Colorado Rental Advertising and Fair Housing
In addition to federal fair housing laws, like the Federal Fair Housing Act, the state of Colorado has enacted an expanded set of protected classes and fair housing laws. The Colorado protected classes are much wider and include things like hair texture or immigrant status.
The Colorado Fair Housing legislation is contained in Colorado Revised Statutes Title 24 Article 34 under Part 5 Housing. A clean word copy of the legislation is available to Reiville members within the Reiville community.
Protected Classes in Housing
The expanded protected classes in Colorado are:
- Disability (a mental or physical impairment which substantially limits a major life activity)
- Race (includes hair texture, hair type, hair length, or a protective hairstyle commonly or historically associated with race, such as braids, locs, twists, tight coils or curls, cornrows, Bantu knots, Afros, and headwraps).
- Creed
- Color
- Religion
- Sex
- Sexual Orientation
- Gender Identity
- Gender Expression
- Martial Status
- Familial Status
- National Origin
- Ancestry
- Source of Income
- Veteran or Military Status
There is also a prohibition against retaliation. Persons who have engaged in protected activity (such as making a complaint of discrimination or requesting a reasonable accommodation) are protected from retaliation for doing so.
Prohibited Housing Practices – C.R.S. § 24-34-502
In practical terms it is an unfair housing practice and unlawful to:
- Refuse to rent or sell -i.e. “make housing unavailable”
- Apply unequal terms or conditions of sale or rental
- Refuse to allow reasonable accommodation and or modification necessary to accommodate a disability
- Redlining
- Steering
- Intimidate, Threaten, Coerce – i.e. Harass
- Advertise with a discriminatory preference or limitation based on protected class
- Misrepresent availability
- Retaliate against a person engaging in a protected activity, e.g. complaining of discrimination or requesting a reasonable accommodation.
Filing Deadline
All complaints must be filed within one year after the alleged unfair housing practice occurred, and if not so filed, it shall be barred. C.R.S. § 24-34-504.
Exempt Housing
In limited circumstances, the prohibition against discrimination based on familial status does not apply, e.g. housing for older people (like prohibition of minor children living in 55 plus active communities), and the sale of a single-family home without the assistance of advertising, a broker, or other housing professionals.
Recent Fair Housing Updates
Colorado has expanded fair housing requirements to make it easier and less expensive for tenants to submit rental applications and credit report checks. The fair housing expansions make it difficult to fully vet a prospective tenant.
Landlords are now limited in how much they charge for application fees and credit checks. Landlords also have a proactive requirement to disclosure in 12-point BOLD-faced font that the landlord will accept a Portable Tenant Screening Report. In addition, if a Portable Tenant Screening Report is provided, that the landlord is prohibited from charging the tenant a rental application fee or charging a prospective tenant a fee for the landlord to access or use the Portable Tenant Screening Report. (See HB23-1099).