How long is squatters' rights in Colorado?
Eighteen years, or seven with color of title and paid property taxes. And on the eighteen-year route Colorado asks something most states do not: the squatter, or a predecessor, must have reasonably and in good faith believed they were the owner.
If someone is living in your home now, the clock matters far less than getting them out lawfully, and that is where we can help.
- Statutory period
- 7 or 18 years
- What's different here
- a good-faith belief of ownership is required, and vacant homes have a 24-hour sheriff order
- Statute
- C.R.S. §§ 38-41-101, 38-41-108, 13-40.1-101
Someone living in your home in Colorado? Dardaris helps you get them out.
Changing the locks or cutting the power turns the law against you. We hand it to people who remove squatters lawfully, for a living.
If they are moving in right now, call the police first. Once they have settled in, it takes a formal process, and that is where we come in.
Your contact at Dardaris
Dardaris is not a law firm and removes nobody itself. If you hire the specialist we introduce, they pay us a referral fee, and you deal with them under their own terms. We pass your details on only once you agree.
- Tell us what is happening, by email or on a call. Talking to us costs nothing.
- We put you in touch with a removal specialist who works through the court and the sheriff, never around them.
- Once the home is free, Dardaris manages the letting for you.
Colorado's main period is eighteen years. C.R.S. section 38-41-101 bars an action to recover land after eighteen years and makes eighteen years' adverse possession conclusive evidence of absolute ownership. For claims filed on or after July 1, 2008, the person asserting the claim must prove each element by clear and convincing evidence.
The same section adds a condition few states have. Under subsection (3)(b), the claimant or a predecessor must have had a good-faith belief that the person in possession was the actual owner, and the belief must have been reasonable in the circumstances. Someone who moved into a house knowing it was not theirs does not meet it. A shorter route exists in section 38-41-108: seven successive years in possession under claim and color of title made in good faith, with all legally assessed taxes paid.
Colorado also gave owners a faster removal route in 2018. SB 18-015, the Protecting Homeowners and Deployed Military Personnel Act (chapter 393, in force July 1, 2018), added Article 40.1 to Title 13. It covers a person who occupies an uninhabited or vacant residence with no current or earlier agreement or consent of the owner, who is not a relative and is not someone the owner accepted money from. The owner files a complaint and verified motion with the county court, and the court must hold a hearing no later than the next court day. If the court finds the occupant unauthorized, it enters a temporary mandatory injunction and a writ of restitution, and the sheriff must remove the occupants within 24 hours of receiving the order. A false declaration can bring perjury charges and a civil suit for damages.
Where Colorado sits against the rest of the United States, in years
Of 50 places in the United States on these pages, 5 have a shorter clock and 33 a longer one or none at all.
From the day someone moves in to the day a claim is possible
The same three stages in most places. The exact rule, and whether the last stage exists at all, is on each place's own page.
- Day oneMoving inCaught in the act, it is usually a matter for the police: a trespass, not a tenancy.
- Weeks to yearsSettled inOnce someone lives there, removing them usually takes a court order, the same route as for a tenant.
- After 7 or 18 yearsA claim becomes possibleOnly if every test held, without a break, for the whole period. Where the law allows no such claim, this stage never comes.
Not yours to do, once they have moved inChanging the locks, cutting the water or power, or removing belongings yourself. It is illegal in every US state and most places on these pages forbid it too. Each page says how removal works there.
The record a court asks for, kept as you go
Wherever your property stands, removing an occupant usually comes down to showing who had the right to be there, and since when. Dardaris files every lease, message and document for a building by date, so that record already exists on the day you need it.
- Every lease, with who signed it and when
- Every message with a tenant, on the thread it was sent in
- Every document, filed against the building it concerns
Frequently asked questions
What are the squatting laws in Colorado?
Colorado's adverse possession statutes are C.R.S. §§ 38-41-101 and 38-41-108: 18 years, or 7 with color of title and paid taxes. What is different here: the claimant must have reasonably and in good faith believed they owned the land, and since 2018 owners of vacant homes can use Article 40.1 of Title 13 for a fast court order. Squatting is trespassing, and an owner does not change the locks or cut the utilities to force someone out.
How long is squatters' rights in Colorado?
Eighteen years of adverse possession under § 38-41-101, proved by clear and convincing evidence. Seven successive years under claim and color of title made in good faith, with all assessed taxes paid, under § 38-41-108.
What applies to an ordinary squatter with no deed in Colorado?
Eighteen years, and the good-faith rule works against them: the claimant or a predecessor must have reasonably believed they were the owner. A squatter who knew the home was not theirs generally cannot meet it.
What is Colorado's 2018 squatter removal law?
SB 18-015 added Article 40.1 of Title 13. For an uninhabited or vacant home, the owner files a complaint and verified motion with the county court, a hearing follows by the next court day, and an owner who succeeds gets an injunction and writ of restitution that the sheriff carries out within 24 hours. It does not cover relatives, people the owner took money from, or anyone previously given permission to be there. If it is denied, the owner can still bring an ordinary eviction.
Can a Colorado owner remove a squatter without a court order?
No, but for a vacant home the court route can be done in about a day: a hearing by the next court day and a sheriff removal within 24 hours of the order. Changing the locks or cutting the utilities on someone who has settled in is not the lawful route. If you catch someone while they are still moving in, call the police.
Can someone help me get squatters out of my home in Colorado?
Yes. Removal specialists do it through the court and the sheriff. Changing the locks or cutting the power would put you in the wrong. Dardaris can put you in touch with one, and once the home is free, manage the letting for you.
Elsewhere in the United States
The same question, on a different clock. Every place sets its own period and its own shortcuts.
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
- See every place
This is general information, not legal advice.Laws change, and a county or a city can add its own wrinkle on top of the state rule, the way New York City does. Confirm the current rule for your address before acting on it, and talk to a local attorney before relying on any of it in a real dispute.