Before You Rent Out Mom or Dad's House in Colorado, Read This
I love Colorado: I love the people, the restaurants and bars, the sports teams, the mountains, everything…
I also love real estate: I love touring homes, helping people buy and sell, getting people the right home…
I despise most of the things the state has done recently to regulate housing, specifically if you want to become a landlord in Colorado…
When it’s time to explore housing options for your mom or dad as their care needs change, renting often sounds like the perfect solution:
You keep the home,
You generate income,
You preserve flexibility, and
If Mom or Dad ever wants or needs to move back home, the house is still there.
Sometimes that's exactly the right decision.
But over the years, I've also watched families become landlords almost by accident…
They weren't looking to build a real estate portfolio.
They were simply trying to avoid making a permanent decision.
Before you rent out your parent's house, I think it's important to understand what being a landlord in Colorado actually looks like today.
Colorado Has Changed
Colorado's landlord-tenant laws have changed significantly over the past several years.
Whether you think those changes are good, bad, or somewhere in between isn't really the point.
The point is that today's landlords have more legal responsibilities than they did just a few years ago. Recent legislation has expanded tenant protections, clarified landlords' obligations under the Warranty of Habitability, and added restrictions on how security deposits may be handled.
If you're thinking about renting out Mom or Dad's house, those rules become your responsibility.
You're Running a Business
One of the biggest misconceptions I see is this:
"We're just renting the house until we decide what to do."
Unfortunately, Colorado law doesn't make a distinction between someone with one rental property and someone who owns one hundred.
Once you sign a lease, you've become a landlord.
That means you're responsible for complying with Colorado's landlord-tenant laws just like any other property owner. Below are some of the legislative decisions that make renting your mom or dad’s house not such a great idea…
1. Habitability Is More Than a Good Idea
Every residential lease in Colorado includes what's known as the Warranty of Habitability.
In plain English, that means the property must remain safe and fit for people to live in. On the surface, it sounds reasonably fair. If tenants report conditions that materially affect health or safety, landlords are required to respond and begin addressing those conditions within timeframes established by state law.
Colorado strengthened and clarified these requirements in 2024, including communication and repair obligations after receiving notice from a tenant. Some of the more egregious are:
Communication and repair responses are very rigid. Once a tenant advises you to thing, the laws require you, as the landlord has 24-72 hours to respond and remediate issues. There is no “wiggle room” for holidays, vacations, or even if you’re not local. It has to be fixed.
The types of issues are very broad. As an example, a gas leak is treated with the same severity as a leaky roof.
Essentially, landlords are guilty until proven innocent. If a tenant claims an issue exists, the law legally presumes the property is hazardous. The landlord then must actively prove the unit is safe, rather than the tenant proving it is.
If a tenant vacates the property because of their claims, the landlord must provide a comparable dwelling or a hotel. The landlord also may not collect any rent during the time repairs are being made.
Historically, a warranty of habitability protected baseline human needs: water, heat, and structural integrity. Colorado has an expanded scope, which includes things like kitchen appliances or trash compactors.
Landlords must provide full-value reimbursement to the tenant for the full reduced rental value of the property, even if the tenant only paid a tiny fraction out of pocket and a government subsidy covered the rest.
Landlords face a minimum $5,000 statutory fine if a court rules they did not "reasonably cooperate" with a tenant's rental assistance paperwork.
These are things that go well above and beyond what, I believe, is reasonable for someone who hasn’t planned to become a landlord.
2. Security Deposits Aren't as Simple as They Used to Be
Many people assume a security deposit can simply cover whatever repairs are needed after a tenant moves out. Colorado laws have made deposits different with things like:
Normal wear and tear is very broadly defined and, in turn, very difficult to keep a deposit over. I know of a few landlords who have had to replace 1-year old carpet with brand new carpet after a tenant leaves because of the claims that it’s normal wear and tear.
Pet deposits are nearly impossible because a landlord cannot demand or receive an additional security deposit of more than $300 to allow a tenant to keep a pet. The pet deposit must be refundable and any repairds cannot exceed that amount.
If any security deposit is kept for repairs, the landlord must itemize every repair, the dollar amount, and dates when things were fixed within 30 days, by law (or 60 days by lease). If these requirement are not met or if tenant, successfully contests it, the tenant receives triple their original deposit.
3. Evictions Are Rare... Until They Aren't
Most tenants are wonderful people that pay on time and take good care of the property.
In Colorado, every landlord should think about one uncomfortable question:
"What if they don't?"
In the event a tenant is not one of the wonderful ones, Colorado has legal procedures for removing a tenant or even not renewing their lease. This includes:
Tenants facing eviction can request a jury trial, and
A lease must be renewed unless you are selling the property, moving into the property, or completing renovations
4. Vacancy Is Expensive
Most people calculate rental income, but far fewer calculate the months without it. Between tenants you may still be paying for:
Mortgage
Property taxes
Insurance
Utilities
Lawn care
HOA dues
Repairs
One vacant month can erase much of the profit you expected from several occupied months. This is very true in Colorado as the costs of living trends make apartment hopping (where tenants change every year) very common.
Renting your mom or dad’s house in Colorado can be a wonderful solution. It can also become a larger responsibility than families expected.
You just need to be aware of the risks and trends of doing so.
Related Reading
How Much Can We Rent My Mom or Dad's House For?
The True Cost of Keeping a Parent's Home