Statutory cap, exemptions, and notice rules under C.R.S. § 38-12-301
Colorado keeps the rent-increase math unusually simple: there is no cap on how much rent can rise, and no Colorado city is allowed to create one. C.R.S. § 38-12-301 preempts local rent control on private residential property statewide, which means Denver, Boulder, and every other municipality could vote for a cap tomorrow and it would still be void. The only carve-out is for voluntary affordable-housing agreements — deed restrictions on income-restricted units — which have nothing to do with market-rate leases.
What Colorado does regulate is timing and process. A landlord must give 30 days' notice for an increase under 10%, and 60 days' notice for an increase of 10% or more, and rent generally cannot change in the middle of a fixed-term lease. Since April 19, 2024, HB24-1098 also requires just cause to evict or refuse to renew most tenancies — a real shift, but one that leaves the size of a rent increase untouched. With average rent around $1,476, the calculator above shows how the notice deadlines land on your actual numbers.
Rent control is not merely absent in Colorado — it is forbidden. Under C.R.S. § 38-12-301, counties and municipalities are preempted from enacting rent control on private residential property anywhere in the state. That is why you will not find a Denver rent ordinance or a Boulder cap the way you would in California or Oregon: local governments simply lack the power. The statute's single carve-out covers voluntary affordable-housing agreements, such as deed restrictions a developer accepts on income-restricted units. Those are negotiated commitments, not caps a city can impose. If your building is a market-rate rental, no local law limits the dollar amount of your next increase — the constraints that remain are your lease, the notice statute, and the rental market itself.
Colorado replaces a rent cap with a timing rule, and the pivot point is 10%.
The size of the raise is legal either way — the question is only whether the tenant got the runway the statute requires. For tenants, that 60-day window on larger increases is the practical protection: two months to negotiate, budget, or find another unit. For landlords, the two-tier rule is a planning question: a large increase served late does not take effect on your intended date, so count backward from the renewal date and serve notice early. The calculator above sorts your increase into the right tier automatically.
Colorado's biggest recent landlord-tenant change is easy to misread as rent control. HB24-1098, signed April 19, 2024, requires a landlord to have "just cause" to evict a tenant or to refuse to renew most tenancies. Before it, a Colorado landlord could simply decline to renew at the end of a lease term; now, for covered tenancies, non-renewal needs a qualifying reason. What the law does not do is limit how much rent may be raised — the legislature changed who can be removed, not what can be charged. The practical effect is that pricing has become the main lever in the relationship: a landlord who cannot non-renew at will can still reprice the unit at renewal, provided the 30- or 60-day notice rule is honored.
No cap does not mean no rules. The recurring mistakes we see in Colorado are procedural, not price-based:
The amount of a Colorado rent increase is almost never the legal problem — the timing, the lease term, and the reason behind it are.
| Rule | Requirement | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Statewide cap | N/A, rent control banned | C.R.S. § 38-12-301 |
| 2025 maximum increase | No limit | |
| Notice required | Typically 30-60 days written notice | State landlord-tenant law |
| Retaliation prohibited | Yes, increases cannot be retaliatory or discriminatory | Federal Fair Housing Act + state law |
There is no limit. Colorado has no statewide rent cap, and C.R.S. § 38-12-301 blocks cities and counties from creating one, so a landlord may raise rent by any amount at renewal. The real constraints are notice — 30 days for an increase under 10%, 60 days for 10% or more — and the market itself, where average rent runs about $1,476.
No. C.R.S. § 38-12-301 preempts local rent control on private residential property statewide, so no Colorado city — Denver and Boulder included — can cap market-rate rents. The only exception is for voluntary affordable-housing agreements, such as deed restrictions on income-restricted units, which are negotiated rather than imposed.
It depends on the size of the increase: at least 30 days' written notice for an increase under 10%, and at least 60 days' notice for an increase of 10% or more. An increase served with too little notice does not take effect until the required period has run.
Generally no. A fixed-term lease locks the rent for the length of the term unless the lease itself contains a provision allowing a change. Colorado's no-cap rule matters at renewal or on a month-to-month tenancy, where the landlord may set a new rate after giving the required 30 or 60 days' notice.
This page was researched and written by the Eviction Risk Map research team based on C.R.S. § 38-12-301, Colorado's statewide preemption of local rent control, together with Colorado's rent-increase notice requirements and HB24-1098 (signed April 19, 2024) as enacted by the Colorado General Assembly. Last reviewed July 2026. This material is provided for informational purposes only and is not legal advice; consult a Colorado landlord-tenant attorney about your specific situation.
Statutory data sourced from published Colorado law (C.R.S. § 38-12-301), BLS Consumer Price Index (2024-2025), and state agency publications. Census ACS 2023 5-Year Estimates for average rent. Last updated July 14, 2026. This page is informational only and does not constitute legal advice.
