlord must give at least sixty days’ written notice before the increased rent takes effect. The same section bars a landlord from terminating a no-written-agreement tenancy with the primary purpose of raising the rent in a way that dodges the notice requirement. Where a written lease exists, the lease and its renewal mechanics control the notice, but the sixty-day figure has become the practical benchmark many Colorado landlords apply across the board because it is defensible and gives tenants time to plan.
What a Proper Notice Contains and How to Serve It
A defensible rent-increase notice is in writing and states, at minimum: the tenant’s name and the property address, the current rent, the new rent, the effective date, and enough information for the tenant to see that the notice period and the once-per-year limit are satisfied. A verbal announcement, a text message, or an email the tenant never agreed to accept as a delivery method is a weak record at best. Serve it by a provable method — certified mail with return receipt, personal delivery with a signed acknowledgment, or another method your lease allows — and keep a copy of both the notice and the proof of delivery.
Longer periods can override the minimum
Section 38-12-701 sets a floor, not a ceiling. If a lease, a recorded regulatory agreement, or a state or federal program rule requires a longer notice period than sixty days, the longer period controls. Subsidized and voucher tenancies frequently layer on extra notice and approval steps before an increase can take effect, so a notice that satisfies the state minimum can still fall short of a program rule.
Takeaway
On a Colorado tenancy with no written agreement, give at least sixty days’ written notice under section 38-12-701. Where a lease exists, follow the lease and treat sixty days as the safe default. Put it in writing, serve it by a provable method, and keep proof of delivery.
When You Can Raise the Rent at All
The frequency limit and the notice rule only matter once you actually have the right to raise the rent. That right depends on the tenancy.
During a Fixed-Term Lease: Generally Locked
While a fixed-term lease is running, the rent is set at the agreed amount for the whole term. You cannot raise it mid-term unless the lease itself contains an explicit escalation clause that permits the change — and even then, the change must still respect the once-per-twelve-months limit in section 38-12-702. Absent that clause, the tenant is entitled to the agreed rent through the end of the term, and a purported mid-term increase is unenforceable.
At Renewal or on a Month-to-Month Tenancy
The two ordinary windows to raise rent are at lease renewal, when a new term begins, and during a month-to-month or no-written-agreement tenancy, where a landlord may change the rent going forward by serving proper written notice. On a rolling tenancy the increase takes effect only after the full notice period runs; the tenant can accept the new rent and stay, or give proper notice and move out. In every case the once-per-year limit still governs: even at renewal, you cannot impose a second increase if you already raised this tenant’s rent within the past twelve months.
A mid-term increase without authority is void
Trying to raise rent partway through a fixed-term lease with no escalation clause does not simply fail quietly — the increase is unenforceable, and a tenant who keeps paying the original rent is in the right. Do not treat a tenant’s silence as agreement. Wait for renewal, or move to a lawful month-to-month process, before adjusting the rent.
Takeaway
You may raise rent at renewal or on a month-to-month or no-written-agreement tenancy with proper notice, but never mid-term on a fixed lease unless the lease expressly allows it — and never a second time within twelve months. The tenancy type decides whether you even have the authority.
Rent Control Is Preempted in Colorado
People sometimes assume that because there is no state cap, some Colorado city must fill the gap with a local one. Not so. Colorado Revised Statutes section 38-12-301 preempts local rent control: no county or municipality may enact any ordinance or resolution that would control rent on private residential property or a private residential housing unit. This preemption has been on the books for decades, and it is why no Colorado city — not Denver, not Boulder, not Aspen — has a rent-control or rent-stabilization program.
The 2023 Repeal Attempt Failed
The preemption has been challenged politically. In 2023, HB23-1115 sought to repeal section 38-12-301 and let local governments enact their own rent-stabilization policies. The bill passed the Colorado House but died in a Senate committee in April 2023, so the preemption survived intact. Its sponsors have signaled they may reintroduce a repeal in a future session, which is exactly why this is a point to re-verify rather than assume. As of this writing, local rent control remains preempted statewide.
