Colorado’s screening law is detailed. Income ratios, credit history, criminal history and even the wording of your ads all have rules. Here is what a Colorado landlord or leasing agent can ask at each stage.
What can you ask a prospect on the first call or message?
Ask about the unit, the timing and whether the prospect meets your written criteria. Keep the script the same for everyone.
Questions that are fine on first contact:
- When do you want to move in, and for how long?
- How many people will live in the unit? Reasonable occupancy limits are allowed (42 U.S.C. 3607).
- Do you have pets? An assistance animal for a person with a disability is not a pet, and refusing a reasonable accommodation is unlawful (24 CFR 100.204).
- Does your household income reach at least twice the annual rent?
That last question is phrased that way on purpose. When you use financial information to consider an application, you may not consider or inquire about the amount of income except to confirm it is at least 200% of the annual rent, and you may not require more than that (C.R.S. 38-12-904(1)(d)). For an applicant with a housing subsidy, the 200% test applies only to the portion of the rent the tenant pays.
Before any screening step that would lead you to collect an application fee, you must tell the prospect they may give you a portable tenant screening report, and that if they do you cannot charge an application fee or a fee to use the report (C.R.S. 38-12-904(1.5)(d)). The notice can go in your ads in at least 12-point bold type, on your website’s home page, in the application, or orally with written confirmation of receipt.
What should you never ask?
Colorado bars any written or oral inquiry about disability, race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, familial status, veteran or military status, religion, national origin or ancestry (C.R.S. 24-34-502(1)(a)).
Source of income is protected as well, covering any lawful source including government or private assistance (HB20-1332). Two limits apply: landlords with three or fewer rental units are exempt from those source-of-income provisions, and a landlord with five or fewer single-family rental homes and no more than five rental units in total need not accept federal housing choice vouchers for those homes (C.R.S. 24-34-502(1.5) and (1.7)).
Questions to keep off every call, text and form:
- “Are you a citizen?” or “What is your immigration status?” A landlord may not demand, request or collect this information, with limited exceptions such as government program requirements (C.R.S. 38-12-1203). A tenant can recover a civil penalty of up to $2,000 per violation (C.R.S. 38-12-1205).
- “Are you married?” or “Do you have kids?”
- “Do you have a disability?” Federal rules ban asking whether an applicant has a disability or how severe it is, though you may ask all applicants whether they can meet the tenancy’s requirements (24 CFR 100.202(c)).
- “Is that Section 8? We don’t take programs,” if you are covered by the source-of-income rules.
What can the rental application ask for?
The application can ask for identity details, rental history, employment and income, and consent to screening. To verify financial qualifications you may request a Social Security number or a taxpayer identification number, as long as you ask every applicant for the same information (C.R.S. 38-12-1204).
Several limits shape what you can do with the answers (C.R.S. 38-12-904):
- Rental history and credit history older than seven years may not be considered.
- For an applicant with a housing subsidy, you may not consider a credit score, an adverse credit event or a lack of credit score unless federal law requires it.
- Since January 1, 2026, an applicant using a housing subsidy need not include credit history in a portable screening report, and you can no longer insist that the report reach you through a reporting agency’s own site (HB25-1236).
Starting January 1, 2027, every rental application must describe the information and data you will try to access, give a general description of the factors you weigh (credit, rental history, income and criminal background if applicable), and say whether you use a third-party screening service and name it (HB26-1196).
Can you run credit and background checks, and when?
Yes. Checking credit is not an unfair housing practice if you check every prospective tenant (C.R.S. 24-34-502(1.5)(b)), subject to the subsidy limits above. Under federal law, a report used in a denial, a co-signer requirement, a larger deposit or higher rent triggers an adverse action notice with the reporting company’s details and the applicant’s dispute rights (FTC).
If you use criminal history, you may not consider an arrest record from any time, or any conviction more than five years before the application (C.R.S. 38-12-904(1)(b)). The exceptions are convictions or deferred judgments for methamphetamine distribution or manufacture, possession of materials to make methamphetamine, offenses requiring sex offender registration, and certain other offenses the statute lists.
If you deny an application, give a written notice stating the reasons (C.R.S. 38-12-904(2)). If you obtained a consumer report, include a copy and advise the applicant of the right to dispute it, and make a good-faith effort to send the notice within 20 calendar days of the decision. A violation of these rules costs $2,500 plus court costs and attorney fees, or $50 if cured within seven days of notice (C.R.S. 38-12-905).
Are application or screening fees capped?
There is no dollar cap, but the fee is limited to your costs (C.R.S. 38-12-903). The whole fee must go to processing the application, based on actual expense or your average expense per applicant.
Other conditions:
- Charge every applicant the same fee for the same unit, or for any unit you offer at the same time.
- No fee at all if the applicant provides a portable tenant screening report, which a landlord generally must accept (HB23-1099). A landlord who takes only one application fee at a time for a unit and refunds it within 20 calendar days after either side declines in writing is exempt from the portable report rules, including the advance notice.
- Give a disclosure of expected expenses or an itemization of actual ones, and a receipt.
- Refund any unused part within 20 calendar days after processing, in good faith.
What about security deposits?
A landlord may not require a security deposit of more than two months’ rent (C.R.S. 38-12-102.5). The cap has applied since August 7, 2023.
From January 1, 2026, a landlord also may not keep a deposit to cover damage or a defective condition that existed before the tenancy (HB25-1249).
At a glance
| Rule | Colorado |
|---|---|
| Application fee cap | No dollar cap; actual or average cost only; no fee with a portable screening report |
| Security deposit cap | Two months’ rent |
| Income requirement | No more than 200% of annual rent (of the tenant’s share if subsidized) |
| Source-of-income protection | Yes, except landlords with three or fewer units; small single-family exception for vouchers |
| Criminal history | No arrest records; no convictions over five years old, with listed exceptions |
| Immigration status | Landlords may not request it |
| Key statutes | C.R.S. 24-34-502; 38-12-102.5; 38-12-902 to 905; 38-12-1203 |