Colorado’s 2025 legislative session has concluded and new laws applicable to Colorado businesses and property owners will be going into effect. This article summarizes some of the recently enacted (1) cannabis, (2) consumer, (3) employment, (4) housing and development, (5) insurance, (6) natural resources, and (7) real estate laws. Many of these new laws are comprehensive and detailed. Therefore, business and property owners are encouraged to read these new laws in their entirety and consult an attorney to determine the law’s applicability.
Cannabis
HB25-1209: Marijuana Regulation Streamline
Legislators enacted HB25-1209 to streamline Colorado’s cannabis laws and requirements. The new law is comprehensive. Notably, it expands the Marijuana Enforcement Division’s (MED) rulemaking authority related to digital identification cards of licensed marijuana business owners and persons who transport regulated marijuana, video surveillance, and research and development. The law also clarifies recordkeeping requirements, relaxes some background check requirements, raises retail marijuana sales limits, and changes video surveillance requirements, MED fees, and inspections. In addition, HB25-1209 repeals existing provisions that make undisclosed ownership of a marijuana license and an unapproved transfer of a marijuana license a Class 2 misdemeanor.
HB25-1209 takes effect on January 5, 2026 and applies to conduct occurring on or after January 5, 2026, except that certain provisions regarding funding and state appropriations take effect immediately or are dependent on annual general appropriation. HB25-1209 is codified at Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 44-10-103, 44-10-203, 44-10-307, 44-10-308, 44-10-313 to -314, 44-10-401, 44-10-501 to -503, 44-10-601 to -604, 44-10-701, 44-10-801, 44-10-1001, 44-10-1201, and 24-48.5-128.
Consumer
HB25-1090: Protections Against Deceptive Pricing Practices
The General Assembly enacted HB25-1090 to address so called “junk fees” charged by businesses and landlords which increase the cost of goods or services purchased by consumers. The new law prohibits a landlord from requiring a tenant to pay certain fees, charges, or amounts or to include provisions in a lease requiring a tenant to pay a fee, charge, or amount prohibited by the new law. For example, landlords cannot charge: (1) a utility fee above the amount charged by the utility provider for the services to the tenant’s unit; (2) fees intended to cover a landlord’s obligations such as property taxes; (3) rental processing payment fees; (4) late fees on anything other than rent; (5) or common area maintenance (CAM) fees. In addition, those fees that a landlord is allowed to assess must be included in a single total rental price. HB25-1090 also requires other businesses to transparently disclose the total price of a good or service, explain the charges, and present accurate pricing information. Violations of the new law constitute deceptive, unfair, and unconscionable trade acts or practices under the Colorado Consumer Protection Act. As a result, violators may be subject to private enforcement actions and monetary damages.
HB25-1090 is effective July 1, 2025 unless a referendum petition is filed by August 5, 2025 and is codified at Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 6-1-737, 6-1-720, and 38-12-801.
Employment
HB25-1001: Enforcement Wage Hour Laws
HB25-1001 expands employee rights under the Colorado Wage Act (CWA) in multiple areas, including: (1) widening the definition of “employer;” (2) adding remedies available to employees in wage claim cases; (3) increasing the cost of monetary penalties against employers; (4) making it harder for employers to recover attorney fees and costs in cases in which the employer prevails; (5) prohibiting the state from waiving a claim against an employer when a claim is paid if the alleged violation is the second or a subsequent failure or refusal to pay an employee’s wages or compensation in the last five years; (6) requiring the state to publish information about wage claim decisions on its website, including identifying employers by name; (7) allowing the state to report claim results to other governmental entities; (8) expanding the list of entities and individuals who are subject to discrimination and CWA retaliation claims; (9) allowing an employee asserting a CWA retaliation claim to seek damages for economic and noneconomic losses, including those for emotional distress and reasonable attorney fees and costs; (10) requiring the factfinder in a retaliation proceeding to consider the time between an individual’s exercise of a protected activity and an employer’s adverse action which may, without more, be sufficient to find retaliatory intent; and (11) prohibiting employers from retaliating against an employee based on the individual’s immigration status.
HB25-1001 takes effect on August 6, 2025 unless a referendum petition is filed by August 5, 2025. HB25-1001 is codified at Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 8-4-101, 8-4-105, 8-4-109, 8-4-110 to -111, 8-4-113, 8-4-120, and 8-4-120.5.
