Colorado Lease Agreement: What to Include
October 16, 2025Colorado's landlord-tenant rules include a distinctive disclosure most states don't have — a notice about portable tenant screening reports — along with flexible deposit return timing that depends on what the lease specifies.
Security deposits
Colorado has no statewide statutory cap on the deposit amount, and no statewide interest requirement (though local rules may add one). Deposits must be returned within 30 days of move-out, unless the lease specifies a longer period of up to 60 days — a detail worth confirming, since it's one of the few states allowing the lease itself to extend the standard deadline.
The portable tenant screening report notice
Colorado requires landlords to disclose whether they accept a portable tenant screening report — a screening report the applicant already has from a recent application elsewhere — as an alternative to paying for a new one. This is a distinctive Colorado consumer-protection requirement not found in most other states.
Required disclosures
A Colorado lease should include or accompany:
- • Federal lead-based paint disclosure (for pre-1978 buildings)
- • Radon disclosure
- • Portable tenant screening report notice
- • Habitability disclosures, where applicable
The bottom line
The portable tenant screening report notice is the disclosure most likely to be missing entirely from a lease that wasn't written with Colorado specifically in mind. See LeasePilot HQ's full Colorado landlord-tenant law summary for the complete breakdown with sources, or generate a lease with Colorado-specific clauses built in automatically.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a portable tenant screening report?
It's a tenant screening report the applicant already obtained recently (often within the last 30-90 days, depending on the specific rule) that they can offer to a new landlord instead of paying for a fresh screening report — Colorado requires landlords to disclose whether they'll accept one.
Can my lease extend the deposit return deadline beyond 30 days in Colorado?
Yes — Colorado allows the lease to specify a deposit return deadline of up to 60 days, longer than the 30-day default, as long as it's stated in the lease.
Do I need a radon disclosure in Colorado?
Yes — Colorado requires a radon disclosure in residential leases, similar to a handful of other states with elevated radon awareness requirements.