What changed on January 1

The truck is loaded, the keys are in your hand, and the apartment looks bigger than it ever did while you lived in it. Somewhere in a landlord’s office, a number is about to be decided. Colorado changed the rules for how that number gets decided.

House Bill 25-1249, signed on June 3, 2025 and in force since January 1, 2026, rewrote Colorado’s security deposit statute, C.R.S. 38-12-103 (the bill, the act as enrolled). The parts that matter when you hand back the keys:

  • Your landlord has 30 days after the lease ends or you surrender the premises, whichever is later, to return the full deposit. A lease can set a longer period, but not more than 60 days.
  • The deposit can’t be kept for normal wear and tear, or for any damage or defect that was there before you moved in.
  • A landlord has cause to keep a reasonable amount only for unpaid rent, unpaid utilities, other lawful charges listed in the lease, and necessary repair work for damage beyond normal wear and tear that didn’t predate your tenancy.
  • If anything is kept, you must get a written statement listing the exact reasons, the rest of the money, and the documentation behind the deductions.

This article is general information, not legal advice. For your own situation, read the statute or talk to a lawyer or a tenant’s rights organization.

Some dirt is allowed now

Here’s the sentence to read twice. The 2026 law changed the definition of normal wear and tear.

It now means deterioration, damage or uncleanliness that comes from using a home the way it’s meant to be used, without negligence, carelessness, accident or abuse. Then comes the line that sets the bar for your move-out clean: it doesn’t include uncleanliness that leaves the unit substantially less clean than it was when the lease began.

So the standard is the home you were handed, not a showroom. A lease clause that charges you for cleaning or repairs due to normal wear and tear is void under the new law. Carpet can be charged as a full replacement only for substantial, irreparable damage beyond normal wear, and carpet that hasn’t been replaced in the last 10 years can’t be called substantially damaged at all. Interior repainting throughout follows the same logic.

Find your move-in inspection report and the photos from the day you got the keys. That’s the comparison the law asks for, and the one you want.

Ask for the walk-through

The new statute gives you a walk-through inspection on request. The landlord has to provide it at a mutually convenient time before the lease ends or you surrender the premises, after you’ve had the chance to get your furniture out, in person or by video. Anything beyond normal wear and tear gets identified in writing.

Keep your lease, move-in report, dated photos and walk-through notes in one folder. One folder ends most arguments.

Schedule it for after the clean and after the movers. Bring the move-in report. Take dated photos of every room, inside the oven and the fridge, and of every closet and cabinet with the doors open. If a deduction turns up later, you’ll be holding the same evidence the landlord is required to produce.

The checklist, room by room

A move-out clean is the regular room-by-room list plus the insides, because an empty home has no insides to hide. The oven is usually the slowest job on the list, so start it early. Work through the list after the furniture is gone and before the walk-through, whoever is doing the cleaning.

Boxes out first, then the list. The insides only show once the furniture is gone.
  • Kitchen. Wipe counters and backsplash. Clean the sink and tap. Wipe the outside of appliances. Clean inside all cabinets and drawers. Clean inside the fridge and freezer. Clean inside the oven. Clean inside the microwave. Sweep and mop the floor. Empty the bin.
  • Each bathroom. Clean and disinfect the toilet. Clean the sink and mirror. Clean the shower or tub. Sweep and mop the floor. Empty the bin.
  • Each bedroom. Dust surfaces. Clean inside closets. Vacuum the floor. Empty the bin.
  • Living area. Dust surfaces. Clean inside closets and built-in cabinets. Vacuum the floor.
  • Entry and garage. Sweep or vacuum the entry. Sweep the garage.

A few additions that aren’t on the checklist but come up in deposit disputes: wipe fingerprints from the walls around switches and door frames, clean the light fixtures and the ceiling fan blades, wipe window sills and blinds, get into the corners and the grout, and run the dishwasher and washing machine empty on a hot cycle so they’re dry and odor-free at the walk-through.

Every door open for the photos: cabinets, closets, oven, fridge.

If money is withheld

The statement arrives and the number is smaller than you expected. Read it against the law before you read it against your blood pressure.

It must list the exact reasons. Then ask, in writing, for the documentation the statute names: photographs, inspection forms or reports, receipts, invoices or estimates relevant to the deduction. The act ties that documentation to a 14-day window after your written request.

A landlord who doesn’t comply with the statute forfeits the right to withhold any of the deposit. Wrongful retention makes the landlord liable for 3 times the amount wrongfully withheld, plus reasonable attorney fees and court costs. Before you can file, you must send a written demand for the deposit and notice that you intend to sue, at least 7 days ahead. In court, the landlord carries the burden of proving the deductions weren’t wrongful, and an amount kept that is 125% or more of the actual damage is presumed unreasonable.

Keep it in one folder: the lease, the move-in report, your dated photos, the walk-through notes, the written statement and your request for documentation. Most disputes end at the point where the folder is opened.

Tonight, before the truck: find the move-in report. Everything else on this page is easier with it in your hand.