Responding to a Colorado eviction: the date on the summons is the whole deadline

Colorado evictions run on a compressed timetable set by the summons itself. There is no twenty-one day answer period. The summons names a date, that date is at least seven and at most fourteen days after issue, and everything turns on it.

The good news is that Colorado hands the tenant a blank answer form with the summons, and the court cannot enter a default for possession before the close of business on the appearance date.

Where these rules sit

Eviction in Colorado is a forcible entry and detainer action under Article 40 of Title 13 of the Colorado Revised Statutes. That is a statute rather than a rule of civil procedure, so it sits outside this site's Colorado corpus — but the rules do reach into it at two points, and both are on this site.

C.R.C.P. 3.1 is the first:

How Commenced. An action filed under Article 40 of Title 13 of the Colorado Revised Statutes is commenced by filing with the court a complaint consisting of a statement of claim setting forth briefly the facts and circumstances giving rise to the action in the manner and form provided in section 13-40-110, C.R.S.

And subsection (b):

Time of Jurisdiction. The court shall have jurisdiction from the filing of the complaint.

Note the difference from an ordinary Colorado case: an FED action is commenced by filing only, and jurisdiction attaches then. The dual filing-or-service commencement in C.R.C.P. 3 does not apply here.

The appearance date

Under C.R.S. § 13-40-111, the summons must command the defendant to appear at a time and on a day not less than seven days but not more than fourteen days from the day of issuing it, to answer the complaint.

So the window is short and it is set when the summons issues, not when you are served. Find the date and time printed on the summons before anything else.

The statute also prescribes the warning the summons must carry, addressed to the tenant:

"If you do not respond to the landlord's complaint by filing a written answer with the court on or before the date and time in this summons or appearing in court at the date and time in this summons, the judge may enter a default judgment against you in favor of your landlord for possession."

Two routes are given there, and either satisfies the deadline: file a written answer on or before the date and time, or appear at that date and time.

The blank answer form

Also under § 13-40-111, a summons must contain a copy of a blank answer form required by § 13-40-113. The form includes a place for the defendant to indicate whether they will participate in the hearing in person or remotely by phone or video on a platform the court designates.

You should therefore receive the form you need with the summons. If you did not, that is worth raising — and the court's self-help materials publish it (JDF 102 is the current eviction summons form).

The protection in the rules

C.R.C.P. 55(b)(2) — which is on this site — puts a floor under the timing:

In forcible entry and detainer cases, a court may enter default pursuant to subsection (1) above; however, the court shall not enter a default judgment for possession before the close of business on the date upon which an appearance is due as set forth by C.R.S. 13-40-111(1).

So a default for possession cannot be entered early. The tenant has until the close of business on the appearance date, and a judgment entered before then is vulnerable.

That link between the rule and the statute is the most useful thing a tenant can know: the deadline is the end of the business day, not the moment the docket is called.

What goes in the answer

An FED answer does the same work as any answer: it responds to the allegations and raises defenses. Common ones in a Colorado eviction include:

• the notice was defective — wrong period, wrong form, wrong service;
• the rent claimed is wrong, or has been paid or tendered;
• habitability or breach of the landlord's obligations;
• retaliation or discrimination;
• the tenancy is not of a type the demand assumed; and
• improper parties or a defective complaint under § 13-40-110.

Colorado has amended its eviction statutes repeatedly in recent years, including the notice periods and the required contents of the summons and answer form, so the current version of Article 40 should be checked rather than a description of it.

Rules that apply once you are in

Because an FED is a civil action, the ordinary rules operate around the statute:

• C.R.C.P. 4 governs process.
• C.R.C.P. 12 governs defenses and objections.
• C.R.C.P. 55 governs default, with the FED protection above.
• C.R.C.P. 60 is the route if a judgment has already been entered — see setting aside a Colorado default judgment.

Note also that Colorado's mandatory disclosure regime does not apply here: C.R.C.P. 26(a) excludes "forcible entry and detainer" proceedings, along with several others. See Colorado's mandatory disclosures.

How Colorado compares

A short checklist

1. Read the date and time on the summons. That is the deadline, and it is between seven and fourteen days from issue.
2. File the written answer on or before that date and time, or appear. Either satisfies the statute.
3. Use the blank answer form that came with the summons, and indicate whether you will attend in person or remotely.
4. You have until the close of business on the appearance date — C.R.C.P. 55(b)(2) bars a default for possession before then.
5. Check the notice that preceded the case — period, form and service are the most common defects.
6. Raise every defense in the answer, including habitability, payment or tender, and retaliation.
7. Do not expect disclosure. C.R.C.P. 26(a) excludes FED proceedings from mandatory disclosures.
8. If a judgment for possession has already entered, move quickly under C.R.C.P. 60 — and check whether it was entered before the close of business on the appearance date.

Where these rules live

• C.R.C.P. 3.1 — Commencement of Actions in Forcible Entry and Detainer Cases
• C.R.C.P. 4 — Process
• C.R.C.P. 12 — Defenses and Objections
• C.R.C.P. 26 — General Provisions Governing Discovery
• C.R.C.P. 55 — Default
• C.R.C.P. 60 — Relief from Judgment or Order

This page explains how the procedure works. It isn't legal advice. Article 40 of Title 13 of the Colorado Revised Statutes is a statute rather than a rule of civil procedure, so its text is not reproduced on this site; it has been amended frequently, and the current version — together with the Judicial Branch's current eviction forms — should be checked before you rely on the periods described here.