Colorado Security Deposit Return Letter: Free Template and Generator for Landlords
When you return a tenant’s security deposit in Colorado, the law gives you 30 days from the later of the lease ending or the tenant surrendering the unit, and a lease can extend that to at most 60 days. If you keep any part of the deposit, you must send a written statement listing the exact reasons. This page gives you the letter: sample text you can copy, a free generator that fills it in from your facts, and the statute behind every line. Statutes verified August 22, 2026.
Colorado rewrote this statute on January 1, 2026 (HB25-1249), so a template you find elsewhere may still state the old one-month deadline or rules that no longer apply. Everything here is the current law. This page is for landlords preparing the refund and statement; if you are a tenant looking for a demand letter, this is not that page.
Sample security deposit return letter (Colorado)
Three versions, generated by the same engine as the tool below: a partial refund with itemized deductions, a full refund with no deductions, and one where the deductions exceed the deposit. Replace the bracketed placeholders, keep the itemization honest, and review everything before you sign.
Itemized letter with deductions (partial refund)
Re: Your security deposit at [Rental property address]
This letter is the itemized statement of your security deposit for the rental at [Rental property address], following the end of your tenancy.
Your security deposit was $2,000.00. I have deducted the amounts itemized below, with a description of each.
| Deduction | Amount |
|---|---|
| Repair large gouge in bedroom door beyond normal wear | $185.00 |
| Unpaid water and sewer charges owed under the lease | $92.00 |
| Total deductions | $277.00 |
The remaining balance of $1,723.00 is enclosed with this letter.
If you have any questions about this statement, you can reach me at the address above.
Colorado Revised Statutes § 38-12-103: https://colorado.public.law/statutes/crs_38-12-103
Full refund letter (no deductions)
Re: Your security deposit at [Rental property address]
This letter confirms the return of your security deposit for the rental at [Rental property address], following the end of your tenancy.
Your security deposit was $2,000.00, and I have not made any deductions.
Your full deposit of $2,000.00 is enclosed with this letter.
If you have any questions about this statement, you can reach me at the address above.
Colorado Revised Statutes § 38-12-103: https://colorado.public.law/statutes/crs_38-12-103
When the deductions exceed the deposit
Re: Your security deposit at [Rental property address]
This letter is the itemized statement of your security deposit for the rental at [Rental property address], following the end of your tenancy.
Your security deposit was $2,000.00. I have deducted the amounts itemized below, with a description of each.
| Deduction | Amount |
|---|---|
| Unpaid final month of rent | $2,000.00 |
| Repair broken interior door beyond normal wear | $220.00 |
| Total deductions | $2,220.00 |
After applying your full security deposit, a balance of $220.00 remains owed under your lease. This statement accounts for the deposit; any remaining balance is a separate matter under the lease.
If you have any questions about this statement, you can reach me at the address above.
Colorado Revised Statutes § 38-12-103: https://colorado.public.law/statutes/crs_38-12-103
Generate this letter free
The free Colorado deposit tool computes your exact deadline from your dates, does the deduction math, adds Boulder deposit interest if the rental is in Boulder, and produces this letter with your facts filled in. No sign-up, no watermark, no charge, and nothing you type leaves your browser. If you are checking how much you may hold in the first place, see the Colorado deposit limits.
What the law requires this letter to contain
- The exact reasons for every deduction. A statement that just says “cleaning/damages” is treated as a wrongful withholding under C.R.S. § 38-12-103(2.5)(b). List each item and what it was for.
- The balance, sent with the statement. The refund of whatever you are not keeping goes out together with the statement, by the 30-day deadline (§ 38-12-103(1)).
- Your documentation, on request. If the tenant asks in writing, you have fourteen days to hand over the photographs, receipts, invoices, and estimates behind the deductions (§ 38-12-103(8)). Keep them from the start.
- Only the four lawful reasons. Colorado lets you keep money only for unpaid rent, unpaid utilities, unpaid other lawful charges listed in the lease, and necessary repair of damage beyond normal wear and tear that did not predate the tenancy (§ 38-12-103(1)(b)). Never for normal wear.
The 30-day clock, and what starts it
Two events matter, and the clock starts at whichever happens last: the lease terminating, and the landlord accepting surrender of the premises. Those are not always the same day. A tenant who hands back the keys a week early has not started your clock; a tenant who holds over past the lease end starts it when you accept the unit back.
A landlord shall, within thirty days after the termination of a lease or surrender and acceptance of a 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. C.R.S. § 38-12-103(1)(a)
Note the ceiling in the same sentence. A lease may set a longer period than 30 days, but the statute caps that at sixty. A clause giving you ninety days asks for more than the section permits, and Colorado does not say whether such a term is trimmed back to sixty or is void outright under § 38-12-103(7)(a), which voids any rental-agreement provision waiving or modifying a protection written for the tenant. If it is void you are back to 30 days. Do not rely on a period longer than sixty days without asking a Colorado attorney.
