Skip to content
RentalsTenantsOwners719.581.RENT
719.581.RENT

Home / Owner Center / Colorado Rental Law Checklist

owner tools

Colorado Rental Law Checklist

Colorado changed a lot of rental law in 2025 and 2026. Check your lease and your application against it.

Is your lease keeping up with Colorado law?

Colorado changed a lot of rental law in 2025 and 2026. When a lease or an application falls behind, the landlord is usually the one who pays for it, in refunds, penalties or a deposit claim that falls apart.

Get out your current lease and your rental application. If a property manager handles your rental, ask them for both, and ask how they handle repairs. Then answer each question yes or no.

  • Managing it yourself? Every "no" is something you will have to fix.
  • Have a property manager? Every "no" is a question for them. You hired a manager so you would not have to check this yourself. If they are missing these, it is fair to wonder what else they are missing.

This checklist is general information, not legal advice. Eclipse is a property management company, not a law firm, and we cannot tell you whether your lease is legal. For that, talk to a Colorado real estate attorney.

Part 1: Your lease

Changed in the last two years

1Does the lease have a habitability rights notice in bold print, and does it say where tenants report problems in both English and Spanish?

The notice has to be in 12-point bold type.

Required since January 1, 2025. § 38-12-505(3), C.R.S. (SB24-094)
2Does the lease say the security deposit comes back within 30 days, or within a longer period it names, up to 60 days?

If it still says "one month," it was written before the 2026 change.

What it can cost: miss the deadline and you lose the right to keep any of the deposit. Keep it the wrong way and you can owe the tenant three times the amount kept, plus their attorney fees.

Since January 1, 2026. § 38-12-103(1), C.R.S. (HB25-1249)
3Is the lease free of automatic cleaning, carpet or repainting charges at move-out?

A clause that charges a tenant for normal wear and tear is now void. Carpet older than 10 years cannot be charged as damaged at all.

What it can cost: three times the amount kept, plus the tenant's attorney fees. In court, the landlord has to prove the charge was fair.

Since January 1, 2026. § 38-12-103, C.R.S. (HB25-1249)
4Before your tenant signed, did the listing and the lease show one all-in monthly price that includes every mandatory fee?

That total has to be the most prominent price shown.

What it can cost: the tenant can demand a refund of the extra fees, and an unpaid refund grows at 18% a year.

Since January 1, 2026. HB25-1090
5Is the lease free of fees Colorado now bans?

Look for a card or processing fee with no free way to pay rent, a late fee on something other than rent, a fee for something the landlord already has to do (such as serving a notice), or a markup on a third-party service of more than 2% or $10 a month.

What it can cost: the tenant can demand a refund, and an unpaid refund grows at 18% a year.

Since January 1, 2026. HB25-1090; § 38-12-801(3), C.R.S.
6If a tenant dies, does the lease end without a penalty or a demand for the rest of the lease?Since September 1, 2025. § 38-12-801(3.5), C.R.S. (HB25-1108)
7Does the lease treat assistance animals separately from pets, with no pet rent, pet deposit or pet fee for them?

A tenant should be able to ask for one by phone or in person, not only through a website.

Colorado law since August 12, 2026 (HB26-1045), on top of federal fair housing rules

Older rules that leases still miss

8Is the late fee no more than $50 or 5% of the rent, whichever is greater, and charged only after rent is 7 full days late?

What it can cost: $50 per violation. If it is not fixed within 7 days of the tenant's written notice, $150 to $1,000 per violation, plus the tenant's damages.

Since 2021. § 38-12-105, C.R.S.
9Is the pet deposit $300 or less and refundable, and is pet rent no more than $35 a month or 1.5% of the rent, whichever is greater?Since 2024. § 38-12-106, C.R.S.
10If the lease has an attorney-fee clause, does it work both ways? Is the lease free of jury-trial and class-action waivers?

What it can cost: the clause is void, so it will not protect you, and using it can count as a deceptive practice.

§ 38-12-801(3), C.R.S. (HB23-1095)
11Did your tenant get a written radon disclosure and the state radon brochure before signing?

What it can cost: on a lease longer than one year, the tenant may be able to void the lease and move out.

Since 2023. § 38-12-803, C.R.S.
12Does the lease include the statement that Colorado bans discrimination based on source of income?§ 38-12-801, C.R.S.; § 24-34-502, C.R.S.

Part 2: Your rental application

13Starting January 1, 2027: does the application tell applicants what screening data will be pulled, what factors decide approval, and whether a third-party screening company is used?

This rule takes effect January 1, 2027. Every application used from that day on has to include these disclosures.

Starting January 1, 2027. HB26-1196
14Does the application tell applicants they can bring a portable screening report, and that no application fee is charged when they do?

What it can cost: an application violation can cost $2,500 to the applicant, plus court costs and attorney fees. The same goes for questions 15 through 17.