What preemption means in practice
Because no local cap can exist, a Colorado landlord never has to check a city rent-stabilization ordinance the way a California landlord must check Los Angeles or San Francisco rules. The trade-off is that the state-level rules — the once-per-year limit, the notice period, and the retaliation prohibition — carry the entire weight of tenant protection, so they are enforced on their own terms. Confirm the preemption is still in force before relying on it, since a future legislature could change it.
Takeaway
Colorado preempts local rent control under section 38-12-301, so no city or county may cap rent. A 2023 repeal effort, HB23-1115, passed the House but died in the Senate, leaving the preemption in force. Re-verify the status, because repeal has been attempted and may return.
Retaliation and Fair Housing Limits
Two more limits apply on top of the frequency and notice rules, and an increase that clears those can still be unlawful if it trips either one.
A Rent Increase Cannot Be Retaliatory
Under Colorado Revised Statutes section 38-12-509, a landlord may not retaliate against a tenant — including by raising rent or decreasing services — because the tenant made a good-faith complaint about a condition that materially affects health or safety, organized or joined a tenants’ association, or exercised a legal right. If a landlord has an independent right to raise the rent and exercises it, the statute creates a rebuttable presumption that the increase was not retaliatory, and importantly that presumption cannot be rebutted by the timing alone. A tenant who nonetheless proves retaliation may recover up to three months’ rent or three times actual damages, whichever is greater, plus reasonable attorney fees and costs. The safest practice is to time increases to the ordinary schedule and document the market and cost reasons behind the number.
It Cannot Discriminate or Target a Source of Income
A rent increase also cannot be used to discriminate against a protected class under the federal Fair Housing Act and the Colorado Fair Housing Act — race, color, religion, national origin, sex, familial status, disability, and the additional classes Colorado protects. Colorado further protects source of income under HB20-1332: it is an unfair housing practice to refuse to rent to, or discriminate in the terms of a tenancy against, a person because of a lawful source of income, including a Housing Choice Voucher. You cannot raise or set rent to push out, or refuse to accommodate, a tenant because they use a voucher or other lawful assistance. The source-of-income law has some exceptions, including a limited exemption for landlords who own three or fewer rental units, so confirm how it applies to you.
Consistency is your best defense
Increases applied evenly across comparable units on a regular schedule are far easier to defend than a one-off increase aimed at a single tenant. A selectively applied hike, or one that lands right after a complaint, invites both a retaliation claim under section 38-12-509 and a fair-housing claim — even where there is no cap to violate. Because timing alone cannot rebut the non-retaliation presumption, your best protection is a documented, consistent, business-driven schedule.
Takeaway
An increase is still unlawful if it is retaliatory under section 38-12-509 (with damages up to three months’ rent or triple actual damages) or discriminatory, including targeting a lawful source of income like a Section 8 voucher under HB20-1332. Apply increases consistently, on schedule, with a documented business reason.
Tenant Rights and Remedies
Even without rent control, a Colorado tenant is not without protection. The rights below come from the statutes above, the lease, and general landlord-tenant law — and they define what a tenant can do when an increase looks wrong.
A tenant has a right to lease-term rent stability: during a fixed term the rent cannot be raised unless the lease permits it. A tenant has a right to the once-per-year limit and to proper notice: an increase that is the second within twelve months, or that skips the sixty-day notice on a no-written-agreement tenancy, is unenforceable for that period. A tenant has a right to refuse and depart: someone who will not accept an increase may give proper notice and move out at the appropriate point in the tenancy. And a tenant has a right to be free of retaliation under section 38-12-509, with the treble-damages and attorney-fee remedy described above.
Tenants: do not simply withhold rent
The riskiest tenant response to a questionable increase is to stop paying. Non-payment can trigger an eviction regardless of whether the increase was proper, and it hands the landlord the stronger position — see our guide to Colorado eviction notice laws for how a nonpayment case proceeds. The better path is to pay the disputed amount under protest if necessary while challenging the increase on the once-per-year limit, the notice defect, the mid-term bar, or the retaliation rule — or to give proper notice to vacate at the earliest appropriate date.
Takeaway
A Colorado tenant is protected by the once-per-year limit, the notice rule, the mid-term bar, and the retaliation prohibition — not by a cap. The right response to a bad increase is to challenge it on those grounds or give notice and leave, never to withhold rent, which invites eviction.
