Colorado Residential Rental Application and Screening Packet

Colorado Residential Rental Application and Screening Packet

Use this packet for one adult applicant. Give each co-applicant a separate copy. Complete and deliver the criteria and state disclosures before accepting money or ordering a report.

Privacy rule: Do not write a Social Security number, taxpayer identification number, bank-account number, payment-card number, or full government-ID number in this packet. Collect identity credentials only through a separately approved secure channel with access controls and a retention schedule.

Privacy and Secure-Handling Notice

• Designated secure identity channel: [________________________________]
• Identity data permitted through that channel: [________________________________]
• Roles authorized to access it: [________________________________]
• Encryption/access-control standard: [________________________________]
• Retention trigger and destruction date/rule: [________________________________]
• Secure destruction method: [________________________________]
• Privacy contact for access or correction requests: [________________________________]

Colorado Screening-Fee and Portable-Report Module

Portable-report advisement: The prospective tenant has the right to provide a portable tenant screening report as defined by Colorado law. If a qualifying portable report is provided, the landlord may not charge a rental-application fee or a fee to access or use that report.

Provide this advisement before screening steps for which an application fee would be expected, in a location and by a method reasonably likely to reach applicants. Section 38-12-904(1.5)(e) lists advertisements, a landlord website home page, the application, and oral notice with written confirmation, with applicable formatting rules. The one-application-at-a-time/refund exemption below removes these portable-report duties when both statutory conditions are met.

• ☐ Applicant offered a portable report completed within the previous 30 days.
• ☐ Report meets the statutory content requirements, is free for the landlord to access or use, and applicant states no material information has changed.
• ☐ Landlord uses the statutory one-application-at-a-time/refund exemption instead; any application fee will be fully refunded within 20 calendar days after written notice that no lease will be entered.

If charged, an application fee must be used entirely for processing costs, must be uniform across covered applicants, and requires an expense disclosure or itemization plus a receipt. Remit unused amounts in good faith within 20 calendar days after processing. A Colorado denial notice must state the reasons; if a consumer report was obtained, provide the report and dispute-right notice. Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 38-12-903, 38-12-904.

1. Property and Housing Provider

• Property address/unit: [________________________________]
• Monthly rent: $[________]
• Proposed move-in date: [__/__/____]
• Lease term offered: [________________________________]
• Housing provider/agent: [________________________________]
• Notice address: [________________________________]
• Email/telephone: [________________________________]
• Date application became available: [__/__/____]
• Date completed application received: [__/__/____] at [____] ☐ a.m. ☐ p.m.

2. Written Screening Criteria

Complete before the applicant signs. Apply the same lawful criteria consistently.

Starting January 1, 2027, each rental application must state the information and data the landlord will try to access, describe the screening factors, and identify any third-party screening service used. Complete the fields in section 7 before giving this packet to an applicant. Colo. Rev. Stat. § 38-12-904(1.7).

Housing-subsidy screening gate: Applicant seeks to rent with a housing subsidy: ☐ Yes ☐ No. If Yes and financial information is used, apply § 38-12-904(1)(c): do not inquire into or consider income beyond whether annual income reaches 200% of the applicant-paid annual rent share. Do not inquire into or consider a credit score, adverse credit event, or lack of score unless federal law requires score consideration. Record the applicant-paid rent share and the lawful basis for any federal exception: [________________________________]. Section 38-12-904(1)(e) separately permits financial information required by a funding source to qualify an applicant for an income-restricted unit.

Other applicants: When using financial information to screen an applicant without a housing subsidy, ask about income only to decide whether it reaches 200% of annual rent; do not require income above that threshold. The income-restricted-unit funding exception also applies here. Colo. Rev. Stat. § 38-12-904(1)(d)-(e).

History limits: If using rental or credit history, consider only the seven years before the application. Do not consider arrests. If using criminal history, do not consider convictions older than five years unless one of the specific offenses listed in § 38-12-904(1)(b) applies. Record any exception and its statutory category: [________________________________].

Apply every screening criterion consistently and without discrimination. Federal law protects race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, and national origin (42 U.S.C. § 3604). Colorado law also protects creed, ancestry, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, veteran or military status, and source of income (Colo. Rev. Stat. § 24-34-502(1)(a)(I), (l)-(m)). Check local protections and applicable statutory exceptions before use. The source-of-income provisions in § 24-34-502(1)(l)-(p) do not apply to a landlord with three or fewer rental units. Under § 24-34-502(1.7), a landlord with no more than five total rental units, including no more than five single-family rentals, need not accept federal housing choice vouchers for those single-family homes.

3. Applicant Information

• Full legal name: [________________________________]
• Other name used for rental-reference matching: [________________________________]
• Preferred contact method: ☐ Email ☐ Telephone ☐ Mail
• Email: [________________________________]
• Telephone: [________________________________]
• Current address: [________________________________]
• Time at current address: [________________________________]
• Requested move-in date: [__/__/____]
• Other proposed occupants and relationship to applicant: [________________________________]
• Animals: [________________________________]
• Assistance-animal accommodation requested through confidential process: ☐ Yes ☐ No

Do not ask for diagnosis or disability details on this form.

4. Residence History

Applicant authorizes the housing provider to contact the references listed above about tenancy dates, payment history, lease compliance, and property condition, subject to applicable law.