§§ 38-12-902 and -904, C.R.S. (HB23-1099; HB25-1236)
15Is the application fee the same for every applicant, no more than the actual cost, and does the applicant get a receipt?§ 38-12-903, C.R.S.
16Is the income requirement 2 times the rent or less? For an applicant with a housing voucher, is it based only on the part of the rent they pay?§ 38-12-904, C.R.S. (SB23-184; HB25-1236)
17Does the application avoid asking about arrests, or about convictions older than 5 years?

A few serious offenses are exceptions.

§ 38-12-904(1), C.R.S.
18Is the application free of questions about immigration or citizenship status?§ 38-12-1203, C.R.S. (SB20-224)

Part 3: Repairs and habitability

These are not in the lease. They are how repairs get handled. If you have a property manager, ask them how they do each one. Colorado rewrote these rules in 2024 (SB24-094).

19When a problem affects health or safety, such as no heat, no water, a gas leak or a broken outside lock, does work start within 24 hours of being told and finish within 7 days?

What it can cost: the rent the tenant owes can drop to $0 for the whole time it goes unfixed. After 48 hours' written notice, the tenant can hire the repair out and take it off the rent.

Since May 2024. § 38-12-503, C.R.S. (SB24-094)
20For other problems that make a home unlivable, such as a leaking roof, broken plumbing or pests, does work start within 72 hours and finish within 14 days?

What it can cost: the rent the tenant owes can drop by half for the whole time it goes unfixed. After 10 days' written notice, the tenant can hire the repair out and take it off the rent.

Since May 2024. § 38-12-503, C.R.S. (SB24-094)
21When a health or safety problem is not fixed right away, does the tenant get offered a comparable unit or a hotel room, at the landlord's expense, until it is fixed?

The tenant cannot be told to use their renters insurance for it. Budget for it before it happens.

§ 38-12-503(4), C.R.S. (SB24-094)
22When mold shows up, does someone, within 72 hours, put up a containment, stop the water causing it, and set up a HEPA air filter?§ 38-12-503, C.R.S. (HB23-1254; SB24-094)
23Does the repair clock start with any written report, including a text, an email, a portal request, or a note from your own repair person?

The clock does not wait for a formal letter. A text the manager never answered still counts.

§ 38-12-503(3), C.R.S. (SB24-094)
24After a tenant reports a repair problem, is the tenant protected from a rent increase, a non-renewal, new fees or fewer services because of it?

The tenant only has to show the complaint was one reason for the change.

What it can cost: three months' rent or three times the tenant's damages, whichever is more, plus their attorney fees.

§ 38-12-509, C.R.S.
25If the home has gas appliances, a fireplace or an attached garage, are the carbon monoxide alarms checked at every move-in, within 15 feet of each bedroom?

A landlord who follows this rule is protected from liability for carbon monoxide injuries. One who skips it is not.

§ 38-45-104, C.R.S.

Part 4: Your property manager's reviews

Reviews are where legal trouble shows up first, and tenant reviews show you how a manager treats the people living in your home. Look up your property manager on Google. Skip this part if you manage your rental yourself.

1. Their score, next to similar companies

Write down their Google rating. Then look up three or four other property managers in your town and write down the highest and lowest ratings you find, so you can see whether yours is near the top or the bottom.

2. Count the words in a few random reviews

Open five of their reviews at random, not just the newest or the best. Count the positive words, like helpful, quick, fair, friendly, responsive, recommend, and the negative words, like rude, ignored, never, slow, unfair, kept my deposit. Count words, not reviews.

3. Warning signs

Sort the reviews by Newest and read the one-, two- and three-star reviews from the last two years. Did any of them complain about:

Pay close attention to what tenants say. Tenants who like renting from a manager stay longer, pay on time, and call as soon as something breaks, while it is still cheap to fix. When a problem does come up, a good relationship fixes almost anything. A lot of unhappy tenant reviews is a red flag: it usually means more turnover, more vacancy and more disputes, and the owner pays for all of it.

★ For comparison: Eclipse is rated 4.8 stars in Grand Junction and 4.7 in Alamosa on Google, as of November 2026. The typical property manager in Grand Junction is rated 2.9. See how we counted

Your results

 

Yes
0
No
0
Not sure
0

 

Email Me My Results

Keeping up is part of the job

Colorado rental law changes almost every year. At Eclipse, keeping our leases, applications and move-out process current is part of managing your rental, not an extra.

If you are self-managing, or you are not sure your manager is keeping up, we would be glad to talk about what management with Eclipse would look like for your property.

Thinking about a change?

Tell us where your rental is. We will send you what it should rent for and how we would manage it. No obligation.

Get a Free Rental Analysis

More for owners

Go to the Owner Center
Owner CenterEverything for owners in one placeFree rental analysisWhat your rental should earnInstant rent estimateAn estimate by email in minutesPricingPlans for landlords and investorsResidential managementHow we manage your rentalCommercial managementRetail, office and industrial spaceOwner helpAsk your property managerOwner educationGuides, quizzes and books