2020 Colorado Revised Statutes
Title 24 - Government - State
Article 34. Department of Regulatory Agencies
Section 24-34-502. Unfair housing practices prohibited - definition.

(1) It shall be an unfair housing practice and unlawful and hereby prohibited:

1. For any person to refuse to show, sell, transfer, rent, or lease, or to refuse to receiveand transmit any bona fide offer to buy, sell, rent, or lease, or otherwise make unavailable or deny or withhold from any person such housing because of disability, race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, familial status, religion, national origin, or ancestry; to discriminate against any person because of disability, race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, familial status, religion, national origin, or ancestry in the terms, conditions, or privileges pertaining to any housing or the transfer, sale, rental, or lease thereof or in the furnishing of facilities or services in connection therewith; or to cause to be made any written or oral inquiry or record concerning the disability, race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, familial status, religion, national origin, or ancestry of a person seeking to purchase, rent, or lease any housing; however, nothing in this paragraph (a) shall be construed to require a dwelling to be made available to an individual whose tenancy would constitute a direct threat to the health or safety of other individuals or whose tenancy would result in substantial physical damage to the property of others;

2. For any person to whom application is made for financial assistance for the acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, repair, or maintenance of any housing to make or cause to be made any written or oral inquiry concerning the disability, race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, familial status, religion, national origin, or ancestry of a person seeking such financial assistance or concerning the disability, race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, familial status, religion, national origin, or ancestry of prospective occupants or tenants of such housing, or to discriminate against any person because of the disability, race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, familial status, religion, national origin, or ancestry of such person or prospective occupants or tenants in the terms, conditions, or privileges relating to the obtaining or use of any such financial assistance;

3. (I) For any person to include in any transfer, sale, rental, or lease of housing anyrestrictive covenants, but shall not include any person who, in good faith and in the usual course of business, delivers any document or copy of a document regarding the transfer, sale, rental, or lease of housing which includes any restrictive covenants which are based upon race or religion, or reference thereto; or

(II) For any person to honor or exercise or attempt to honor or exercise any restrictive covenant pertaining to housing;

4. For any person to make, print, or publish or cause to be made, printed, or publishedany notice or advertisement relating to the sale, transfer, rental, or lease of any housing that indicates any preference, limitation, specification, or discrimination based on disability, race, creed, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, familial status, national origin, or ancestry;

5. For any person: To aid, abet, incite, compel, or coerce the doing of any act defined inthis section as an unfair housing practice; to obstruct or prevent any person from complying with the provisions of this part 5 or any order issued with respect thereto; to attempt either directly or indirectly to commit any act defined in this section to be an unfair housing practice; to discriminate against any person because such person has opposed any practice made an unfair housing practice by this part 5, because he has filed a charge with the commission, or because he has testified, assisted, or participated in any manner in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing conducted pursuant to parts 3 and 5 of this article; or to coerce, intimidate, threaten, or interfere with any person in the exercise or enjoyment of, or on account of his having exercised or enjoyed, or on account of his having aided or encouraged, any other person in the exercise of any right granted or protected by parts 3 and 5 of this article;

6. For any person to discharge, demote, or discriminate in matters of compensation against any employee or agent because of said employee's or agent's obedience to the provisions of this part 5;

7. For any person whose business includes residential real estate-related transactions,which transactions involve the making or purchasing of loans secured by residential real estate or the provisions of other financial assistance for purchasing, constructing, improving, repairing, or maintaining a dwelling or the selling, brokering, or appraising of residential real property, to discriminate against any person in making available such a transaction or in fixing the terms or conditions of such a transaction because of race, creed, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation,

marital status, disability, familial status, or national origin or ancestry;

8. [Editor's note: This version of subsection (1)(h) is effective until January 1, 2021.] For any person to deny another person access to or membership or participation in any multiplelisting service, real estate brokers' organization or other service, organization, or facility related to the business of selling or renting dwellings or to discriminate against such person in the terms or conditions of such access, membership, or participation on account of race, creed, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, disability, marital status, familial status, or national origin or ancestry;

8. [Editor's note: This version of subsection (1)(h) is effective January 1, 2021.] For any person to deny another person access to or membership or participation in any multiplelisting service, real estate brokers' organization or other service, organization, or facility related to the business of selling or renting dwellings or to discriminate against such person in the terms or conditions of such access, membership, or participation on account of race, creed, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, disability, marital status, familial status, national origin or ancestry, or source of income;

9. For any person, for profit, to induce or attempt to induce any person to sell or rent anydwelling by representations regarding the entry or prospective entry into the neighborhood of a person or persons of a particular race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, disability, familial status, creed, national origin, or ancestry;

10. For any person to represent to any other person that any dwelling is not available forinspection, sale, or rental, when such dwelling is in fact available, for the purpose of discriminating against another person on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, disability, familial status, creed, national origin, or ancestry;

