Colorado Roommate Agreement
The Colorado rules that shape the document: no lodger law for removal, the familial-status-only fair housing exemption, and the statewide ban on local roommate caps.
Find out where you stand in Colorado
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Introduction
A roommate agreement is a private contract between co-tenants, not a lease, and it does not bind the landlord or change what the lease says. In Colorado, a handful of state rules sit on top of the national template: there is no lodger statute, so removing a roommate always requires a formal eviction, even under a 2024 law that lets some owner-occupiers skip the usual cause requirement; Colorado's fair housing exemption for owner-occupied shared living covers familial status only, leaving every other protected class fully covered; and a 2024 statute bars cities from capping how many unrelated roommates may live together. Everything else, the rent split, chores, guests, and quiet hours, is covered by the national template.
Key Things to Know
- 1
Colorado has no lodger statute. A roommate with the landlord's explicit or implicit permission is a full 'tenant' under state law, and removing that roommate always requires a formal unlawful detainer, the same process used for any tenant. There is no self-help or notice-only removal available to a co-tenant in Colorado.
- 2
Colorado's fair housing owner-occupied exemption reaches only familial status. An owner sharing a small dwelling may weigh whether a prospective roommate has children, but selection based on race, sex, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or any other protected class remains fully covered by state law, with no matching shelter.
- 3
No Colorado statute gives a tenant the right to add a roommate over the landlord's objection. Unlike New York's Roommate Law, the lease and the landlord's consent control whether a new roommate may move in.
- 4
Colorado's 2024 HOME Act bars every city, town, and county from limiting how many unrelated people may live together in one dwelling based on familial relationship, preempting occupancy caps some Colorado cities previously enforced.
- 5
No Colorado statute sets a joint-and-several or pro-rata default for rent liability among co-tenants on one lease. The lease itself controls; this agreement should state how the roommates reimburse each other explicitly.
- 6
No Colorado statute addresses how departing roommates split a security deposit refund or reimburse each other for damage. The deposit statute governs only the landlord's return of the deposit to the tenant, so the split is left entirely to this agreement.
- 7
A 2024 carve-out lets an owner-occupier or a lease-holding 'master tenant' in a single-family home, duplex, or triplex end another occupant's tenancy without showing a statutory cause, but the underlying removal still requires a normal unlawful detainer filing, not a self-help process.
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Roommate Agreement in Colorado, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Roommate Agreement guide walks through them.
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Colorado Requirements for Roommate Agreement
Colorado Roommate Removal Requires Formal Eviction
Colorado has no lodger statute. A roommate with the landlord's explicit or implicit permission is a full tenant, and removing that roommate always requires a formal unlawful detainer under C.R.S. 13-40-104 et seq. A 2024 carve-out (C.R.S. 38-12-1302(1)(b)) lets an owner-occupier or master tenant in a single-family home, duplex, or triplex skip the statutory cause requirement, but the eviction filing itself is still required. The agreement should not suggest any self-help removal right.
Colorado Fair Housing Exemption Is Familial Status Only
Colorado's owner-occupied shared-living exemption (C.R.S. 24-34-502(8)(a)(II)) applies only to familial status. Selection or advertising based on race, sex, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or any other protected class remains fully covered by state fair housing law, with no exemption.
Colorado Local Occupancy Cap Preemption
Colorado's HOME Act (C.R.S. 29-20-111) bars local governments from limiting how many unrelated people may live together in one dwelling based on familial relationship, preempting local roommate-count caps some cities previously enforced.
Colorado Rent Liability to the Landlord
No Colorado statute sets a joint-and-several or pro-rata default for rent liability among co-tenants on one lease. The lease itself controls; the agreement should state how the roommates reimburse each other explicitly.
Colorado Security Deposit Split Between Roommates
No Colorado statute addresses how departing roommates split a security deposit refund or reimburse each other for damage. State the split or reimbursement rule explicitly in the agreement.
Colorado Co-Tenant Status Defined Broadly
Colorado's landlord-tenant act defines tenant to include anyone with the landlord's explicit or implicit permission to occupy the unit, sweeping most roommates in as full tenants rather than subtenants. Status depends on the landlord's permission, not on the roommate agreement.