Thought Leaders: Changes to Colorado’s Residential Landlord-Tenant Laws

In the latest legislative session, the Colorado General Assembly passed several laws affecting residential landlords:

• Eviction: The Legislature made significant changes to a landlord’s right to evict residential tenants. Effective April 19, 2024, landlords are prohibited from evicting residential tenants without cause with limited exceptions.

• Warranty of Habitability: Under Colorado law, a landlord is deemed to warrant that residential premises are fit for human habitation throughout a tenant’s occupancy. Effective May 3, 2024, there are new parameters to that requirement and new legal standards and procedures for warranty of habitability claims brought by tenants against landlords.

• Occupancy Limits: Effective July 1, 2024, local governments are prohibited from enacting occupancy limits based on familial relationships. However, local governments may still implement residential occupancy limits based on building and fire codes as well as other health and safety standards.

• Rental Price Gouging: Effective August 7, 2024, rental price gouging is prohibited during a declared disaster, such as the Marshall Fire in Boulder County or other natural or human-caused disasters. Under the new law, price gouging occurs when a landlord increases rent by more than the greater of 10% over the prior year’s rent or in an amount that matches the percentage increase in the prior year.

• Disability-Based Discrimination: It is unlawful for a residential landlord to discriminate against a tenant on the basis that the tenant has a disability and to refuse to allow an individual with a disability to make reasonable modifications to the rental premises if the modifications are necessary to afford the individual full enjoyment of the premises. Effective August 7, 2024, landlords are prohibited from conditioning permission for a modification on the tenant agreeing to restore the interior of the premises.

If you are a landlord with questions about the impact of any of these new laws on your business, please contact the BHGR Real Estate Group.

This article is informational only. The presentation or use of this information does not in any manner constitute an attorney-client relationship between BHGR and the website user. While the information on this site concerns legal issues, it is not intended as legal advice and is not a substitute for particularized advice from your own legal counsel.