11. For any person to violate the provisions of section 24-34-502.2;

12. [Editor's note: Subsection (1)(l) is effective January 1, 2021.] For any person to refuse to rent or lease, to refuse to show housing for rent or lease, to refuse to receive and transmit any bona fide offer to rent or lease, or to otherwise make unavailable or deny or withhold from another person any housing for rent or lease because of a person's source of income;

13. [Editor's note: Subsection (1)(m) is effective January 1, 2021.] For any person to discriminate in the terms, conditions, or privileges pertaining to the rental or lease of any housing, or in the furnishing of facilities or services in connection therewith, because of a person's source of income, including a person's receipt of public housing assistance or a person's participation in a third-party contract required by a public housing assistance program; except that, if the initial payment to the landlord is not made timely in accordance with applicable regulations promulgated by the United States department of housing and urban development due to processing delays or a government shutdown, then a landlord may exercise any right or pursue any remedy available under law;

14. [Editor's note: Subsection (1)(n) is effective January 1, 2021.] For any person to make, print, or publish or cause to be made, printed, or published any notice or advertisement relating to the rental or lease of any housing that indicates any limitation, specification, or discrimination based on a person's source of income;

15. [Editor's note: Subsection (1)(o) is effective January 1, 2021.] For any person to represent to another person that any housing is not available for rent or lease when the housing is in fact available for the purpose of discriminating against the person on the basis of the person's source of income; and

16. [Editor's note: Subsection (1)(p) is effective January 1, 2021.] For any person, for profit, to induce or attempt to induce another person to rent any housing by representations regarding the entry or prospective entry into the neighborhood of a person or persons with particular sources of income.

(1.5) [Editor's note: Subsection (1.5) is effective January 1, 2021.] (a) Subsections (1)(l) to (1)(p) of this section do not apply to a landlord with three or fewer units of housing for rent or lease.

2. Nothing in subsection (1) of this section precludes a landlord from checking thecredit of a prospective tenant. Checking the credit of a prospective tenant is not an unfair housing practice under this section, provided that the landlord checks the credit of every prospective tenant.

3. As used in this subsection (1.5) and in subsection (1) of this section, "landlord" means a person who owns, manages, leases, or subleases a unit of housing and who makes that housing available for rent or lease.

(1.7) [Editor's note: Subsection (1.7) is effective January 1, 2021.] Notwithstanding any provision of subsection (1) of this section to the contrary, if a landlord owns five or fewer single family rental homes and no more than five total rental units including any single family homes, the landlord is not required to accept federal housing choice vouchers for any of those five single family homes as an acceptable source of income under subsection (1) of this section.

2. The provisions of this section shall not apply to or prohibit compliance with localzoning ordinance provisions concerning residential restrictions on marital status.

3. Nothing contained in this part 5 shall be construed to bar any religious or denominational institution or organization which is operated or supervised or controlled by or is operated in connection with a religious or denominational organization from limiting the sale, rental, or occupancy of dwellings which it owns or operates for other than a commercial purpose to persons of the same religion, or from giving preference to such persons, unless membership in such religion is restricted on account of race, color, or national origin, nor shall anything in this part 5 prohibit a private club not in fact open to the public which, as an incident to its primary purpose or purposes provides lodgings which it owns or operates for other than a commercial purpose, from limiting the rental or occupancy of such lodgings to its members or from giving preference to its members.

4. (Deleted by amendment, L. 92, p. 1122, § 4, effective July 1, 1992.)

5. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent or restrict the sale, lease, rental,transfer, or development of housing designed or intended for the use of persons with disabilities.

6. Nothing in this part 5 shall prohibit a person engaged in the business of furnishingappraisals of real property from taking into consideration factors other than race, creed, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, familial status, disability, religion, national origin, or ancestry.

7. (a) Nothing in this section shall limit the applicability of any reasonable local, state, or federal restrictions regarding the maximum number of occupants permitted to occupy a dwelling. Nor shall any provision in this section regarding familial status apply with respect to housing for older persons.

(b) As used in this subsection (7), "housing for older persons" means housing provided under any state or federal program that the division determines is specifically designed and operated to assist older persons, or is intended for, and solely occupied by, persons sixty-two years of age or older, or is intended and operated for occupancy by at least one person fifty-five years of age or older per unit. In determining whether housing intended and operated for occupancy by one person fifty-five years of age or older per unit qualifies as housing for older persons under this subsection (7), the division shall require the following:

1. That the housing facility or community publish and adhere to policies and proceduresthat demonstrate the intent required under this paragraph (b);

2. That at least eighty percent of the occupied units be occupied by at least one personwho is fifty-five years of age or older; and

3. That the housing facility or community comply with rules promulgated by the commission for verification of occupancy. Such rules shall:

1. Provide for verification by reliable surveys and affidavits; and

2. Include examples of the types of policies and procedures relevant to a determinationof such compliance with the requirements of subparagraph (II) of this paragraph (b). Such surveys and affidavits shall be admissible in administrative and judicial proceedings for the purposes of verification of occupancy in accordance with this section.

