New Laws Affecting Landowners, Landlords, and HOAs

The Colorado General Assembly passed an array of laws affecting Colorado real estate owners, landlords, homeowners associations, and developers in its 2026 legislative session. These new laws address reasonable accommodations for assistance animals, transfer, control, and management of homeowners associations, tenant data information, protections for homeowners in mobile home parks, residential mortgages for first responders,  and access to adjoining properties for repair and maintenance. These laws are found in HB26-1045, HB26-1065, HB26-1099, HB26-1196, HB26-1224, and SB26-177, each of which is discussed below.

New Laws Impacting the Colorado Real Estate Industry

HB26-1045: Disabilities Housing Protections 

State and federal law permit an individual with a disability to request reasonable accommodation from a housing provider to ensure equal access to housing in Colorado. Under existing law, an individual seeking a reasonable accommodation to keep an assistance animal is required to demonstrate that they have a disability and that the assistance animal is necessary to address a disability-related need. However, the federal government recently rescinded federal guidance that assisted housing providers and individuals with disabilities in understanding their respective rights and obligations regarding assistance animals. HB26-1045 restores the rescinded federal guidance by codifying it as state law.

To that end, HB26-1045 provides that permitting an assistance animal in housing is presumed to be a reasonable accommodation, so long as a housing provider has been given an opportunity to engage in an interactive accommodation process with the individual requesting the accommodation. The new law provides that the complete prohibition of assistance animals in housing is presumed to be discriminatory but a housing provider does not engage in a discriminatory housing practice solely by requesting reasonable documentation to support the claim of disability or disability-related need for an assistance animal or by engaging in a good faith interactive process to evaluate a request for an assistance animal, unless the disability or disability related need is obvious.

HB26-1045 includes a series of applicable definitions which help inform these new laws:

• A “reasonable accommodation” is defined as an exception or adjustment to a rule, policy, practice, or service that may be necessary for an individual with a disability to have equal opportunity to use and enjoy housing, including public common-use spaces;
• An “assistance animal” is defined as an animal that does work, performs tasks, assists or provides therapeutic emotional support to an individual with a disability. The term specifically includes an “emotional support animal” and a service animal; and
• An “emotional support animal” is defined to mean an animal that provides solely emotional support to an individual to alleviate a symptom or an effect of a disability.

Landlords should familiarize themselves with these requirements and take steps to develop and implement a good faith interactive process to evaluate a tenant’s request for an assistance animal.

HB26-1045 takes effect on August 12, 2026,* and is codified at Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 24-34-301, 24-34-501 to 24-34-502.2.

HB26-1099: Protect Financial Condition of Homeowners Associations

The Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act (CCIOA) governs the formation, transfer of control, and management of homeowners associations. HB26-1099 amends several sections of CCIOA as follows:

• Prior to transfer of control from a declarant to the association of a planned community or condominium, the declarant must now commission and pay for a reserve study for the planned community or condominium which meets specific statutory requirements, and the study must be made available by the association to all unit owners within set time frames. Declarants should familiarize themselves with the new requirements and take steps to have a compliant reserve study prepared in advance of transferring control to the association.
• When an association terminates or fails to renew an agreement with an association management company, the former association management company must deliver all association property and records to the association or its new management company within forty-five days of termination or non-renewal. Failure to comply with the forty-five-day requirement exposes the former association management company to interest, payment of the association’s late fees, monetary damages, and payment of the association’s attorneys’ fees and costs. Damages may also be trebled if the former management company’s failure to comply is willful. Associations who have contracted with association management companies should know and understand their rights should they terminate or fail to renew such contracts.

HB26-1099 takes effect on August 12, 2026,* and is codified at Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 38-33.3-209.2, 38-33.3-209.4, 38-33.3-303, and 38-33.3-317.

HB26-1196: Tenant Data Information 

HB26-1196 is intended to provide transparency in tenant screening practices and to protect tenant’s personal identifying information in eviction proceedings. Landlords are now required to do the following:

• Tenant Screening. Notify prospective tenants regarding the information and data the landlord will attempt to access when conducting a tenant screening, provide a general description of the factors the landlord will consider when evaluating a rental application (g., credit history, rental history, income, criminal background), and indicate whether the landlord uses a third-party tenant screening service and, if so, provide the name of the service. Landlords should review their tenant screening processes and ensure that they comply with the new law.
• Personal Identifying Information. A landlord must comply with applicable court rules governing the protection and redaction of personal identifying information in eviction filings. A landlord must also redact personal identifying information from any supporting documents submitted to a court that may become publicly accessible. For purposes of the new law, “personal identifying information” includes a:
  • Social security number;
  • Birth date;
  • Driver’s license number;
  • State identification number;
  • Bank account number;
  • Credit card number; and
  • Debit card number

Landlords should ensure that they are redacting personal identifying information in eviction filings in compliance with the new law.

HB26-1196 takes effect on January 1, 2027, and is codified at Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 13-40-110.2 and 38-12-904.

