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A Colorado home sells with its lease attached. The buyer becomes the landlord on the day of closing, the tenant keeps every right in the lease until it ends, and no sale forces a move-out before that date. This guide answers the questions Denver metro and Front Range owners ask when a tenant-occupied house, condo or duplex goes on the market: what notice the tenant gets, when showings are allowed, how the security deposit moves to the buyer, and what happens when the buyer wants to live in the home.
Does the lease survive the sale of a Colorado rental?
Yes. A written lease is a contract that runs with the property. When title transfers, the buyer steps into the seller's position as landlord and takes the lease exactly as written: same rent, same end date, same pet terms, same deposit. The tenant does not sign a new lease at closing and does not have to.
The Colorado Contract to Buy and Sell Real Estate, the state-approved form used in every Front Range sale, has a section for leases. The seller delivers copies of every current lease to the buyer by the document deadline, and the buyer takes the home subject to those leases. A buyer who wants different terms negotiates with the tenant after closing, not before.
A month-to-month tenancy also survives closing. The difference is how much notice ends it, which is covered below.
Do I have to tell my tenant I am selling?
Tell them in writing before the sign goes up. Colorado does not require a specific notice-of-intent-to-sell form, but the lease, the showing schedule and the deposit transfer all require written notice, and a tenant who hears about the sale from a photographer at the door stops cooperating. A one-page letter that covers four points does the job:
- The lease stays in force. State the end date and confirm that rent, deposit and terms do not change.
- How showings will work. Days, hours, the notice you will give, and how the tenant blocks a specific time.
- What happens at closing. The buyer becomes the landlord; the tenant gets the new owner's name, the address for rent and the deposit transfer letter within days of closing.
- Who to call. One phone number for questions during the listing.
How much notice does a Colorado tenant get before a showing?
Colorado statute does not set a fixed number of hours for a landlord to enter an occupied rental. The lease controls. Most Colorado leases, including the standard forms Front Range property managers use, require 24 hours of written notice and entry at reasonable hours, and 24 hours is the standard the Kenna Real Estate Group writes into every tenant-occupied listing. A lease that says 48 hours means 48 hours.
What works on a tenant-occupied listing on the Front Range:
- Set showing windows. Two or three blocks a week, for example Tuesday and Thursday 4 to 7 pm and Saturday 10 am to 1 pm, agreed with the tenant in writing. Buyers book inside the windows; the tenant plans around them.
- No lockbox surprises. Every showing is confirmed with the tenant by text before the lockbox code goes to the buyer's agent.
- Pay for cooperation. A $100 to $200 rent credit for each week the home shows clean, or a flat $500 at closing, costs less than one cancelled week of showings.
- Photograph once. Professional photos and a 3D tour shot on one scheduled day cut in-person showings by half.
The tenant's belongings stay in the photos unless the tenant agrees to a staging day. Read showing your Colorado home to buyers for the showing checklist the group uses on every listing.
Can I make the tenant move out before the lease ends?
No. A fixed-term lease ends on its end date, not on the closing date. The three lawful paths to an empty home before the lease ends are:
- The tenant agrees to leave early in a signed written agreement, in most cases with a payment (see cash for keys below).
- The lease has an early-termination or sale clause that the tenant signed, and you follow its notice period to the day.
- The tenant breaches the lease (nonpayment, unauthorized occupants, damage) and you complete a court eviction.
Changing locks, shutting off Xcel Energy or Denver Water service, removing doors or moving belongings out is an illegal self-help eviction in Colorado and exposes the owner to damages. Every removal of a tenant who refuses to leave goes through the county court in a forcible entry and detainer case.
How much notice ends a month-to-month tenancy in Colorado?
Colorado law ties the notice period for ending a periodic tenancy to how long the tenancy has run. The notice is written, states the date the tenancy ends, and is served the way the statute requires.
| Length of tenancy | Written notice required |
|---|---|
| One year or longer | 91 days |
| Six months to one year | 28 days |
| One month to six months | 21 days |
| One week to one month | 3 days |
| Less than one week | 1 day |
Colorado's for-cause eviction law, in effect since 2024, adds a second test for tenants who have lived in the home 12 months or longer: the owner needs one of the listed reasons to decline a renewal or end a periodic tenancy. The listed no-fault reasons include the owner or a relative moving in and renovation work that requires the home to be empty. Whether a sale, or the buyer's plan to occupy, fits a listed reason is the first question for a Colorado landlord-tenant attorney, and it gets answered before any notice is served. A notice served on the wrong ground restarts the clock.