3. Housing shall not fail to meet the requirements for housing for older persons byreason of persons residing in such housing as of March 12, 1989, who do not meet the age requirements of paragraph (b) of this subsection (7) if the new occupants of such housing meet the age requirements of paragraph (b) of this subsection (7) or, by reason of unoccupied units, if such units are reserved for occupancy by persons who meet the age requirements of paragraph (b) of this subsection (7).

4. (I) A person shall not be held personally liable for monetary damages for a violationof this part 5 if such person reasonably relied, in good faith, on the application of the exemption available under this part 5 relating to housing for older persons.

(II) For purposes of this paragraph (d), a person may only show good faith reliance on the application of an exemption by showing that:

1. Such person has no actual knowledge that the facility or community is not or willnot be eligible for the exemption claimed; and

2. The owner, operator, or other official representative of the facility or community hasstated, formally, in writing, that the facility or community complies with the requirements of the exemption claimed.

(8) (a) With respect to "familial status", nothing in this part 5 shall apply to the following:

(I) Any single-family house sold or rented by an owner if such private individual owner does not own more than three such single-family houses at any one time. In the case of the sale of any such single-family house by a private individual owner not residing in such house at the time of such sale or who was not the most recent resident of such house prior to such sale, the exemption granted by this subsection (8) shall apply only with respect to one such sale within any twenty-four-month period. Such bona fide private individual owner shall not own any interest in, nor shall there be owned or reserved on his behalf, under any express or voluntary agreement, title to or any right to all or a portion of the proceeds from the sale or rental of more than three such single-family houses at any one time. The sale or rental of any such single-family house shall be excepted from the application of this subsection (8) only if such house is sold or rented:

1. Without the use in any manner of the sales or rental facilities or the sales or rentalservices of any real estate broker, agent, or salesman, or of such facilities or services of any person in the business of selling or renting dwellings, or of any employee or agent of any such broker, agent, salesman, or person; and

2. Without the publication, posting, or mailing, after notice, of any advertisement orwritten notice in violation of this section; but nothing in this section shall prohibit the use of attorneys, escrow agents, abstractors, title companies, and other such professional assistance as necessary to perfect or transfer the title.

(II) Rooms or units in dwellings containing living quarters occupied or intended to be occupied by no more than four families living independently of each other, if the owner actually maintains and occupies one of such living quarters as his residence.

(b) For the purposes of paragraph (a) of this subsection (8), a person shall be deemed to be in the business of selling or renting dwellings if:

1. He has, within the preceding twelve months, participated as principal in three or moretransactions involving the sale or rental of any dwelling or any interest therein;

2. He has, within the preceding twelve months, participated as agent, other than in thesale of his own personal residence in providing sales or rental facilities or sales or rental services in two or more transactions involving the sale or rental of any dwelling or any interest therein; or

3. He is the owner of any dwelling designed or intended for occupancy by, or occupied by, five or more families.

(9) Repealed.

Source: L. 79: Entire part R&RE, p. 933, § 3, effective July 1. L. 89: (1)(e) amended, p. 1042, § 9, effective July 1. L. 90: (1)(a), (1)(b), (1)(d), and (1)(e) amended and (1)(g), (1)(h), and (6) to (8) added, pp. 1225, 1226, §§ 5, 6, 7, effective April 16; (1)(c) amended, p. 1647, § 2, effective April 16; (9) added by revision, pp. 1225, 1226, 1232, §§ 5, 6, 7, 12. L. 92: (1)(a), (1)(d), (1)(g), (3), (4), (7)(b), and (8)(a)(II) amended and (1)(i) and (1)(j) added, p. 1122, § 4, effective July 1. L. 93: (9) repealed, p. 1784, § 57, effective June 6; (1)(a), (1)(b), (1)(d), (1)(g) to (1)(j), and (5) amended, p. 1659, § 63, effective July 1. L. 94: (6) amended, p. 1637, § 50, effective May 31. L. 99: (7)(b) amended and (7)(d) added, p. 152, § 2, effective August 4. L. 2008: (1)(a), (1)(b), (1)(d), (1)(g), (1)(h), (1)(i), (1)(j), and (6) amended, p. 1595, § 5, effective May 29. L. 2014: (1)(k) added, (SB 14-118), ch. 250, p. 977, § 4, effective August 6. L. 2020: (1)(h) amended and (1)(l), (1)(m), (1)(n), (1)(o), (1)(p), (1.5), and (1.7) added, (HB 20-1332), ch. 298, p. 1480, § 2, effective January 1, 2021.

Cross references: For the legislative declaration contained in the 2008 act amending subsections (1)(a), (1)(b), (1)(d), (1)(g), (1)(h), (1)(i), (1)(j), and (6), see section 1 of chapter 341, Session Laws of Colorado 2008.