The Contract Deadlines Buyers and Sellers Miss in Colorado
A signed purchase contract is not the finish line. It is a schedule. Colorado's standard residential contract sets dozens of dates for title review, inspections, financing, appraisal, and more. Several of those dates decide whether a buyer can still walk away, whether the earnest money is at risk, and whether the deal is still alive at all.
This article covers the deadline structure in the Colorado Real Estate Commission's Contract to Buy and Sell Real Estate (Residential), in the version with a mandatory use date of January 1, 2026. Brokers are generally required to use Commission-approved forms, so most Colorado home sales are written on this contract. Custom contracts, commercial transactions, and new-construction agreements can work very differently. If a builder requires its own contract, your broker must now advise you to get legal advice before signing. See our guide to Colorado’s written brokerage agreement law.
Why the dates in a Colorado real estate contract matter
The standard contract says that time is of the essence for all dates and deadlines, and that they are strict and absolute. It also says that the contract can be changed only by a written modification signed by the parties. Put together, a deadline in the contract means what it says, and it does not move unless both sides agree in writing.
How deadlines are counted
Most deadline disputes start with a miscount. The contract has its own rules:
A "day" ends at 11:59 p.m. Mountain Time, unless the parties fill in a different Time of Day Deadline. If they do, the objection, resolution, examination, and termination deadlines expire at that time instead.
Counting a period of days: when a deadline is stated as a number of days after an event rather than as a calendar date, the first day is excluded and the last day is included.
Weekends and holidays: the parties check a box stating whether a deadline that falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or federal or Colorado holiday will or will not roll to the next business day. If neither box is checked, the deadline is not extended. Many people assume the opposite.
Which deadlines cause the most trouble?
The contract's deadline table has more than 40 entries. A handful create most of the risk.
Inspection deadlines
The contract gives the buyer three related inspection dates:
Inspection Termination Deadline. By this date, a buyer who finds the property's physical condition unsatisfactory, in the buyer's sole subjective discretion, may terminate the contract.
Inspection Objection Deadline. Instead of terminating, the buyer may send the seller a written objection listing the conditions the buyer wants addressed. Sending an objection ends the buyer's right to terminate under the inspection termination provision.
Inspection Resolution Deadline. If the buyer and seller don't sign a written agreement resolving the objection by this date, the contract terminates automatically unless the seller receives the buyer's written withdrawal of the objection by the deadline.
That last rule surprises people. A buyer and seller can be close to agreeing on repairs, let the resolution deadline pass while emails go back and forth, and find the next morning that the contract has terminated on its own terms.
Title deadlines
The buyer has deadlines to receive and object to the title commitment, the recorded documents behind it, and certain off-record matters. If the buyer doesn't object in time, the contract treats the buyer as accepting title as disclosed. If the buyer objects and the parties don't resolve it by the Title Resolution Deadline, the contract terminates unless the buyer withdraws the objection by that deadline.
Financing deadlines
For a financed purchase, the contract sets several loan-related dates. The one with the biggest consequences is the New Loan Availability Deadline. Up to that date, the buyer may terminate if loan availability is not satisfactory to the buyer. After it passes without a termination notice, the contract states that the buyer's earnest money will be nonrefundable, unless the seller is in default or another provision of the contract applies. From that point, a buyer whose loan falls through later may be unable to close and may be in default.
Appraisal deadlines
If the lender's appraisal comes in below the purchase price, the buyer can terminate or object by the Appraisal Objection Deadline, as long as the buyer has the appraisal or the lender's written notice. As with inspections and title, an objection that isn't resolved in writing by the Appraisal Resolution Deadline results in termination unless the buyer withdraws it in time.
Deadlines that apply to sellers
Sellers have deadlines too, including delivering the Seller's Property Disclosure, association documents, lead-based paint disclosures for older homes where required, and other due diligence documents. The seller also has to deliver access and possession on the dates the contract specifies. A seller who does not perform on time may be in default. That can give the buyer remedies under the contract, including terminating and recovering the earnest money, seeking damages, or asking a court to order the sale to go forward.
