DENVER (KDVR) — If you rent in the state of Colorado, you’re going to have a few extra layers of protection starting Aug. 7.
This is because two laws that passed in the 2023 legislative session are going into effect.
These laws are SB23-184, Protections for Rental Tenants, and HB23-1095, Prohibited Provisions In Rental Agreements. Both laws were passed in April and signed into law in June.
Income requirements capped at 200% of rent
One big component of SB23-184 is that, with exceptions, prospective tenants won’t be required to make any more than 200% of annual rent.
Also, landlords will not be allowed to use information about income, except to verify that the tenant makes over 200% of annual rent.
A landlord also won’t be able to use a credit score, lack of credit score or any adverse credit events like late payments unless they’re federally required to.
However, if they do, they won’t be able to take any information older than seven years into consideration. This seven-year limit will also be the case for a prospective tenant’s rental history. This was already part of the law before the bill was passed, however.
Any landlord that violates these new application requirements will have to pay $50 to the prospective tenant and, if they don’t fix the issue, are subject to an additional penalty of $2,500 to, again, be paid to the prospective tenant.
Also with the new law, tenants won’t be required to give a security deposit that is more than two months’ rent.
Prohibited items in rental agreements
As expected, HB23-1095 lists a few new things that aren’t allowed to be included in rental agreements.
Some of the things that will be prohibited are:
- A rental agreement that requires fees, damages or a penalty if a tenant fails to provide notice of nonrenewal before the end of the lease
- An agreement that characterizes any fees that aren’t base monthly rent as “rent” that can be collected using certain remedies like eviction
- Any provision that requires tenants to pay fees or markups above what a landlord paid for a third-party service
The new law doesn’t apply to certain rental agreements, including ones in mobile homes or mobile home parks.