The Colorado Landlord Playbook
Put the whole framework into a repeatable sequence and a rent increase becomes routine instead of risky. Follow these steps every time.
Confirm the once-per-year clock
Before anything else, verify you have not raised this tenant’s rent within the past twelve months of consecutive occupancy. Under section 38-12-702 a second increase inside that window is unlawful no matter how small.
Confirm your authority for this tenancy
Determine whether you may raise rent now: at renewal, or on a month-to-month or no-written-agreement tenancy, never mid-term on a fixed lease without an escalation clause. The tenancy type decides whether you have the right at all.
Set a defensible number
There is no statutory cap, but pull comparable rents and document the cost drivers — property tax, insurance, maintenance. A number tied to documented market reality is far easier to defend than an aspirational one.
Serve at least a sixty-day written notice
On a no-written-agreement tenancy, section 38-12-701 requires at least sixty days. Use sixty days as the safe default elsewhere. State the current rent, new rent, and effective date in writing, and serve by a provable method.
Check the retaliation timing
Confirm the increase is not landing right after a habitability complaint, a code report, or tenant organizing. Even though timing alone cannot rebut the non-retaliation presumption, an ordinary schedule and a documented reason keep you clear of section 38-12-509.
Document everything
Keep a copy of the notice, the proof of delivery, the comparables you relied on, and a note of the business reasons behind the increase. Consistent, documented increases are the ones that hold up in a Colorado court.
Need the notice itself?
A ready-to-fill notice keeps the required fields in place. See our free Colorado rent increase notice form, and the Colorado lease renewal agreement form if you need a fresh renewal term or an escalation clause. Always tailor the numbers to your unit and verify current law.
Common Scenarios, Quickly Answered
✓ Usually Defensible
- Renewal increase with 60-day notice. A written notice at least sixty days before renewal, and no prior increase in the past twelve months.
- Month-to-month raise, once a year. A written sixty-day notice on a rolling tenancy that has not seen an increase in twelve months.
- Market reset at turnover. Setting a new market rent for a brand-new tenant after the prior one moves out — no cap applies to the starting rent.
- Consistent annual adjustment. The same schedule applied across comparable units with documented comparables and cost drivers.
✕ Likely Unlawful
- A second increase within a year. Any raise inside twelve months of a prior one, however small — a section 38-12-702 violation.
- Mid-term hike, no clause. Raising rent during a fixed lease with no escalation clause.
- Post-complaint increase. A raise issued soon after a repair request or code complaint — a section 38-12-509 retaliation risk.
- Verbal or under-noticed. A spoken or texted increase, or one served with fewer than the required sixty days on a no-written-agreement tenancy.
Rent Increases Go Smoother With the Right Tenant
The tenants who fight every lawful increase are often the ones who show red flags on screening. Comprehensive credit, income, and eviction-history reports catch the mismatch before you ever sign a lease.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much can a landlord raise the rent in Colorado?
Colorado has no statutory percentage cap on rent increases. There is no statewide figure like the caps in California or Oregon, and because Colorado Revised Statutes section 38-12-301 preempts local rent control, no Colorado city or county may set one either. What state law limits is not the amount but the frequency and the process: under section 38-12-702 a landlord may not increase the rent more than once in any twelve-month period of consecutive occupancy, and proper written notice is required. An increase can still be unlawful if it is retaliatory or discriminatory even though there is no numeric ceiling. Verify the current statutes before you act.
How often can a Colorado landlord raise the rent?
No more than once in any twelve-month period of consecutive occupancy by the tenant. Colorado Revised Statutes section 38-12-702, enacted through HB21-1121 and later amendments, applies this limit regardless of whether there is a written rental agreement and regardless of whether the tenancy is a fixed term, month-to-month, or indefinite. A landlord cannot reset the clock by ending one tenancy and starting another with the same tenant to squeeze in a second increase. Confirm the current statute, because this area of Colorado law has changed several times since 2021.
How much notice must a Colorado landlord give before raising rent?
