Free Colorado Security Deposit Receipt

There is no separate deposit-receipt statute, but there is a general one that catches most deposits. C.R.S. § 38-12-802 provides that upon receiving any payment made in person by a tenant with cash or a money order, a landlord shall contemporaneously provide a receipt indicating the amount paid and the date of payment. A deposit handed over in cash at signing is such a payment. Where the money does not arrive in person as cash or a money order, the same section requires a receipt within seven days of the tenant’s request, showing the amount, the recipient and the date, unless an existing procedure already records those details.

Thirty days, unless the lease says otherwise. As amended by HB 25-1249 with effect from 1 January 2026, C.R.S. § 38-12-103(1)(a) requires the landlord to return the full deposit within thirty days after the termination of a lease or surrender of a premises, whichever occurs last, unless the lease agreement specifies a longer period of time, but not to exceed sixty days. Beware of older sources: the pre-amendment text read one month and turned on surrender and acceptance of the premises, and that superseded wording is still circulating on at least one large statute site.

The list is now closed. C.R.S. § 38-12-103(1)(b) says that, except as provided in (3.5)(a)(IV), a landlord has actual cause to retain reasonable amounts only for nonpayment of rent, nonpayment of utility charges, nonpayment of other lawful charges listed in the lease, and necessary repair work for damage or defective conditions that exceed normal wear and tear and did not preexist the tenancy. Subsection (1)(a) separately bars retaining anything for normal wear and tear or for a condition that preexisted the tenancy, and (7)(b) voids any lease clause assigning such costs to the tenant.

The definition was widened. C.R.S. § 38-12-102(4), as amended by HB 25-1249 effective 1 January 2026, defines normal wear and tear as deterioration, damage, or uncleanliness that occurs based upon the use for which a rental unit is intended or reasonably and typically used, without negligence, carelessness, accident, or abuse by the tenant, the tenant’s household, invitees or guests. Note that damage and uncleanliness are now inside the definition, not outside it. The one carve-out is that normal wear and tear does not include uncleanliness that renders a dwelling unit substantially less clean than it was when the lease began.

C.R.S. § 38-12-103(3)(a) makes wrongful retention render the landlord liable for treble the amount wrongfully withheld, plus reasonable attorney fees and court costs. The trigger is wrongful, not willful, since the 2025 amendment. There is a gate: the tenant must notify you of the demand and the intention to sue at least seven days before filing. Under (3)(b) you bear the burden of proving the withholding was not wrongful. Section 38-12-103(2.5) also deems retention wrongful where you miss the statement, the documentation, or the deadline, and § 38-12-103(3.5)(b) presumes an amount unreasonably exceeds actual damages once it reaches 120%-5% of them. Note that § 38-12-104, the unrepaired gas hazard route, carries twice the deposit rather than treble.

Yes, on request, for recent tenancies. C.R.S. § 38-12-103(8) provides that for a termination of a lease or a surrender of the premises on or after 1 January 2026, if the landlord provides the written statement under subsection (1), then within fourteen days after a written request by the tenant the landlord shall provide documentation in the landlord’s possession or control relevant to the retention, including photographs, inspection forms or reports, receipts, invoices, or estimates. This is why a dated move-in condition record and a signed deposit receipt matter so much: they are the documents you will be asked to produce.

Rarely, since the 2025 amendment. C.R.S. § 38-12-103(11)(a) says there is no actual cause to retain any amount for replacing carpet throughout a unit unless there is substantial and irreparable damage to the carpet exceeding normal wear and tear that did not preexist the tenancy, though a portion of the carpet may still be charged for. Subsection (11)(b) applies the same logic to painting the whole interior. Subsection (11)(c) is the hard limit: a landlord shall not deem carpet substantially and irreparably damaged if it has not been replaced with new carpet within ten years preceding the termination or surrender.

Yes, on request. C.R.S. § 38-12-103(1.5) requires that, upon a landlord’s or tenant’s request and if reasonable and practicable, the parties conduct a walk-through inspection of the dwelling unit, in person or by a telecommunication-assisted interactive walk-through, to identify in writing any damage or defective conditions beyond normal wear and tear that did not preexist the tenancy. The landlord must provide it at a tenant’s request, at a mutually convenient time, before the termination or surrender and after the tenant has had the opportunity to remove furniture. Under § 38-12-103(12), subsections (1.5) and (11) do not apply to mobile home park rental agreements.