What is cash for keys and what does it cost in Denver?
Cash for keys is a written agreement in which the tenant gives up the lease early and leaves the home clean on a set date in exchange for a payment. It is the fastest legal way to deliver a vacant home to a buyer who wants to live in it. On the Front Range the payment runs $1,000 to $5,000, set by the months left on the lease, local rent and the cost of the tenant's move; the full deposit is returned on top when the home is left clean. The agreement states the move-out date, the payment, the condition of the home at hand-off, and that the tenancy ends on that date. A Colorado attorney drafts or reviews it for $300 to $600.
Compare that with a court eviction: filing fees, 30 to 60 days from notice to possession when uncontested and longer when contested, attorney fees of $1,500 and up, and a buyer who has walked. Cash for keys wins on cost and time in almost every sale.
What happens to the security deposit when I sell?
The deposit belongs to the tenant, and it transfers with the home. Colorado law gives the selling landlord two choices when the ownership interest ends: transfer the deposit to the buyer and notify the tenant in writing of the transfer and the buyer's name and address, or return the deposit to the tenant. In practice the deposit is credited to the buyer on the settlement statement at closing and the buyer sends the tenant the notice within days.
The buyer then holds the deposit under Colorado's deposit rules: return within one month of move-out unless the lease sets a longer period, up to 60 days, with an itemized list of any deductions. A seller who keeps the deposit at closing owes it back, and the buyer has a claim against the seller for it.
Should I sell with the tenant in place or wait for a vacant home?
Run the numbers on both. Who buys the home decides the answer.
- Investor buyer, tenant stays: a paying tenant on a lease is the product. The buyer wants the rent roll, the lease, the payment history and the deposit ledger. Price it on rent and condition, sell it during the lease, and skip the vacancy. The Colorado rental property checklist is what these buyers work from, and the Colorado duplex and multifamily buying guide covers two- to four-unit sales.
- Owner-occupant buyer, vacant home: Front Range single-family homes and townhomes draw the most buyers when they are empty, cleaned and shown seven days a week. Owner-occupants pay more than investors for the same house. A vacant listing costs one to two months of lost rent plus a $2,000 to $6,000 turnover (paint, carpet, cleaning; see preparing and adding value before selling) and returns a higher price and a faster contract.
- Month-to-month tenant: serve the notice, list during the notice period, and time closing for after the move-out date.
Pricing a tenant-occupied home is a separate job from pricing a vacant one. The group's Smart Pricing Report prices both ways so you see the gap before you decide. Investor buyers for Denver, Aurora and Lakewood rentals start from the group's search pages, for example homes for sale in Aurora.
What Denver-specific rules apply?
Denver requires a residential rental license for every long-term rental in the city, single units included, with a passed inspection. The license belongs to the owner and does not transfer at closing; the buyer applies for a new one. Disclose the license status in the listing. Aurora, Boulder and other Front Range cities run their own registration or licensing programs; check the city's rental program before listing. Read the Denver HOA rules and fees guide too: many Denver condo and townhome associations cap the number of rentals, and a buyer who wants to keep renting needs the count before writing an offer.
How do buyers finance a tenant-occupied home?
An owner-occupant buyer's loan requires the buyer to move in within 60 days of closing, so the lease end date or the cash-for-keys date must land inside that window. Investor buyers use investment-property loans with larger down payments. Mike Oswald, VP of Mortgage Lending at Rate, NMLS 261003, Equal Housing Lender, pre-approves both kinds of buyer and confirms the occupancy timing before the contract is written. You are free to use any lender. Details are on the Kenna financing page.
Where to go next
- How the Kenna Real Estate Group helps sellers
- How to sell a house in Colorado
- The Colorado home seller's guide
- Colorado real estate investing guide
- What Denver landlords need to know about winter compliance
- State of the Denver rental market
- Meet the Kenna Real Estate Group agents
Talk to the Kenna Real Estate Group
The Kenna Real Estate Group at Keller Williams DTC sells tenant-occupied homes across the Denver metro and the Front Range: we read the lease, write the tenant letter, set the showing windows, price the home both ways and coordinate the deposit transfer at closing. Call or text 303-955-4220. A live person answers. Not a robot, not a phone tree. You can also search every home for sale in Colorado.
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Questions about any home in Colorado? Call or text 303-955-4220. A live person answers.