HB25-1208: Local Governments Tip Offsets for Tipped Employees
Under Colorado law, a local government may establish a local minimum wage above the statewide minimum wage established in the state constitution. A local government that enacts a minimum wage must provide a tip offset for tipped employees in an amount equal to the tip offset amount described in the state constitution, which is $3.02. The legislature amended that requirement when it passed HB25-1208. Under the new law, a local government that has enacted a code or an ordinance imposing a minimum wage that is higher than the state minimum wage may increase the amount of the tip offset associated with the local minimum wage. However, local governments are prohibited from imposing a tip offset in an amount that allows a tipped employee to earn less than the state minimum wage minus $3.02.
HB25-1208 is effective July 1, 2025 but applies to local governments on and after January 1, 2026. HB 25-1090 is codified at Colo. Rev. Stat. § 8-6-101.
HOusing + Development
HB25-1029: Municipal Authority over Certain Land
Under Colorado law, a municipality has full police power and control of land it acquires outside its municipal boundaries for use as parks, parkways, boulevards, or roads. HB25-1029 extends this authority to land a municipality acquires for open space and natural areas whether that land is open or closed to the public. However, this new law does not apply to land acquired within the exterior boundaries of an Indian reservation.
HB25-1029 is effective immediately and is codified at Colo. Rev. Stat. § 31-25-216.
HB25-1093: Limitation on Local Anti-Growth Land Use Policies
HB25-1093 expands and clarifies current prohibitions on local governments’ anti-growth policies.
Among other things, the new law expands the definition of prohibited anti-growth laws to include a generally applicable land use law in specific urban areas that decrease the permitted residential density or residential uses of land to a lower residential density or fewer residential uses than were allowed by the land’s usage and zoning as of July 1, 2025. There is no corresponding increase of residential density or residential use elsewhere in the jurisdiction. In addition, the new law allows municipalities to seek a judicial determination regarding the legality of a proposed municipal initiative for a land use ordinance that restricts or limits the development or use of land that is submitted to the legislative body of the municipality and allows the owners of property subject to the proposed ordinance and persons designated as representing the petition proponents to intervene in the proceeding.
HB25-1093 is effective on August 6, 2025 unless a referendum petition is filed by August 5, 2025. HB25-1093 is codified at Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 29-20-104.2 and 29-20-203.
HB25-1211: Tap Fees Imposed by Special Districts
Developers or property owners are typically required to pay a tap fee to connect a property to a public water or sewer system. Those fees are set by the governing water and/or sanitation district. Subject to certain exceptions, HB25-1211 requires the water and/or sanitation district to provide water service to a property within its boundaries or service area if it has the capacity to do so. The new law also requires the district’s board to ensure that the amount of the tap fee is reasonably related to all costs incurred by the district in funding and providing water or sanitation services and, subject to certain exceptions, requires the district to apply at least one of several listed factors supporting the calculation and setting proportional or reduced fees.
HB25-1211 takes effect on August 6, 2025 unless a referendum petition is filed by August 5, 2025. HB25-1211 is codified at Colo. Rev. Stat. § 32-1-1006
HB25-1269: Building Decarbonization Measures.
Under existing law, certain building owners and operators must meet benchmarking requirements intended to curb greenhouse gas emissions. HB25-1269 amends that law in a variety of ways, including but not limited to: (1) requiring the state’s Air Quality Control Commission to adopt 2040 performance standards for owners to meet; (2) authorizing an alternative compliance mechanism for owners to comply with certain performance standards; (3) updating civil penalties owed for a violation of the benchmarking requirements; and (4) creating a building decarbonization enterprise which provides financial, technical, and other assistance to owners to implement building decarbonization measures. The enterprise is authorized to impose and collect an annual building decarbonization fee from owners to cover its assistance costs.
HB25-1269 is effective immediately and is codified at Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 30-28-211, 31-15-602, 25-7-142, 24-38.5-125, 25-7-122, 24-38.5-403, 24-38.5-102.6, and 24-38.5-112.
