Roommate to sole tenant on inherited property

[Jerah Yassine]

I'm looking for feedback on raising the rent on my deceased father's roommate in his second home.

My dad passed in January and had a second home in Colorado Springs. He had a roommate. The roommate had full access to the house except for 1 bedroom that my dad kept for himself (he kept the door locked). The roommate paid all utilities. My dad was charging the roommate $800 per month and the roommate basically paid my dad rent at anytime during the month, and I haven't been able to find any written lease.

Since January, we've been keeping the status quo on this home while we focus on other aspects of his estate. The roommate pays me $800 per month, usually around the 25th of the month, and has been covering all the utilities. I think my dad's room is still locked with his stuff in it (my brother is in Colorado Springs and I can't remember if he emptied out the room yet or not).

What I'd like to do is clean out my dad's room so that I can give the roommate full access to the house, get a formal lease agreement (probably month to month, since we're not sure if we're keeping or selling), a deposit, and raise the rent closer to market. The Zillow rent estimate is $1,900, and I'm thinking of setting the rent at $1,500.

Since the majority of my dad's estate is in CA, I have a CA based lawyer and I'm not sure what the laws are in CO. They are researching it for me, but wanted to ask for feedback here as well.

Can I legally raise his rent from $800 to $1,500? I'd give him 60 days notice, if he doesn't want to sign the lease or pay the increase, he can move out.

How much of a deposit can I ask for?

Are there any issues with this or things you see that I should consider?

Thanks so much! I've gotten great feedback from her already and really appreciate your time for even reading this and considering replying :)