Colorado Rent Increase Rules, Notice & Local Guide

Two independent limits: frequency and notice

Colorado's enacted HB21-1121 prohibits a residential landlord from increasing rent more than once in a 12-month period, regardless of the tenancy's length. It also requires at least 60 days' written notice for an increase when there is no written rental agreement. A landlord cannot terminate an unwritten tenancy to circumvent that 60-day protection.

For a written agreement, inspect the rent, notice and renewal clauses. This tool uses 60 days as a planning floor for written monthly agreements too; it does not claim that the unwritten-agreement rule applies identically to every written lease. A new lease document does not automatically erase the separate once-in-12-months restriction.

[1] Colorado General Assembly - HB21-1121, enacted rent-increase protections

Build the history before selecting a date

Record when the tenant began occupancy and when the last increase actually became effective. Keep the notice date and effective date in different columns. The frequency question concerns an implemented increase, not simply when you last sent paperwork. Resolve concessions and changes to mandatory charges carefully instead of assuming they are irrelevant to the rent history.

The ordinary form is not a substitute for affordable-housing program approvals or other regulated arrangements. Nor does a permitted increase supply a reason to end a tenancy; Colorado's termination protections require their own analysis.

[1] Colorado General Assembly - HB21-1121, enacted rent-increase protections

Worked example: enough notice, too soon to increase

Assume rent last rose on September 1. A new notice delivered in February for a May 1 increase may provide over 60 days, but it would still produce two increases inside 12 months. Move the proposed effective date to a date that satisfies both the frequency restriction and the agreement. At $1,800 current rent, a $90 increase equals 5%; the arithmetic is separate from permission to implement it.

[1] Colorado General Assembly - HB21-1121, enacted rent-increase protections

Create a file you can explain

Before service, collect the written agreement or notes documenting the unwritten tenancy, the prior increase, the proposed new amount and the delivery method. State the effective date plainly. If a tenant points out an earlier increase you overlooked, reconcile the ledger before demanding the difference. Keep repair requests and lease enforcement separate from the rent review, and use the required process for any termination rather than adding a move-out demand to this notice.

[1] Colorado General Assembly - HB21-1121, enacted rent-increase protections