Tenant's Right to Break a Rental Lease in Colorado

Breaking a lease and leaving early in Colorado is allowed under certain circumstances.

By , Attorney · UC Berkeley School of Law

Many tenants who sign a lease for their apartment or rental unit plan to stay for the full amount of time required in the lease, such as one year. But, despite your best intentions, you might want (or need) to leave before your lease is up.

Leaving before a fixed-term lease expires without paying the remainder of the rent due under the lease is called breaking the lease. Here's a brief review of Colorado tenants' rights to break a lease without further liability for the rent.

Tenant Rights and Responsibilities When Signing a Lease in Colorado

A lease obligates both you and your landlord for a set period of time, usually a year. Under a typical lease, a landlord can't raise the rent or change the lease until the lease ends (unless the lease itself provides for a change, such as a rent increase mid-lease). A landlord can't force you to move out before the lease ends, unless you fail to pay the rent or otherwise violate a significant lease term, such as repeatedly throwing large and noisy parties. In these cases, landlords in Colorado must follow specific procedures to end the tenancy. For example, your landlord must give you ten days' notice to pay the rent or leave before filing an eviction lawsuit. (Colo. Rev. Stat. § 13-40-104(1)(d) (2022).) If you have repeatedly violated any clause in the lease, your landlord may give you an unconditional quit notice (a notice without any chance to remedy the violation) that requires that you move out within ten days. (Colo. Rev. Stat. § 13-40-104(1)(e.5) (2022).)

Tenants are legally bound to pay rent for the full lease term whether or not they actually live in the rental unit—with some exceptions, as follows.

When Breaking a Lease Is Justified in Colorado

There are some important exceptions to the blanket rule that a tenant who breaks a lease owes the rent for the entire lease term. You might be able to legally move out before the lease term ends in the following situations.

You Are Starting Active Military Duty

If you enter active military service after signing a lease, you have a right to break the lease under federal law. (War and National Defense Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, 50 App. U.S.C.A. § § 501 and following.) You must be part of the "uniformed services," which includes the armed forces, commissioned corps of the national Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), commissioned corps of the Public Health Service, and the activated National Guard. You must give your landlord written notice of your intent to terminate your tenancy for military reasons. Once the notice is mailed or delivered, your tenancy will terminate 30 days after the date that rent is next due, even if that date is several months before your lease expires.

You Are a Victim of Domestic Violence

Colorado law provides early termination rights for tenants who are victims of domestic violence, so long as specified conditions are met (such as the tenant providing a copy of a police report). (Colo. Rev. Stat. § 38-12-402 (2022).)

The Rental Unit Is Unsafe or Violates Colorado Health or Safety Codes

If your landlord does not provide habitable housing under local and state housing codes, a court might conclude that you have been "constructively evicted." This means that the landlord, by supplying unlivable housing, has for all practical purposes "evicted" you, so you have no further responsibility for the rent.

Colorado's warranty of habitability law states that in every rental agreement, the landlord warrants that the rental is fit for human habitation—even if the warranty isn't mentioned in the lease. The law lays out what makes a rental unfit for habitation, and also notes that the warranty of habitability might be breached when there's a condition that materially interferes with the tenant's life, health, or safety, if the landlord is aware of it and hasn't fixed it. When the landlord has breached the warranty of habitability and the tenant has given the proper notice of the problem, the tenant may break the lease without penalty. (Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 38-12-503, 38-12-507 (2022).)

Your Landlord Harasses You or Violates Your Privacy Rights

There is no state law in Colorado that specifies the amount of notice a landlord must give a tenant before entering a rental property. (The exception is that the landlord must give 48 hours' notice to inspect for or treat bed bugs.) If your landlord repeatedly violates your rights to privacy, or does things like removing windows or doors, turning off your utilities, or changing the locks, a court might consider you to be "constructively evicted," as described above; this would usually justify you breaking the lease without further rent obligation.

Your Landlord Fails to Repair a Gas-Related Hazardous Condition

If you become aware of any hazardous condition of a gas appliance, piping, or other gas equipment, you are required under Colorado law to immediately inform your landlord or the landlord's agent in writing of the existence of the hazard. (Colo. Rev. Stat. § 38-12-104(2) (2022).) Your landlord then has 72 hours (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays) to have the condition repaired by a professional. If the landlord doesn't make the repairs within 72 hours, and your building is still hazardous, you can vacate the rental, and your lease becomes void (you are released from all responsibility under lease). You can also demand the return of your security deposit (minus any allowable deductions). (Colo. Rev. Stat. § 38-12-104(3)-(4) (2022).)

Landlord's Duty to Find a New Tenant in Colorado

Landlords in most states (for example, Arizona) must make a reasonable effort to rerent their units when a tenant breaks a lease, rather than charge the tenant for the total remaining rent due under the lease. In Colorado, an old case imposes this duty on commercial landlords (Schneiker v. Gordon, 732 P.2d 603 (Colo. 1987)), but did not specifically extend the duty to landlords renting residential property. However, the case strongly suggested that such a duty would be fair and appropriate, and over the years, courts in many counties and cities have apparently taken the hint and required landlords to "mitigate damages" by trying to rent their property reasonably quickly, keeping their losses to a minimum. Unless you're advised differently by a local lawyer, you should assume that the duty to mitigate will apply to your landlord.

If you break your lease and move out without a legal justification (described above), try to work something out with your landlord. Don't just move out and hope your landlord gets a new tenant quickly and doesn't charge you for the remaining time on your lease. Provide your landlord as much notice as possible and write a sincere letter explaining why you need to leave early. Ideally, you can offer your landlord a qualified replacement tenant with good credit and references, to sign a new lease.

But keep in mind that if the landlord doesn't agree to let you off the hook, you will be liable for paying rent until the landlord, using reasonable efforts, rerents the unit. This could be a substantial amount of money if you leave several months before your lease ends, or if the market is cold (there's lots of competitive units out there, unrented). Your landlord will probably first use your security deposit to cover the amount you owe. But if your deposit is not sufficient, your landlord may sue you, probably in a Colorado small claims court where the limit is $7,500. (If the amount at issue is equal to or less than $25,000, your landlord might sue you in the appropriate Colorado county court.)

How to Minimize Your Financial Responsibility When Breaking a Lease

If you want to leave early, and you don't have legal justification to do so, there are better options than just moving out and hoping your landlord gets a new tenant quickly. There's a lot you can do to limit the amount of money you need to pay your landlord—and help ensure a good reference from the landlord when you're looking for your next place to live.

You can help the situation a lot by providing as much notice as possible and writing a sincere letter to your landlord explaining why you need to leave early. Ideally you can offer your landlord a qualified replacement tenant, someone with good credit and excellent references, to sign a new lease with your landlord.

More Information on Tenant Rights to Break a Lease

Every Tenant's Legal Guide (Nolo) provides extensive legal and practical advice that every tenant needs, from move-in to move-out, including how to get your landlord to cancel your lease, plus dozens of forms and sample letters.

Nolo's eBook, Break Your Lease Without Breaking the Law, also offers some valuable insights on how to approach your landlord when you need to leave early, and provides information about subletting and assigning your lease.

More Information on Landlord-Tenant Law in Colorado

To learn more about landlord-tenant laws in your state, see the State Landlord-Tenant Laws section of the Nolo site.

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