Colorado late fee laws for rent: seven days, $50 or 5 percent
Colorado's late fee statute reads like a checklist of things a landlord may not do. C.R.S. 38-12-105 bars a late fee unless rent is at least seven calendar days late, caps it at the greater of $50 or 5 percent of the past-due rent, requires it to be disclosed in the lease, and gives the tenant a written notice right within 180 days. A violation costs $50, and an uncured one can reach $1,000.
What may a Colorado landlord not do?
Subsection (1) lists ten prohibited acts, each starting with a landlord "shall not." In plain order, you may not:
- charge a late fee unless rent is late by at least seven calendar days;
- charge more than the greater of $50 or 5 percent of the past-due rent;
- require a fee that is not disclosed in the rental agreement;
- remove a tenant, or start a court case to do so, because of unpaid late fees;
- end a tenancy over unpaid late fees;
- charge a fee on the part of rent a subsidy provider is responsible for paying;
- charge more than one fee for each late payment (unless all of them together stay under the cap);
- charge interest on a late fee;
- take a late fee out of a later rent payment;
- charge a fee unless you gave the tenant written notice of it within 180 days after the rent was due.
How is the cap worked out?
The cap is the greater of the two numbers, the opposite of New York's "lesser of" rule. At a past-due payment of $1,000, 5 percent is $50 and the two match. Above $1,000, 5 percent is higher, so the percentage controls. Below $1,000, $50 is the ceiling.
Example a made-up Colorado tenant owes a past-due payment of $2,400 and pays on the 10th. Five percent of $2,400 is $120, which is greater than $50, so the cap is $120. A second tenant owes $700, where 5 percent is $35, so the greater number is $50 and the cap is $50. The first tenant would be eligible for a fee from the 8th, seven calendar days after the 1st.
Note the base: the statute says "the amount of the past due rent payment," so a tenant who paid most of the month on time and is short by a small sum has a smaller base than the full rent.
Can you charge once a week until it is paid?
Only if the total stays inside the cap. Subsection (1)(g) allows more than one fee for a single late payment only when all of them added together do not exceed the (1)(b) limit. In practice, a recurring daily or weekly charge is a way to reach the cap slowly, not a way past it. Interest on the fee is banned outright by (1)(h).
What does a violation cost?
A lease clause that breaks subsection (1) is void and unenforceable. A landlord who violates it pays the aggrieved tenant a $50 penalty for each violation. Before the tenant can sue, the landlord has seven days to cure after getting written or electronic notice. If you do not cure, the tenant can bring a civil action for compensatory damages, a penalty of at least $150 and up to $1,000 per violation, costs and attorney fees to the prevailing party, and other equitable relief. A tenant may also raise a violation as an affirmative defense in an eviction case.
One more line matters for notices: a late fee is distinct from rent, and a rental agreement may not classify a late fee as rent for purposes of the demand for compliance or possession under section 13-40-104(1)(d). Keep the fee off any notice that demands rent.
How does the 180-day written notice work?
Subsection (1)(j) bars a late fee unless the landlord gave the tenant written notice of it within 180 days after the date the rent was due. In practice, that means a fee must be put in front of the tenant in writing, not just added quietly to a ledger. A short message that states the date rent was due, the amount, and the fee being charged is enough to start.
Keep a copy. If the tenant later disputes the fee, the date of your notice is the evidence that you stayed inside the window. An owner who finds an old, unbilled late payment after nine months has probably lost the right to charge a fee for it.
How DoorKeeping handles it in Colorado
DoorKeeping's Colorado rules hold the seven-day wait, the greater-of cap and the disclosed-in-lease requirement, so a late fee rule you approve once posts automatically only within those limits. Tenants pay your own bank and the payment is matched there. The 180-day written notice is yours to send. This is general information, not legal advice.
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Questions
- How many days late before a Colorado landlord can charge a late fee?
- Rent must be late by at least seven calendar days.
- What is the maximum late fee in Colorado?
- The greater of $50 or 5 percent of the past-due rent payment.
- Can a Colorado landlord evict for unpaid late fees?
- No. Removing a tenant or starting a court process over unpaid late fees is prohibited, and a late fee may not be treated as rent.
- What happens if a Colorado landlord charges an illegal late fee?
- A $50 penalty per violation, and after a seven-day cure period, a civil penalty of $150 to $1,000 per violation, damages and attorney fees.