Colorado Rent Increase Notice: 60 Days for No-Lease Tenancies, Once Per Year

Colo. Rev. Stat. § 38-12-701, enacted by HB23-1095, provides that for a residential tenancy without a written agreement, "a landlord may increase the rent only upon at least sixty days' written notice to the tenant." The notice must state the new rent and its effective date. Separately, § 38-12-702 limits frequency: "In residential tenancies, a landlord shall not increase rent more than one time in any twelve-month period of consecutive occupancy by the tenant," regardless of whether there is a written lease. The statute also bars landlords from using termination notices whose primary purpose is to circumvent these rent-increase rules. There is no statewide cap on the dollar amount of an increase.

Notices issued primarily to increase rent inconsistently with § 38-12-701 are prohibited and unenforceable. Increasing rent more than once in a 12-month occupancy period violates § 38-12-702; a tenant may raise the violation as a defense to eviction or seek relief. No fixed statutory monetary penalty applies to the notice rule itself.