5. Income and Rent-Payment Resources

List only information relevant to the published criterion. Do not exclude a lawful source because of a protected status or source-of-income rule. For a housing-subsidy applicant, request only what § 38-12-904(1)(c)(I) allows to determine whether annual income reaches 200% of the tenant-paid annual rent share. For a non-subsidy applicant, request income information only to determine whether annual income reaches 200% of annual rent. Apply the income-restricted-unit funding exception in subsection (1)(e) when its conditions are met.

• Optional guarantor offered under the published criteria: ☐ Yes ☐ No
• Guarantor name/contact: [________________________________]

6. Applicant Statements

Applicant states that:

• ☐ The information supplied is complete and accurate to the best of the applicant's knowledge.
• ☐ The applicant received the written criteria and state disclosures before any fee or screening.
• ☐ The applicant received the housing provider's privacy/retention notice.
• ☐ The applicant understands this application is not a lease or promise of approval.
• ☐ Identity documents will be provided only through the designated secure channel.

Applicant signature: [________________________________] Date: [__/__/____]

7. Consumer-Report Authorization

I give written instructions authorizing [HOUSING PROVIDER/AGENT] to obtain from [CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCY] and use the report types checked below solely to evaluate this rental application. Any later report requires a separate lawful purpose or authorization.

This authorization relies on 15 U.S.C. § 1681b(a)(2). It does not authorize employment screening, marketing, or disclosure to unrelated persons.

• Consumer reporting agency: [________________________________]
• Address: [________________________________]
• Telephone/toll-free telephone: [________________________________]
• Report types: ☐ Credit ☐ Rental history ☐ Eviction records ☐ Criminal records ☐ Other: [________]
• Information and data the provider will attempt to access: [________________________________]
• Third-party screening service used: ☐ No ☐ Yes; name: [________________________________]
• Authorization expires if no report is requested by: [__/__/____]

Applicant signature: [________________________________] Date: [__/__/____]

8. Fee or Deposit Receipt

• Date received: [__/__/____]
• Amount received: $[________]
• Character: ☐ No fee ☐ Screening/application fee ☐ Refundable security deposit (state terms and cap apply)
• Payment method/reference (no full account number): [________________________________]
• Vendor/out-of-pocket component: $[________]
• Housing-provider processing component, if lawful: $[________]
• Refund due: $[________] by [__/__/____]
• Receipt/itemization delivered by: ☐ Paper ☐ Email
• Recipient signature: [________________________________]

9. Internal Decision Record

• Application complete: ☐ Yes ☐ No
• Date screening began: [__/__/____]
• Criteria applied exactly as disclosed: ☐ Yes
• Decision: ☐ Approved ☐ Approved with lawful conditions ☐ Denied ☐ Withdrawn
• Specific criterion and verified fact supporting decision: [________________________________]
• Consumer report affected decision: ☐ Yes ☐ No
• State-required report copy/refund/notice completed: [________________________________]
• Decision maker/date: [________________________________]

Do not record protected-class information or unsupported assumptions.

10. Rental Decision Notice

If the application is denied, give the applicant written reasons for the denial. Make a good-faith effort to provide this notice within 20 calendar days after the decision under Colo. Rev. Stat. § 38-12-904(2). If the application caused you to obtain a consumer report, include a copy and notice of the applicant's right to dispute its accuracy with the reporting agency. Use the other decision options below when a notice is required for an action based on a consumer report.

• Applicant: [________________________________]
• Date: [__/__/____]
• Property: [________________________________]

Your application was:

• ☐ Denied
• ☐ Approved with a security deposit of $[________] total, subject to the two-month cap in Colo. Rev. Stat. § 38-12-102.5(1). A post-closing occupancy exception takes effect January 1, 2027 under subsection (2).
• ☐ Approved with a qualified guarantor
• ☐ Approved with another condition: [________________________________]

Specific disclosed criterion and reason: [________________________________]

Consumer report obtained during this application: ☐ Yes ☐ No
If yes, report copy and dispute-rights notice attached: ☐ Yes

Consumer-report information affected this action: ☐ Yes ☐ No

If yes:

• Reporting agency: [________________________________]
• Address: [________________________________]
• Telephone/toll-free telephone: [________________________________]
• Credit score used: ☐ No ☐ Yes: [____] (for a subsidy applicant, complete Yes only if federal law requires score consideration under § 38-12-904(1)(c)(II))
• Required score-factor disclosures attached, if applicable: ☐ Yes ☐ Not applicable

The reporting agency did not make this decision and cannot give the specific reasons for it. You may obtain a free copy of the report from that agency if requested within 60 days, and you may dispute inaccurate or incomplete information with the agency. 15 U.S.C. § 1681m(a).

Housing provider/agent signature: [________________________________]

Sources and References

• 15 U.S.C. § 1681b — https://uscode.house.gov/us/usc/119-134/t15/s1681b/
• 15 U.S.C. § 1681m — https://uscode.house.gov/us/usc/119-134/t15/s1681m/
• 42 U.S.C. § 3604 — https://uscode.house.gov/us/usc/119-134/t42/s3604/
• Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 38-12-102.5, 38-12-902 to -904 — https://olls.info/crs/crs2026-title-38.htm
• Colo. Rev. Stat. § 24-34-502 — https://olls.info/crs/crs2026-title-24.htm