Rent-to-Own Laws in Colorado: Your Rights

Colorado regulates rent-to-own through its Rental Purchase Agreement Act (C.R.S. Article 5-10). It pins down what a store can charge, blocks the harshest contract terms, and gives you reinstatement rights that get stronger the more you’ve paid.

Can I be arrested for not paying?

No, not for falling behind. Missing payments is a civil matter. The Act’s only criminal penalty, a fine of up to $500, is aimed at a store that willfully and intentionally violates the law, and those violations also count as deceptive trade practices (C.R.S. §5-10-901). If a store breaks the rules and you’re harmed, you can recover the greater of $250 or 25% of the total cost to acquire ownership, plus costs and attorney’s fees (§5-10-902).

Can I be charged with theft for keeping the item?

Keeping the item is a separate question. Colorado’s general theft law makes it a crime to knowingly retain leased property more than 72 hours after the agreed time of return in a lease agreement (C.R.S. §18-4-401). For a rent-to-own customer, that return time is set once the agreement ends or the store sets a date to get the item back, and how serious any charge would be depends on the item’s value.

This is about holding onto the item past the return time, not about being behind and trying to catch up. Colorado does not require a mailed demand here, so if you decide to walk away, returning the item promptly once the agreement ends is what keeps you clear of it.

Can the store come into my home?

No. A rental purchase agreement may not require you to authorize the store, or anyone acting for it, to enter your premises unlawfully or to commit any breach of the peace when repossessing (C.R.S. §5-10-502). The same section blocks an agreement from requiring an assignment of your earnings, a confession of judgment, a waiver of your defenses, or a prejudgment wage garnishment. A store also can’t garnish your wages before it gets a judgment (§5-10-702).

What can the store charge?

Colorado caps the add-on charges, which makes padded fees easy to catch:

• an initial nonrefundable fee of no more than $10;
• a delivery charge of no more than $15 (or $45 for more than five items), only if the store actually delivers to your home;
• a pickup charge of no more than $10, limited in how often it can be assessed;
• a late charge of no more than $5 (monthly) or $3 (weekly or biweekly), collected only once per payment (C.R.S. §5-10-601).

A store also can’t charge you a penalty for ending the agreement early or returning the item, or make you buy insurance from it (§5-10-504). And no payment builds up while the item is out for repair unless you’re given a loaner.

Reinstatement, and a boost past 60% paid

If you fall behind, you can reinstate the original agreement without losing any rights or options you’d earned, as long as you promptly surrendered the item when the store asked and not more than 60 days have passed since you returned it. That window stretches to 120 days if you’d already made more than 60% of the payments needed to own it (C.R.S. §5-10-701). To reinstate you pay the accrued missed payments and late charges plus a reinstatement fee of no more than $5, and a delivery charge if redelivery is needed. The store then has to give you back the same item or an equivalent substitute.

Owning it, or returning it

You can acquire ownership at any time after your first lease payment, on the terms set in your agreement (C.R.S. §5-10-501), and a store can’t make you pay more than the cost to own it or add a separate balloon payment (§5-10-503). The ownership calculator can help you see how close you are. If you’d rather stop, returning the item ends future payments.