Colorado § 38-12-105 - Late fees charged to tenants and mobile home owners - maximum late fee amounts - prohibited acts - penalties - period to cure violations - remedies - unfair or deceptive trade practice.

§ 38-12-105. Late fees charged to tenants and mobile home owners - maximum late fee amounts - prohibited acts - penalties - period to cure violations - remedies - unfair or deceptive trade practice.

(1) A landlord shall not take any of the following actions or direct any agent to take any of the following actions on the landlord's behalf:

(a) Charge a tenant or home owner a late fee unless a rent payment is late by at least seven calendar days;

(b) Charge a tenant or home owner a late fee in an amount that exceeds the greater of:

(I) Fifty dollars; or

(II) Five percent of the amount of the past due rent payment;

(c) Require a tenant or home owner to pay a late fee unless the late fee is disclosed in the rental agreement;

(d) Remove or exclude a tenant from a dwelling or initiate a court process for the removal or exclusion of a tenant from a dwelling because the tenant fails to pay one or more late fees to the landlord;

(e) Terminate a tenancy or other estate at will or a lease in a mobile home park because a tenant or home owner fails to pay one or more late fees to the landlord;

(f) Impose a late fee on a tenant or home owner for the late payment or nonpayment of any portion of the rent that a rent subsidy provider, rather than the tenant or home owner, is responsible for paying;

(g) Impose a late fee more than once for each late payment, except that a landlord may impose a late fee more than once for a late payment if the total amount of such late fees does not exceed the amount described in subsection (1)(b) of this section;

(h) Require a tenant or home owner to pay any amount of interest on a late fee;

(i) Recoup any amount of a late fee from a rent payment made to the landlord by a tenant or home owner; or

(j) Charge a tenant or home owner a late fee unless the landlord provided the tenant or home owner written notice of the late fee within one hundred eighty days after the date upon which the rent payment was due.

(2) A provision of a lease of a landlord or person acting on behalf of a landlord that does not comply with the provisions of subsection (1) of this section is void and unenforceable. A tenant who is aggrieved by an action taken by a landlord or person acting on behalf of the landlord in violation of subsection (1) of this section may bring an action for injunctive relief pursuant to subsection (5) of this section.

(3) A landlord who violates subsection (1) of this section shall pay to an aggrieved tenant or home owner a penalty in the amount of fifty dollars for each violation.

(4) Except as described in subsection (3) of this section, and notwithstanding any other provision of this section to the contrary, a landlord who violates subsection (1) of this section has seven days to cure the violation, which seven days begins when the landlord receives written or electronic notice of the violation.

(5) If a landlord violates subsection (1) of this section and fails to timely cure the violation as described in subsection (4) of this section, a tenant or home owner may bring a civil action to seek one or more of the following remedies:

(a) Compensatory damages for injury or loss suffered;

(b) A penalty of at least one hundred fifty dollars but not more than one thousand dollars for each violation, payable to the tenant or home owner;

(c) Costs, including reasonable attorney fees to the prevailing party; and

(d) Other equitable relief the court finds appropriate.

(6) A tenant or home owner may raise an alleged violation of this section as an affirmative defense in a forcible entry and detainer proceeding.

(7) A late fee is distinct from rent, and a rental agreement may not classify a late fee as rent for the purposes of section 13-40-104 (1)(d).

Source: L. 2021: Entire section added, (SB 21-173), ch. 349, p. 2266, § 8, effective October 1.