What happens if you miss a deadline?
The answer depends on which deadline it is and who missed it.
Missing your own termination or objection deadline usually means losing that right, not breaching the contract. The contract says that if a notice to terminate isn't received by the deadline, the party who had the right accepts the matter as satisfactory and waives the right to terminate for that reason. The contract continues, but without that exit.
Losing a termination right can put the earnest money at risk later. If a buyer can no longer terminate and then fails to close, the seller may have remedies for the buyer's default. Under the standard contract, unless the parties chose otherwise, the seller's remedy is to keep the earnest money as liquidated damages. If the parties checked the alternative box, the seller may instead pursue other remedies, including actual damages or specific performance. Whether a buyer is actually in default, and what follows, depends on the facts and on the options selected in the contract.
Missing a resolution deadline can end the contract entirely. As described above, an unresolved inspection, title, or appraisal objection results in automatic termination on the resolution deadline unless the buyer withdraws it. If the parties still want to proceed, they generally need a new written agreement. The Commission has approved an Agreement to Revive Contract for that purpose.
When the contract terminates, the earnest money generally goes back to the buyer, subject to certain contract provisions. The Earnest Money Holder, however, generally releases funds only on written mutual instructions signed by both parties. The contract requires each party to sign a release within three days of receiving the form when the other party is entitled to the funds. If the parties dispute who gets the money, the holder may wait for a court proceeding, file the funds with a court, or follow the contract's 120-day notice procedure.
Can you get an extension?
Often, yes, but only by agreement. The contract can be changed only by a written modification signed by both parties. The Commission's Agreement to Amend/Extend Contract form is commonly used for this. Neither side is obligated to agree to an extension, and a party asking for one should expect that the other side may ask for something in return.
Timing makes a practical difference. An extension requested and signed before a deadline expires simply moves the date. After a deadline passes, the situation may have changed: a termination right may already be waived, or the contract may already have terminated, which is a harder problem to fix.
Hypothetical example: A buyer sends a timely inspection objection asking the seller to replace a furnace. The seller offers a $3,000 credit instead, the buyer wants $5,000, and the Inspection Resolution Deadline passes at 11:59 p.m. with no signed resolution and no withdrawal. Under the standard contract, the contract terminated at the deadline. Now the seller is free to accept another offer, and the buyer has no right to insist on the original deal. If the parties had signed a short amendment extending the resolution deadline by two days, they would have kept negotiating inside a live contract. The actual outcome in any real transaction depends on the documents signed and how the parties communicated.
Practical steps
Build a deadline calendar the day the contract is signed. List every date from the contract's deadline table, not just the closing date, and note the time of day, whether weekends and holidays roll, and who has to act.
Know who counts as "received." Under the standard contract, notices before closing are generally effective when received by the party, a person named to receive notices, or that party's broker or brokerage firm. Electronic delivery is permitted to the addresses listed in the contract.
Put agreements in writing before the deadline. A verbal "we'll work it out" does not change a date.
Read the check boxes. Holiday extensions, the time of day, and the seller's default remedy are all choices made in the contract, and they matter.
Remember the dispute path. The standard contract requires the parties to try mediation in good faith before arbitration or litigation. In a lawsuit or arbitration relating to the contract, the prevailing party is entitled to reasonable costs and attorney fees.
When to get legal help
A real estate attorney can help before signing, by reviewing custom provisions and the dates being proposed. An attorney can also help when a deadline is close or has already passed, when the parties disagree about whether a notice was timely or whether the contract terminated, or when there is a dispute over the earnest money. Getting advice before the deadline usually leaves more options than getting it after.
The bottom line
Under Colorado's standard contract, deadlines control who can walk away and on what terms. Most costly mistakes come from treating the closing date as the only date that matters. The objection, resolution, and termination deadlines in the weeks before closing are where most rights are won or lost.
This article provides general information about Colorado law and the Colorado Real Estate Commission's standard residential contract. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship with Proper Tea Law. Laws and Commission forms change, and the terms of your contract and the facts of your situation control the analysis. For advice about your transaction, consult an attorney licensed in Colorado.