Colorado Price Disclosure Law: Landlord Preparation

By now, you’ve probably heard about the new Colorado landlord-tenant law, HB25-1090. Nicknamed the Colorado junk fees law, it allows consumers to challenge businesses that charge more for the cost of goods and services than advertised. It’s set to take effect on January 1, 2026.

Landlords aren’t an incidental part of the bill’s text. They are a feature. While this new law includes some landlord exemptions, they won’t be applicable unless you know how to maximize them through your lease agreements. 

If you lease properties, I also recommend reviewing your advertising practices to ensure your bases are covered.

Keep reading to find out how you can protect yourself and your properties now against deceptive practice claims from aggrieved tenants. That way, you’ll be ahead of the game.  

Colorado law considers deceptive pricing the practice of misleading consumers about the true cost of goods, services, and property. For landlords, deceptive pricing involves misrepresenting the total cost renters are expected to pay. 

Under HB25-1090, the price you advertise is the price your tenant pays. Your listing price is what potential renters can expect their monthly rent to cost. 

This means your listings need to include the total cost to rent the home or unit. So base rent, plus any other permissible and mandatory fees, such as:

• Common area maintenance

• Parking spot access

• Storage room units 

• Unique featured amenities 

The bill’s text provides some legal guidelines for how businesses should advertise their properties. 

I’ll cut to the chase. This law mandates price disclosures to end “drip pricing,” which involves tacking on fee after fee. 

Price disclosures must be made “clearly and conspicuously.” The statute defines this so that the information presented is easy for the average person to see, hear, and understand. 

If the message is visual, the text or image must be big enough, have good contrast, be placed in a noticeable spot, and remain on the screen long enough to be read. If the message is audible, it has to be loud enough, delivered at a normal speed, and clearly articulated.

Disclosures should be written simply so they aren’t confusing or negated by other information in the message. 

And finally, disclosures must be clear and obvious, no matter how the end user receives the information, regardless of whether the message is conveyed in person or digitally. C.R.S. 6-1-737

Attorneys for renters will be ready to capitalize on any missteps, especially as tenants react to the sticker shock that comes with total price disclosure. 

While the general rule is to clearly and conspicuously disclose the total price for a good, service, or property as a single number in a way that is more prominent than other pricing information, landlords may still benefit from several legal exceptions. 

Utility Provider’s Actual Cost

When a landlord discloses the total price for a dwelling unit, they are not required to include the actual cost charged by a utility provider for service to a tenant’s dwelling unit in that single total price disclosure.

In other words, the “total price” advertised for rent does not automatically have to bundle the fluctuating cost of utilities from a third-party provider. 

Limited Markup Fee

According to the new law, a rental agreement does not have to include a markup or fee billed by a third party unless the rental agreement specifically allows it and the fee is either:

• Up to two percent of what the landlord paid for the service; or

• A maximum of $10 per month

For instance, if a credit card processing fee is $3, you may charge the tenant up to $3.06, or a total of $10 per month for all such fees. 

Failing to prepare for the consequences of this new law is likely to be significant for landlords. That’s because HB25-1090 supports Colorado tenant rights by treating violations like serious consumer protection issues.

Under the new law, tenants will have the right to:

• Refuse to pay a fee, charge, or amount that violates HB25-1090

• Issue a written demand for reimbursement of any unlawfully imposed amount, along with any damages suffered as a result

If, within 14 days of receiving a tenant’s written demand, you decline to make full legal tender of all demanded fees/damages or refuse to cease charging the prohibited amount, the penalties increase significantly.

Penalties for landlords include:

• Actual damages incurred by the tenant plus 18 percent interest, compounded annually

• Three times the actual damages incurred

• At least $100 to no more than $1,000 per person, per violation

Under HB25-1090, violations are considered deceptive, unfair, and unconscionable acts or practices under the Colorado Consumer Protection Act (CCPA). 

While tenants can’t directly sue landlords under this specific law, the State Attorney General (AG) can take action based on consumer complaints or what they uncover during their own investigations. 

If the AG brings legal action against a property management company and proves violations, they can seek: 

• Injunctive relief

• Civil penalties 

• Restitution

• Attorney fees and costs

These orders will result in you refunding prohibited fees, potentially with hefty interest or triple damages, in addition to significant civil penalties that will go to the state. 

While the new law doesn’t change the process of filing for eviction, it’s likely to reduce the debt that accumulates and becomes the basis for an eviction. 

Prohibited fees mentioned in HB25-1090 can no longer be considered part of the “amount due” that can trigger an eviction. If a landlord includes prohibited fees, tenants can refuse to pay or demand reimbursement. 

It also gives a tenant eviction lawyer more leverage to dispute a landlord’s claims, particularly if landlords dispute what a tenant considers a junk fee. 

Undoubtedly, eviction attorneys will have their work cut out for them. 

Landlord compliance will be extremely important when it comes to navigating this new law. Your biggest asset will be a lease agreement that reflects the new reality of Colorado tenant rights. 

Here are a few steps landlords can take to prepare:

Take inventory of all your business and marketing materials. Listing advertisements, application forms, lease agreements, and payment systems are all susceptible to scrutiny come January 1, 2026. Knowing where you stand and the modifications you need to make will set you up for success.

Make sure your lease agreement states the total cost of renting your property and is updated to include or remove certain provisional clauses that can protect you from frivolous demands. 

Remove the following provisions from your lease agreements: 

• Markup or fee for utility pass-throughs exceeding the legal limit

• Automatic fee increases of more than two percent over the lease term

• Late fees for anything other than base rent payments

• Late fees for common area maintenance 

• Fees for services that aren’t rendered to the tenant

• Payment processing fees (without providing a free alternative for tenants)

Replace them with these provisions to offer clarity on mandatory and included fees: 

• All-inclusive rent 

• Base rent

• Clear late rent policy

• Utility pass-throughs 

• Pet rent (if applicable) 

• Parking and storage fees

• Compliance statement

• Free payment processing option 

Do not use an online contract generator to revamp your lease. Your lease agreement is too important to leave up to chance with a service that is not up-to-date with Colorado’s ever-changing landlord-tenant law. Colorado landlords need a lease agreement lawyer. Cost is always an important consideration when drafting lease agreements, but you don’t want to end up involved in a property management lawsuit with the AG’s office. 

We anticipate that property managers and landlords will face challenges once this law takes effect. With advice from an R&H property management attorney, you won’t be one of them. Our property management attorneys can help you navigate legal changes and challenges by providing you with comprehensive lease agreement reviews that include provisions that will protect you from liability. Call 303-688-0944 to begin your case assessment.