For a residential tenancy in which there is no written agreement between the landlord and tenant, Colorado Revised Statutes section 38-12-701 requires at least 60 days’ written notice before a rent increase takes effect. Where a written lease exists, the lease terms and renewal process govern, and a mid-term increase is generally not allowed unless the lease itself permits it. As a practical matter many Colorado landlords give 60 days or more for every increase to keep the notice defensible. Verify the current notice period before you serve, because the figure was amended in 2024.
Can a landlord raise the rent in the middle of a lease in Colorado?
Generally no. During a fixed-term lease the rent is locked at the agreed amount unless the lease itself contains an escalation clause that expressly permits a mid-term increase. A landlord may raise rent at renewal, or during a no-written-agreement or month-to-month tenancy by serving proper written notice, but always subject to the once-per-twelve-months limit in Colorado Revised Statutes section 38-12-702.
Is there rent control in Colorado?
No. Colorado Revised Statutes section 38-12-301 bars counties and municipalities from enacting any ordinance that controls rent on private residential property, so no Colorado city has rent control. A 2023 bill, HB23-1115, tried to repeal that preemption and let local governments enact rent stabilization; it passed the House but died in a Senate committee in April 2023, so the preemption remains in force. Because lawmakers have said they may reintroduce the repeal, confirm the current status before relying on it.
Can I raise the rent to market rate when a tenant moves out?
Yes. Because Colorado has no rent cap and no rent control, there is no limit on the rent you set for a brand-new tenant. The once-per-twelve-months frequency limit in Colorado Revised Statutes section 38-12-702 restricts increases during a continuing tenancy, not the starting rent for a new one. You must still comply with fair-housing and source-of-income rules when selecting and pricing for a new tenant.
Does the once-per-year limit apply to fixed-term leases too?
Yes. Colorado Revised Statutes section 38-12-702 states that the once-in-twelve-months limit applies regardless of whether the tenancy is a fixed tenancy, a month-to-month tenancy, or an indefinite term, and regardless of whether there is a written rental agreement. In practice a fixed-term lease already locks the rent for its term, so the limit matters most at renewal and on rolling month-to-month tenancies, where it prevents stacking two increases inside a single year.
Can a Colorado rent increase be illegal even though there is no cap?
Yes. Even without a numeric ceiling, an increase can be unlawful if it violates the once-per-twelve-months rule, is served with defective notice, is imposed mid-term on a fixed lease with no escalation clause, is retaliatory under Colorado Revised Statutes section 38-12-509, or discriminates against a protected class or a lawful source of income. The absence of a cap means how you raise rent matters more, not less.
What counts as retaliation for a Colorado rent increase?
Under Colorado Revised Statutes section 38-12-509 a landlord may not increase rent or decrease services in response to a tenant making a good-faith complaint about a condition that materially affects health or safety, organizing or joining a tenants’ association, or exercising a legal right. If a landlord has an independent right to raise rent and exercises it, there is a rebuttable presumption the increase was not retaliatory, and that presumption cannot be rebutted by the timing alone. A tenant who proves retaliation may recover up to three months’ rent or three times actual damages, whichever is greater, plus attorney fees and costs.
Does Colorado protect tenants who use a Section 8 voucher from rent increases?
Colorado’s source-of-income law, enacted by HB20-1332, makes it an unfair housing practice to refuse to rent to, or discriminate in the terms of a tenancy against, a person because of a lawful source of income, including a Housing Choice Voucher. A landlord cannot use a rent increase or lease term to push out or penalize a tenant for using a voucher or other lawful assistance. The statute has some exceptions, including a limited exemption for landlords who own three or fewer rental units, so confirm how it applies to your situation.
What is the safest way for a Colorado landlord to raise rent?
Confirm you have not raised this tenant’s rent in the past twelve months, confirm your authority to raise it now (at renewal, or on a no-written-agreement or month-to-month tenancy, never mid-term without a lease clause), serve a clear written notice by a provable method with at least 60 days before the effective date, avoid raising rent right after protected tenant activity, and keep a copy of the notice and proof of delivery. Documenting a legitimate, non-retaliatory business reason turns a routine increase into one that holds up.
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