What the written statement has to say
The statement is only required when you keep part of the deposit, and its content is the part most often got wrong. “Exact reasons” is the statutory standard, and a statement that fails to meet it is itself a wrongful withholding under § 38-12-103(2.5)(b), whatever the deductions themselves were.
In the event that actual cause exists for retaining any portion of the security deposit, the landlord shall provide the tenant with a written statement listing the exact reasons for the retention of any portion of the security deposit. C.R.S. § 38-12-103(1)(a)
How to send the letter and the money
Colorado measures compliance by sending, not by the tenant receiving. That is unusually forgiving and worth knowing, because it means a tenant who never collects their mail cannot manufacture a missed deadline. Keep proof of what you sent and when.
A landlord may send a payment refunding a tenant’s security deposit or any portion of it as required by this section to the tenant by mailing the payment to the tenant’s last-known address or, with the tenant’s consent, by using a secured electronic transfer of funds. C.R.S. § 38-12-103(1)(a), (10)
You do not need a forwarding address to start. Colorado does not condition the deposit’s return on the tenant providing a forwarding address. The landlord sends the statement and any refund to the tenant’s last-known address (or to an email address the landlord has actual notice of, or by secured electronic transfer with the tenant’s consent). (C.R.S. § 38-12-103(1)(a), (10))
If you get it wrong, the first thing you lose is the deductions
Landlords tend to read the treble-damages headline and miss the sanction that comes first and needs no court finding about their state of mind. Fail to comply with the section, and the right to keep anything is gone, including money genuinely owed for unpaid rent and real damage.
or otherwise wrongfully withholds a security deposit or any portion of a security deposit, the landlord forfeits the landlord’s rights to withhold any portion of the security deposit under this section. C.R.S. § 38-12-103(2)
Colorado names four ways a landlord is deemed to have wrongfully withheld (§ 38-12-103(2.5)): missing the statement, or, where the tenant has made a written request under § 38-12-103(8), the documentation that request calls for; a statement that fails to list exact reasons; failing to return the balance in time; or retaining in bad faith. Two things follow that landlords get wrong. That list is not the whole of your exposure, because subsection (2) independently forfeits your deductions for any failure to comply with the section. And three of the four bad-faith branches are not about what you meant to do: § 38-12-103(3.5)(a) reaches an amount that unreasonably exceeds your actual damages, an amount kept without actual cause, and an amount you knew or should have known exceeded them. The fourth is purely about intent: keeping any part of a deposit for an unlawful, retaliatory, or discriminatory purpose is bad faith whatever the arithmetic, and § 38-12-103(1)(b) opens by making it an exception to the four lawful deduction categories.
The seven days that stop a treble claim
This is the most useful sentence on the page for a landlord who has already slipped. Treble damages are not automatic on a late letter. The tenant must first demand the deposit back and give notice of intent to sue, and you get seven days to return the money. Return it inside that window and the treble claim does not arise.
A tenant may bring a court action for treble damages, reasonable attorney fees, and court costs only if the landlord fails to return the entire security deposit or any withheld portion to the tenant within seven days after receiving a demand and notice of the tenant’s intention to file legal proceedings as described in subsection (3)(a) of this section. C.R.S. § 38-12-103(3)(c)
The good-faith safe harbor
The second brake on the treble regime. A landlord who followed every requirement of the section and kept the deposit in good faith, but is found to have reasonably kept somewhat too much, owes the excess and court costs. Not treble, and not the tenant’s attorney fees.
If a landlord retains a security deposit or any portion of it in good faith and otherwise complies with all requirements of this section but is found in a civil action to have reasonably retained an amount that exceeded the actual damages the landlord incurred, the landlord shall be liable to the tenant only for the excess amount retained and court costs. C.R.S. § 38-12-103(3.5)(d)
Read the opening clause carefully, because it is the whole condition: the safe harbor is available only to a landlord who otherwise complies with all requirements of this section. It rescues a judgment call about amount. It does not rescue a missed deadline or a vague statement.
If the refund comes back undeliverable
A cheque returned by the post office does not end your obligation, and it does not become your money. Colorado tells you exactly how long to hold it.
If a landlord’s payment refunding a tenant’s security deposit or any portion of it as required by this section is returned to the landlord after it is sent to the tenant’s last-known address, the landlord shall hold the payment for at least one year after receiving it and shall disburse the payment to the tenant within fifteen calendar days after the tenant’s request. C.R.S. § 38-12-103(9)
If the property changed hands during the tenancy
Selling the building does not make the deposit the buyer’s problem by default. Whoever holds the money has a defined choice and a deadline, and taking one of the two options is what releases them from further liability.