HB25-1272: Construction Defects & Middle Marketing Housing
Many Colorado communities are in desperate need of affordable housing for their residents. Condominiums and townhomes were historically an affordable alternative for homebuyers, but there has been a shortage of such units across the state due, in part, to the risk of expensive construction defect litigation and correspondingly high insurance costs for builders. The General Assembly passed HB25-1272 to address that problem and encourage construction of affordable mid-market housing. HB25-1272 creates an incentive program for builders to construct multifamily attached housing such as condominiums and townhomes and makes numerous changes to Colorado’s Construction Defect Act (CDARA) to limit program participants’ exposure to expensive construction defect litigation related to condominium and townhome construction. The new law also amends other sections of CDARA applicable to all construction defect claims and requires local governments to establish a fast-track approval process for applications for for-sale multifamily condominium projects to qualify for assistance from the state affordable housing fund.
HB25-1272 takes effect on August 6, 2025, unless a referendum petition is filed by August 5, 2025, and is codified at Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 13-20-802.5, 13-20-803.3, 13-20-803.5, 13-20-805, 38-33.3-303.5, and 29-32-105.
SB25-002: Regional Building Codes for Factory-Built Structures
SB25-002 is another bill aimed at increasing affordable housing in Colorado. It overhauls the law governing factory-built structures, including non-residential buildings, residential buildings, and tiny homes. The new law directs the state Housing Board acting through an advisory committee to develop comprehensive rules, including regional building code standards governing the construction and installation of factory-built structures. These standards must account for the regional climate and geography among other considerations. SB25-002 removes factory-built structures from the jurisdiction of the state Plumbing Board, Electrical Board, and Fire Suppression Administrator. Registered installers must install factory-built structures. However, plumbing and electrical installations that connect the structures to external utility sources that are not considered part of installation, are to be performed by licensed plumbers and electricians.
During the 2026 legislative session, the Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) must present the advisory committee’s recommendations to senate and house committees for review prior to adoption by the Housing Board. SB25-002 restricts local governments from enacting regulations that exclude factory-built structures from the local jurisdiction or regulate factory-built structures more strictly than non-factory-built structures.
SB25-002 is effective immediately and is codified at Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 12-155-106, 12-115-107, 24-33.5-1204.5, 24-32-3302, 24-32-3304 to -3305, 30-28-115, 31-23-301, 24-32-3309, 24-32-3310, 24-32-3311, 24-32-3318, 24-75-402, 24-32-3311, and 24-32-3315.
Insurance
HB25-1182: Risk Model Use in Property Insurance Policies.
HB25-1182 addresses rising homeowner property insurance premiums associated with the risk of wildfires in Colorado. The new law requires property insurers that use wildlife risk models, catastrophe models, and scoring methods as part of the underwriting process to provide the state with information and data about those models and scoring methods as part of the insurer’s rate filings. HB25-1182 also requires insurers to incorporate property-specific and community-level mitigation into their models. In addition, insurers must offer lower premiums to policyholders who undertake property-specific mitigation actions or who provide evidence of community-level mitigation actions. Insurers must also notify policyholders annually regarding price increases associated with wildfire risk, wildfire risk scores, and opportunities for policyholders to obtain mitigation discounts.
HB25-1182 takes effect on July 1, 2025 unless a referendum petition is filed by August 5, 2025 and is codified at Colo. Rev. Stat. § 10-4-124.
HB25-1205: Implement Fair Access to Insurance Requirement Plans
In a prior legislative session, the General Assembly created what is known as the fair access to insurance requirements plan association or “FAIR plan association” which is a nonprofit, unincorporated entity. The legislature established the FAIR plan association to provide property insurance coverage, including commercial property insurance, when coverage is not available from companies who are part of the association. HB25-1205 amends the laws applicable to the FAIR plan association.
The new law clarifies that the FAIR plan association is not: (1) a department, unit, agency, political subdivision, or instrumentality of the state; or (2) an insurance company or a person engaged in the business of insurance. HB25-1205 also grants a member insurer, the association and its agents or employees, the board of directors of the association, and the commissioner of insurance or the commissioner’s representatives, immunity for any action taken by them in the performance of their powers and duties for the association. In addition, the new law specifies that the only causes of action and remedies available to a policyholder of a fair access to insurance requirements plan policy against the association are breach of contract and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. Further, if a court finds that a claim brought against a FAIR plan association is frivolous, it shall award costs and attorney fees to the association.
HB25-1205 takes effect immediately and is codified at Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 10-4-1804 and 10-4-1810.5.