HB26-1224: Protections for Mobile Home Park Residents 

HB26-1224 makes several changes to the laws governing mobile home parks. These changes include the following:

• Under existing law, the management of a mobile home park was allowed to terminate a tenancy for failure of the homeowner to comply with local ordinances and state laws and rules relating to mobile homes and mobile lots. HB26-1224 clarifies that a landlord may pursue the termination of a tenancy on those grounds only if a local government, the state, or an agency or division of a local government or the state has issued a final order finding that a violation of a local ordinance or a state law or rule related to mobile homes and mobile home lots has occurred.
• Under the new law, a landlord that is temporarily prohibited from increasing rent or issuing a notice of rent increase must notify all residents in writing that their rent shall not be increased while the prohibition is effective and give the reason for the temporary prohibition. The notice must be sent within fourteen days after the date the landlord is notified that it is temporarily prohibited from raising rent.
• Existing law requires a landlord to send written notice to homeowners when the landlord intends to sell the mobile home park. HB26-1224 requires that the landlord must also give notice that the following additional information and documentation is in its possession or control and will make it available to homeowners upon request:
  • An explanation and documentation of the basis for the purchase price;
  • Disclosure of the age of major infrastructure in the mobile home park;
  • Documentation of infrastructure inspections, maintenance, and repair services that have occurred in the mobile home park in the previous three years;
  • The most up-to-date rent roll (with personal identifying information redacted);
  • Operating expenses and income for the mobile park for the previous three years on a year-by-year basis with specific line items for rents, fees, utility bills, other recurring bills, and any invoices over $500; and
  • If certain statutory conditions are met, disclose if a purchase and sale agreement has been executed and include a statement that the landlord must provide a copy of the purchase and sale agreement to a homeowner upon request.

Furthermore, if any potential sale is a portfolio sale that includes real property or structures not located in the mobile home park in addition to the mobile home park, the notice must include information about any change or discount in the price, terms, or conditions of a proposed sale related to that other property. Any such discount must be made available to homeowners of the mobile home park on the same terms and with the same proportionate discount, even if the homeowners submit an offer to purchase only the mobile home park.

• Existing law requires that when a landowner notifies homeowners of its intent to sell the mobile home park, a group or association of homeowners may submit an offer to purchase the mobile home park themselves. When that happens, the landlord has a statutory duty to consider the offer and provide the group or association of homeowners with certain information. HB26-1224 adds to that information and provides time limits for providing it.
• The new law further requires the landlord and any potential buyer of the mobile home park to conduct the sale of the mobile home park as an arms-length transaction with the landlord and buyer acting independently and in good faith. The landlord is prohibited from colluding with a potential buyer, or engaging in other anticompetitive practices, for the primary purpose of inflating the listing or purchase price of the mobile home park above its fair market value or engaging in practices to prohibit a group or association of homeowners from purchasing the mobile home park. In addition, a landlord must provide specific information and disclosures about the landlord and its directors, members, managers and owners, the potential buyer, related legal entities, other agreements, financing, and other business information to the state, the attorney general, the local government, and the group or association of homeowners at their written request.
• The new law also establishes parameters related to the annual registration fee that must be paid by a landlord of a mobile home park to the state, limiting the amount that the landlord may charge each resident to cover the registration fee to $17.

HB26-1224 takes effect on January 1, 2027, and is codified at Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 38-12-201.5, 38-12-203, 38-12-204, 38-12-217, and 38-12-1106.

SB26-053: Colorado Housing and Finance Authority Mortgage Post Officers First Responders 

SB26-053 makes “first responders” eligible for mortgage loans through the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority. The new law defines “first responder” to include peace officers, firefighters, and emergency medical technicians. The new law defines the term “peace officers” to include a noncertified deputy sheriff, an emergency communications specialist, a corrections officer, a port of entry officer, or a wildlife officer. HB26-053 also sets an income limit for families made eligible for mortgage loans under the new law.

SB26-053 is effective on August 12, 2026*, and is codified at Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 29-4-703 and 29-4-712.

SB26-177: Access Adjoining Property to Repair or Maintain 

HB26-177 provides that if a requesting property owner seeks to make repairs to or complete maintenance on the requesting property owner’s property, but the repairs or maintenance cannot reasonably be accomplished without entering onto an adjoining owner’s property, and the adjoining owner refuses to permit entry onto the adjoining owner’s property for the purpose of the repair or maintenance, the requesting owner may petition the district court of the county in which the properties are located to permit the requesting owner to enter into the adjoining owner’s property for the purpose of the repair or maintenance of the owner’s property. However, this rule does not apply if the adjoining owner is owned or controlled by the federal government, the state, or a political subdivision of the state.

Before filing the petition, the requesting property owner is encouraged (but not required) to engage in alternative dispute resolution, such as mediation, with the adjoining owner. The petition must include specific information identified in HB26-177, and the adjoining owner is allowed to present evidence to the court to prove that the adjoining owner’s property is not necessary to complete the repairs or maintenance.

If the court determines that access to the adjoining property owner’s property is necessary and will not negatively affect any easement on the adjoining owner’s property, the court must grant access to the adjoining owner’s property as it deems necessary to allow completion of the repair or maintenance. In so doing, it must also set parameters for accessing the adjoining owner’s property.

SB26-177 is effective on August 12, 2026,* and is codified at Colo. Rev. Stat. § 13-20-1304.

Our Team 

BHGR’s Real Estate Group represents businesses, individuals, investors, property owners, builders, and developers in a wide array of commercial, residential, agricultural, rural, and ranch land transactions. Our attorneys also assist clients with leasing, financing, land use and zoning, common interest communities, easements, conservation, mineral rights, oil and gas, and water rights. If you have questions about these new laws and how they may affect your business or your property, contact us today.

*All bills discussed in this article that are effective on August 12, 2026, are, in fact, effective on that date unless a referendum petition related to the new law is timely filed and voted on in the November 2026 general election. Should that happen, the new law will take effect on the date of the official declaration of the vote thereon by the governor.