# Colorado — Security deposit return deadlines by US state — the statutory clock a landlord has to return a tenant's deposit, quoted from the state statute

For Colorado, return deadline is one month; deadline in days is 30; what starts the clock is after the termination of a lease or surrender and acceptance of the premises, whichever occurs last; second deadline, and when it applies is sixty days, the cap where the lease specifies a longer period; statute is Colo. Rev. Stat. § 38-12-103(1), recorded from its source on 2026-08-26.

- **State:** Colorado _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **Return deadline:** one month _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Deadline in days:** 30 _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **What starts the clock:** after the termination of a lease or surrender and acceptance of the premises, whichever occurs last _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Second deadline, and when it applies:** sixty days, the cap where the lease specifies a longer period _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **Statute:** Colo. Rev. Stat. § 38-12-103(1) _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_

## What the source says

> A landlord shall, within one month after the termination of a lease or surrender and acceptance of the premises, whichever occurs last, return to the tenant the full security deposit deposited with the landlord by the tenant, unless the lease agreement specifies a longer period of time, but not to exceed sixty days.

## Source

- https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-38.pdf

Last verified: 2026-08-26. Review by: 2027-08-26.
Part of [Security deposit return deadlines by US state — the statutory clock a landlord has to return a tenant's deposit, quoted from the state statute](https://referencesource.org/security-deposit-return-deadlines-by-state/).