Breaking a Lease After Domestic Violence — Colorado

Start to finish: leaving the lease, keeping your money

• 1 · Safety first. If you are in danger, call 911. This page has a Quick Exit button at the top. For shelters (including pet-friendly ones), advocates, and 24/7 hotlines, start at our Safety & Victim Resources hub.
• 2 · Know who qualifies. Tenants who are victims of domestic violence or domestic abuse, unlawful sexual behavior, or stalking — the 2025 update (HB 25-1168) frames this as protection for survivors of gender-based violence and applies statewide. A lease cannot take away your right to call the police or other emergency help (C.R.S. § 38-12-402(1)), a lease term that bars you from changing your locks or taking other reasonable safety steps is void (C.R.S. § 38-12-402(7)(a)), and a lease cannot waive the domestic-violence defense to an eviction (C.R.S. § 13-40-104(4)(c)).
• 3 · Gather one piece of proof — you have several options. A self-attestation affidavit you sign yourself (added in 2025), a letter from a qualified third party such as a victim advocate, attorney, social worker, medical or mental-health provider, or faith leader, a police report from the last 120 days, or a protection order. You do not need a criminal case to use this law.
• 4 · Give the landlord written notice. Tell the landlord in writing that you are a victim and are ending the lease under C.R.S. § 38-12-402, attach your proof, and state your move-out date. Keep a copy of everything. Start with our free draft termination letter (Letter 1, with the statute built in) — or we can prepare it for you, correctly, the first time.
• 5 · Know what you can owe — at most one month's rent. If another tenant stays on the lease, you owe nothing for leaving. If no one stays, the most the landlord can collect is one month's rent, due within 90 days — and only if the landlord documents actual economic damages within 30 days. No early-termination fees, no rest-of-the-lease liability.
• 6 · Staying instead? Change the locks. You may change your locks (including electronic locks) or add other reasonable safety measures. Your landlord cannot stop you, charge a fee, or retaliate, and you should give the landlord a key or code within 14 days (unless the landlord is the person who harmed you).
• 7 · Get your deposit back. Leaving under this statute is a lawful termination — normal security-deposit rules still protect you, and the landlord cannot keep the deposit as a penalty for using your rights.
• 8 · Pair it with the rest of your safety plan. A civil protection order restrains the abuser; the Address Confidentiality Program keeps your next address private; and if a divorce or custody case is part of the picture, that is exactly what we do.