HB25-1322: Enforce Insurer Compliance Requests Insurance Policy
Under existing Colorado law, an insurance policyholder may request a certified copy of their insurance policy from a homeowners insurance carrier and the carrier must provide the requested policy. HB25-1322 clarifies that the request must be in writing and received by the carrier’s registered agent. Once the registered agent receives the request, the carrier has thirty (30) days to provide a certified copy of the policy to the policyholder. If a carrier fails to do so, the new law imposes a penalty in the amount of $50 per day on the carrier and allows a policyholder to recover attorney fees and costs from the carrier to enforce the requirement.
HB25-1322 takes effect on August 6, 2025 unless a referendum petition is filed by August 5, 2025 and is codified at Colo. Rev. Stat. §10-4-110.
Natural Resources
HB25-1040: Adding Nuclear Energy as a Clean Energy Resource
HB25-1040 expands the statutory definitions of “clean energy” and “clean energy resource” to include nuclear energy, including nuclear energy projects awarded funding through the United States Department of Energy’s advanced nuclear reactor programs. As a result of this change, nuclear energy projects are eligible for clean energy project financing at the county and city and county level and nuclear energy may be used by a qualifying retail utility to meet the 2050 clean energy target. However, it should be noted that under the new law, “clean energy resource,” for purposes of property taxation, does not include nuclear energy.
HB25-1040 takes effect on August 6, 2025, unless a referendum petition is filed by August 5, 2025, and is codified at Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 30-20-1202, 40-2-125.5, and 39-4-101.
HB25-1077: Backflow Prevention Devices Requirements
HB25-1077 exempts individuals engaged in the business of inspecting, testing, or repairing backflow prevention devices from state licensure requirements for plumbers but retains the licensure requirements for individuals engaged in the installation or removal of the devices (except that individuals who install or replace a backflow prevention device on a stand-alone fire suppression system remain exempted from the licensure requirements). The new law further provides that on and after July 1, 2025, a certified cross-connection control technician or a licensed plumber with a cross-connection certification who tests or repairs a backflow prevention device must affix a tag on the backflow prevention device that contains certain information about the plumber or technician, the date of the service, and a description of the service provided.
HB25-1077 is effective immediately and is codified at Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 12-155-118, 12-155-126, and 25-8-107.
Real Estate
HB25-1043: Owner Equity Protection in Homeowners’ Association Foreclosure Sales
HB25-1043 changes the law applicable to enforcement actions brought by homeowners’ associations (HOA) against unit owners. Under the new law, the HOA must comply with lien and foreclosure laws as well as the HOA’s governing documents before it can foreclose on an HOA lien on the unit owner’s property. The HOA must also satisfy detailed statutory requirements for giving notice of a deficiency to the unit owner. Further, HB25-1043 gives the unit owner the right to cure the deficiency as well as the right to sell the unit at fair market value or at an amount determined by the court during a foreclosure proceeding. The new law also requires the HOA to submit specific information to the Director of the state’s Division of Real Estate as part of its annual registration.
HB25-1043 takes effect on October 1, 2025 unless a referendum petition is filed by August 5, 2025. It is codified at Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 12-10-801, 38-33.3-123, 38-33.3-209.5, 33-33.3-316, 38-33.3-401, and 38-38-109.5.
SB25-053: Protect Wild Bison
SB25-053 affects ranchers and big game hunters, among others. The new law classifies bison as big game wildlife unless the bison is livestock and makes it illegal to hunt or take bison unless authorized by the state. SB25-053 clarifies that privately owned cattle, including privately owned bison or bison belonging to an Indian tribe, are not “wildlife.” The fee for issuing a bison hunting license is set at $374.22 for a resident and $2,756.74 for a nonresident. The penalty for illegal possession of wild bison is a fine of not less than $1,000 and not more than $100,000, or imprisonment for not more than one year in the county jail, and an assessment of 20 license suspension points. The penalty for illegally killing or capturing a bison is a fine of $10,000.
SB25-053 is effective on January 1, 2025, unless a referendum petition is filed by August 5, 2025, and is codified at Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 33-1-102, 33-4-102, 33-6-109, and 33-6-110.
Our Team
If you have questions about any of the new legislation passed by the Colorado General Assembly in 2025 and its potential effect on your business or property, please contact BHGR today.
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