Colorado, Landlord Delaying Move-in By 10 Days After Lease Signed And Move-in Date Agreed Upon.

Location: Fort Collins, Colorado

My fiancee and I signed a lease for an apartment in Fort Collins, Colorado. The lease start date and agreed move in date are July 20, 2026. We've already paid the required fees and deposits and have made our moving arrangements based on that date.

We're moving from Indiana to Colorado. We have:

Reserved a moving truck.

Scheduled, planned, and begun preparations for our cross country move to arrive on July 20.

A few days before our move, the property manager emailed us saying the current tenant is unable to vacate the apartment and that they now want to delay our move in until July 30.

We told them that would not work, and reinforced we would be there on July 20.

They offered us a different apartment at another property, but:

It costs $150 more per month than the lease we signed.

It's about twice as far from where we'd like to be.

It doesn't have elevator access, which was one of the reasons we chose our current apartment.

We declined that option because it doesn't meet our budget or the reasons we selected our current apartment. And reinforced again that we'd be there on July 20

We've asked what other solutions they can provide, including temporary accommodations and reimbursement for additional expenses caused by the delay.

My questions are:

Under Colorado law, what obligations does the landlord have if they cannot deliver possession of the apartment on the agreed move in date because the previous tenant has not vacated?

Are they responsible for costs such as a hotel, storage, moving truck extensions, or other reasonable expenses we incur because of the delay?

Does the fact that we've already signed the lease and paid deposits change our legal position?

Is there anything specific we should or should not say in our communications with the property manager while we try to resolve this?

We're hoping to resolve this amicably, but we want to understand our rights before agreeing to anything.