Colorado tenant screening laws

An application fee must be spent entirely on your cost of processing the application, based either on actual cost or on your average cost per applicant. Charge every applicant for the same unit, or for any unit you offer at the same time, the same fee. Give each applicant a receipt and either a list of the expenses the fee will cover or an itemization of the actual expenses, and make a good-faith effort to refund any unused part within 20 calendar days after processing (C.R.S. § 38-12-903).

• You must accept a portable tenant screening report from an applicant unless you take only one application fee at a time for the unit and refund it within 20 calendar days after either side declines the lease. You may require that the report is no more than 30 days old, costs you nothing to use, and comes with the applicant's statement that nothing material has changed. If an applicant provides one, you may not charge an application fee or a fee to use the report (C.R.S. § 38-12-903(2)(b); C.R.S. § 38-12-904(1.5)).
• Before any screening you expect to charge for, tell applicants in substantially the statute's words about the portable report and the fees it rules out, for example in the listing or on the application in at least 12-point bold type (C.R.S. § 38-12-904(1.5)(d), (e)).
• Do not consider rental or credit history older than seven years, any arrest record, or a conviction more than five years old, except convictions for the offenses the statute lists (C.R.S. § 38-12-904(1)(a), (b)).
• You may ask about income only to confirm it is at least twice the annual rent the applicant will pay, and you may not require more. For an applicant using a housing subsidy, you may not consider a credit score, an adverse credit event or the lack of a credit score unless federal law requires it (C.R.S. § 38-12-904(1)(c), (d)).
• If you deny an application, make a good-faith effort to give written reasons within 20 calendar days, plus a copy of any consumer report you obtained and notice of the right to dispute it. Give a paper denial notice if the applicant requests one. If a proprietary system prevents directly citing the screening criteria, provide its report with only the proprietary information redacted; the system does not eliminate the notice duty (C.R.S. § 38-12-904(2)).
• From January 1, 2027, every rental application must tell applicants what screening information you will try to access, generally describe the factors you will evaluate, and state whether you use a third-party screening service, naming it if you do. The new disclosure rule does not require you to create or reveal fixed disqualifying criteria (C.R.S. § 38-12-904(1.7); HB26-1196, sections 3 and 4).
• A violation can cost $2,500 plus costs and attorney fees. The applicant must give seven calendar days' notice before suing, and curing within seven days limits the penalty to $50 (C.R.S. § 38-12-905).
• You may not ask about or collect information on an applicant's immigration or citizenship status, except as the law allows, such as asking every applicant for the same financial documents (C.R.S. § 38-12-1203(1); C.R.S. § 38-12-1204(1)(b)).
• Check the statutory report definition before applying the portable-report rules. It is a consumer report requested by the prospective tenant, containing reporting-agency information and its current-through date, identity and contact information, employment and income verification, last-known address, and the required compliant rental, credit and conviction checks for the reported prior-residence jurisdictions. A report for an applicant using a housing subsidy need not include credit history, a credit score or an adverse credit event. A self-written application is not automatically a portable screening report (C.R.S. 38-12-902(2.5)).
• Use the current delivery rules rather than an older checklist. Effective January 1, 2026, the Legislature repealed the subsection that allowed requiring a portable report to be made directly available by the reporting agency or through a third-party website. The current statute still allows the listed age, no-access-cost and material-change requirements. Confirm the report definition and applicable exception separately; a vendor's preferred ordering or delivery process does not establish compliance (C.R.S. 38-12-904(1.5)(b) and history).

Colorado bars refusing to rent, setting different terms, asking about or advertising a preference based on disability, race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, familial status, veteran or military status, religion, national origin or ancestry. It also bars refusing to rent or setting different terms because of a person's source of income, including housing assistance (C.R.S. § 24-34-502(1)).

• The source of income rules do not apply to a landlord with three or fewer rental units, and a landlord with five or fewer single-family rentals and no more than five units is not required to accept federal housing choice vouchers for those homes (C.R.S. § 24-34-502(1.5)(a), (1.7)).
• You may check credit if you check every applicant's credit (C.R.S. § 24-34-502(1.5)(b)).
• The mere presence of an assistance animal is not a direct threat and is not presumed to cause substantial damage; documented conduct of the animal may be considered (C.R.S. § 24-34-502(1)(a)(III)).
• Do not ask applicants about, or consider, their status as a victim-survivor of domestic violence, domestic abuse, stalking or unlawful sexual behavior (C.R.S. § 38-12-402(5)).
• Do not ask about, disclose or act on a tenant's immigration or citizenship status except as the law allows (C.R.S. § 38-12-1203).
• Colorado's disability housing law prohibits refusing necessary reasonable modifications of an existing home or refusing reasonable accommodations that give a person with a disability an equal opportunity to use and enjoy housing, including public and common-use spaces (C.R.S. § 24-34-502.2(2)(a), (b); C.R.S. § 24-34-501(3.5)).
• Permitting an assistance animal is presumed reasonable after the housing provider has an opportunity to engage in an interactive accommodation process. A complete prohibition is presumed discriminatory. The law permits a good-faith interactive process and reasonable documentation of disability or related need unless that disability or need is obvious (C.R.S. § 24-34-502.2(2)(b)(II)).