Colorado Code
Part 1 - Department of Public Health and Environment
§ 25-1-120. Nursing Facilities - Rights of Patients

(1.5) If a facility requires a lease agreement with a provision requiring in excess of a month-to-month tenancy and the lease agreement results in or requires forfeiture of more than thirty days of rent if a patient moves due to a medical condition or dies during the term of the lease agreement, then the lease agreement shall be deemed to be against public policy and shall be void; except that inclusion of such a provision shall not render the remainder of the contract or lease agreement void. A contract provision or lease agreement that requires forfeiture of rent for thirty days after the patient moves due to a medical condition or dies does not violate this section. The provisions regarding forfeiture of rent shall appear on the front page of the contract or lease agreement and shall be printed in no less than twelve-point bold-faced type. The provisions shall read as follows:
This lease agreement is for a month-to-month tenancy. The lessor shall not require the forfeiture of rent beyond a thirty-day period if the lessee moves due to a medical condition or dies during the term of the lease.

In circumstances in which the patient moves due to a medical condition or dies during the term of a contract or lease agreement, the facility shall return that part of the rent paid in excess of thirty days' rent after a patient moves or dies to the patient or the patient's estate. The facility may assess daily rental charges for any days in which the former or deceased patient's personal possessions remain in the patient's room after the period for which the patient has paid rent and for the usual time to clean the room after the patient's personal possessions have been removed. The facility shall have forty-five days after the date the patient's personal possessions have been removed from the patient's room to reconcile the patient's accounts and to return any moneys owed. This subsection (1.5) applies to any facility, or a distinct part of a facility, that meets the state nursing home licensing standards set forth in section 25-1.5-103 (1)(a)(I) and the licensing requirements specified in section 25-3-101. For purposes of this section, "daily rental charges" means an amount not to exceed one-thirtieth of thirty days' rental amount plus reasonable expenses.
Source: L. 75: Entire section added, p. 873, § 1, effective July 1. L. 76: (8) added, p. 640, § 1, effective May 26. L. 89: (3)(a) and (8) amended and (9) added, p. 1144, § 1, effective April 4. L. 91: (6) and (8)(a) amended, p. 1856, § 13, effective April 11. L. 94: (8)(a) amended, p. 2624, § 42, effective July 1. L. 2006: (6) and (8)(a) amended, p. 2012, § 81, effective July 1; (1.5) added, p. 253, § 1, effective January 1, 2007. L. 2009: (1)(l) and (3)(a) amended, (HB 09-1260), ch. 107, p. 448, § 18, effective July 1.
Cross references: For the legislative declaration contained in the 1994 act amending subsection (8)(a), see section 1 of chapter 345, Session Laws of Colorado 1994.