Upon cessation of a landlord’s interest in a dwelling unit, whether by sale, assignment, death, appointment of a receiver, or otherwise, the person in possession of the tenant’s security deposit, including but not limited to the landlord, the landlord’s agent, or the landlord’s executor, shall, within sixty days: C.R.S. § 38-12-103(4)-(6)
Colorado security deposit return letter: common questions
How long does a Colorado landlord have to send a security deposit return letter?
Thirty days after the later of the lease terminating or the landlord accepting surrender of the premises. A lease may set a longer period, but never more than sixty days. HB25-1249 changed the old “one month” wording to “thirty days,” effective January 1, 2026, so a template that still says one month is out of date. (C.R.S. § 38-12-103(1))
Do I need to send a letter if I am refunding the full deposit?
The written statement is required only when you keep part of the deposit. If you are returning every dollar, the statute requires the refund itself by the deadline, not a statement of reasons. A short dated cover letter is still good practice: it records when and how you returned the money and closes the file cleanly.
What must the Colorado retention statement include?
A written statement listing the exact reasons for every dollar you keep. A vague statement such as “cleaning and damages” is itself treated as a wrongful withholding (C.R.S. § 38-12-103(2.5)(b)). Separately, if the tenant makes a written request, you must hand over the documentation you have that supports the retention (photographs, inspection reports, receipts, invoices, or estimates) within fourteen days (§ 38-12-103(8)).
Can I email the return letter, or does it have to be mailed?
You may mail the statement and refund to the tenant’s last-known address, send them to an email address you have actual notice of, or (with the tenant’s consent) return the money by a secured electronic transfer of funds. Compliance is measured by sending, not by the tenant receiving it, so there is no need to prove delivery, but keep proof of what you sent and when. (C.R.S. § 38-12-103(1)(a), (10))
What happens if I miss the 30-day deadline?
Failing to comply forfeits your right to keep any part of the deposit (C.R.S. § 38-12-103(2)). A wrongful withholding can also make you liable for treble the amount wrongfully withheld plus the tenant’s attorney fees and court costs, but only after the tenant demands the deposit back and gives notice of intent to sue, and you fail to return the money within seven days, and a good-faith, fully compliant landlord who merely kept a little too much owes only the excess plus court costs (§ 38-12-103(3), (3.5)).
The property sold during the lease. Who sends the letter and the refund?
When the landlord’s interest ends by sale, assignment, death, or a receiver, whoever holds the deposit must, within sixty days, either transfer it (less any lawful deductions) to the new owner and mail the tenant notice of the transfer and the new owner’s name and address, or return it to the tenant. Doing one of those releases the transferor from further liability. (C.R.S. § 38-12-103(4))
Can I charge the tenant for carpet replacement or repainting?
Only narrowly. You cannot use the deposit to replace carpet throughout the unit unless the damage is substantial and irreparable, and carpet cannot be treated as damaged at all if it was not replaced with new carpet within the last ten years. Repainting the whole interior needs substantial paint damage throughout the entire unit. You may still charge for a specific damaged portion. See the Colorado carpet-and-paint guide for the detail. (C.R.S. § 38-12-103(11))
About this page
Every passage quoted above is the wording of C.R.S. § 38-12-103 as HB25-1249 rewrote it, effective January 1, 2026. Because the source is an enacted act that prints deletions struck through and additions in capitals, those passages are stored and shown as the section reads once the amendment applies, which is the wording that now governs rather than the printer’s markup. How we verify the law explains the process and what a “last verified” date does and does not promise. This is general information that cites the statute, not legal advice, and Orygn LLC is not a law firm. For advice about your situation, talk to a licensed Colorado attorney.
Sources
- C.R.S. § 38-12-103 (Return of security deposit), as amended by HB25-1249 (2026)
- C.R.S. § 38-12-103(1)(a): the 30-day deadline and the sixty-day lease ceiling
- C.R.S. § 38-12-103(1)(a): the written statement of exact reasons
- C.R.S. § 38-12-103(1)(a), (10): how the statement and refund may be sent
- C.R.S. § 38-12-103(2): forfeiting the right to withhold anything
- C.R.S. § 38-12-103(3)(c): the tenant’s demand and the seven-day window
- C.R.S. § 38-12-103(3.5)(d): the good-faith safe harbor
- C.R.S. § 38-12-103(9): undeliverable refunds
- C.R.S. § 38-12-103(4)-(6): sale, assignment, death, or a receiver
- The Colorado security deposit tool and full cited rules