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Colorado codifies subsidy protections and eases portable tenant-screening barriers
Summary
New law clarifies that tenants in federally subsidized (covered) properties receive a 30-day cure period for nonpayment, codifies protections for tenants with housing subsidies, and makes portable screening reports more usable by allowing tenant-provided reports meeting statutory requirements.
Presenters described two related changes affecting tenants who use housing subsidies and those seeking to avoid repeated tenant-screening fees.
House Bill 1240 creates a new part of the state landlord-tenant act for tenants with housing subsidies. Presenters said it codifies protections consistent with the CARES Act-era practice: in a covered, federally subsidized property a tenant is entitled to a 30-day notice to cure nonpayment of rent (replacing a prior 10-day notice). The Division of Housing is expected to issue guidance to help landlords determine whether a property is a "covered" property under the statute.
The statute also clarifies that if a tenant prevails in a warranty-of-habitability case and the court finds fair-market rent lower than the amount paid, the tenant (including those with subsidies) can recover full damages. In addition, failing to provide timely documentation required for rental-assistance applications may now constitute source-of-income discrimination with penalties discussed in the presentation.
Speakers tied these protections to the Portable Tenant Screening Act changes and 2023 rental-application fairness law: a tenant's portable screening report (dated within statutory limits) must be accepted when it meets statutory requirements, reducing repeated fees. Presenters advised landlords to verify currency (reports must be current within the statutory window) and other statutory content rather than refusing all tenant-provided reports.
