Facing a 3-Day Notice to Vacate After Moving In Without a Lease
Start a free AI-assisted chat and connect with an experienced Colorado attorney, with no obligation.
Reviewed & verified by A. Jason Velez, Esq.*
Managing Attorney, 1LAW · Last reviewed May 28, 2026
Legal Inquiry
Consumer Legal Issue
Victim of domestic violence, boyfriend was arrested. Ii moved in with him 3 months ago thinking he owned the house. His grandparents put a 3 day notice on my door. Can they do that. I had no idea they owned it.
No lease. I moved in under the impression he owned the house. There were many untrue things.
Attorney Answer
Treat the 3-day notice as real — under Colorado Revised Statutes § 13-40-107(2)(d), as amended by HB 24-1098 effective April 19, 2024, a tenancy at will gets at least three days, and with no lease, no rental agreement, and no rent owed to the grandparents, a tenancy at will is most likely what you have. Do not stay put on the assumption the notice is too short.
Colorado Revised Statutes § 13-40-107, titled "Notice to terminate tenancy," sets the periods in subsection (2): at least 91 days for a tenancy of a year or longer, 28 days for six months or longer but less than a year, 21 days for one month or longer but less than six months, 3 days for a tenancy of one week or longer but less than one month or a tenancy at will, and 1 day for a tenancy of less than a week. Those tiers turn on the term of the tenancy — the rental period that was agreed to — not on how many months you have actually been in the house. A month-to-month tenant of five years still gets 21 days, not 91. On what you describe there was no agreement with the grandparents at all: no lease, no term, and no rent owed to them. That is the tenancy at will subsection (2)(d) gives three days. Protections for domestic violence victims generally address lease termination or excluding an abuser under a protective order — they do not by themselves determine whether a third-party owner who was never in an agreement with you can require you to leave.
What you can do:
1. Contact a tenant or eviction legal-aid clinic immediately given the short timeline.
2. Do not sit out the three days betting the notice is defective — have it reviewed right away, but plan around three days being the correct period for a tenancy at will.
3. Gather records showing when you moved in and any communications about the living arrangement.
⏱ Time limits apply. You've already received a 3-day notice to vacate, and under Colorado Revised Statutes § 13-40-107(2)(d) three days is the period for a tenancy at will. Get a local landlord-tenant attorney or Colorado Legal Services on this today, before the three days run — if you stay past the notice the owners can file an eviction, and a possession judgment plus costs is a much harder problem than an early phone call.
*Attorney review is supported by AI-assisted drafting and legal research algorithms. Use of this Chat does not create an attorney-client relationship.
By using this service you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy.
Courts & Legal Aid in Colorado
- File or look up a case through the Colorado Judicial Branch, which serves the state.
- Get free civil legal help from Colorado Legal Services.
- Use the LSC — Find Legal Aid to find a local legal-aid office by ZIP code.
- Use the LawHelp.org to browse free legal information and self-help resources.
- Use the ABA Lawyer Referral Directory to get matched with a local attorney through your state bar.
- Visit HUD — Housing Discrimination Complaint to report housing discrimination.
- Visit CFPB Consumer Tools to tenant, mortgage, and eviction resources.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a 3-day notice enough to evict someone who has lived in a home for several months?
Often yes. In Colorado the tiers in Colorado Revised Statutes § 13-40-107(2) are keyed to the term of the tenancy, not to how many months someone has actually lived there, and subsection (2)(d) sets three days for a tenancy at will — someone staying with no lease, no agreed term, and no rent obligation. An attorney can confirm which tier the facts fall into.
Do domestic violence protections affect an eviction started by a third-party property owner?
Generally, domestic violence protections address things like lease termination rights or excluding an abuser under a protective order, rather than determining whether an owner who was never party to any agreement can require someone to leave. These are usually treated as separate legal questions that an attorney can help sort out.
What determines how much notice a landlord or owner must give before eviction?
Many states base the required notice period on factors like the length of the tenancy and whether there was a written or oral rental agreement. Because these rules vary and can be technical, having a local landlord-tenant attorney review the specific timeline is generally recommended.
