New Rules for Renting: Fee-Free Payments, Eviction Privacy, and Landlord Lawsuits

What This Bill Actually Does

When a landlord and tenant end up in an eviction dispute, things move notoriously fast. Often, tenants show up to court without a clear understanding of exactly what they owe or what specific part of the lease they violated. HB26-1047 is designed to slow that process down and force landlords to show their cards up front.

First, it changes the paperwork rules. Under Section 13-40-106, if a landlord posts a notice or demand for eviction, they can't just stick a vague letter on the door. They are now required to include a physical copy of the written lease and a fully up-to-date rent ledger (if the issue is unpaid rent). They must also cite the specific legal statute explaining the basis for the eviction. Crucially, the landlord has to redact sensitive personal data from these documents—like Social Security numbers, dates of birth, and bank or credit card numbers. If a landlord misses any of these steps, the tenant gets an affirmative defense, meaning the judge could throw the eviction out entirely just on that technicality, forcing the landlord to start over.

The second major change is about privacy and life after eviction. Currently, if a landlord wins an eviction in court, that record becomes public, which can make it nearly impossible for the tenant to rent anywhere else. Section 13-40-110.5 flips the script. Under this bill, almost all eviction court records will remain permanently suppressed (hidden from the public). The only exception? Evictions for a "substantial violation of a lease"—which usually means dangerous, violent, or illegal activity on the property. For standard non-payment or no-fault evictions, the record stays sealed. The bill even explicitly states that tenants are legally allowed to deny the eviction ever happened if asked on a future rental application.

Finally, the bill tackles the modern headache of "convenience fees." Section 38-12-802 explicitly requires all residential landlords to offer at least one rent payment option that does not require the tenant to access an online portal or pay a transaction fee. If an apartment complex forces everyone onto a third-party app that charges a $3 processing fee every month, they will now have to provide a completely free alternative.

What It Means for You

If you are a renter in Colorado, this bill is heavily tilted toward giving you financial breathing room and protecting your future housing prospects. The most immediate change to your wallet is the ban on mandatory rent payment fees. If you've been forced to eat a $5 or $10 convenience charge just to pay your rent through a third-party portal, your landlord will now have to give you a fee-free payment alternative. It might mean dropping a check off at an office instead of clicking a button, but it puts that fee money back in your pocket.

On the legal side, if you ever fall behind on rent or face an eviction notice, the process is going to be much more transparent. You won't have to guess what the landlord claims you owe—they are legally required to hand over the rent ledger and the lease right out of the gate. More importantly, if the worst happens and you are evicted for financial reasons, that record won't follow you around like a ghost. Because the court records will be suppressed, a future landlord's background check won't show it, and you are legally permitted to check "no" when a rental application asks if you've ever been evicted. This is a massive change meant to prevent temporary financial hardship from turning into long-term homelessness.

Here is what you should do right now:

• Check your current payment portal: Look at how you are paying rent right now. If you are being hit with mandatory fees, prepare to ask your property manager for the new fee-free option once this bill passes.
• Contact your representative: This bill is currently in the House Judiciary Committee. Whether you are a tenant who desperately wants these protections, or a resident who worries that hiding eviction histories might make landlords raise security deposits for everyone, reach out to your local lawmaker and share your perspective.

What It Means for Your Business

Property managers, mom-and-pop landlords, and real estate developers—grab a highlighter, because your standard operating procedures are about to undergo a massive overhaul. The requirement to provide a fee-free payment option means you need to figure out how to accept and process rent without disrupting your automated accounting systems. If your business has moved entirely to third-party software that charges transaction fees (like AppFolio, Buildium, or RentCafe), you will need to create a manual workaround, such as accepting physical checks or money orders, and process them at zero cost to the tenant.

But the real operational risk lies in the new eviction requirements. The eviction process just became a compliance minefield. When serving a written demand, your team must attach the lease, the ledger, cite the specific statute, and—this is the tricky part—redact all personal identifying information (like SSNs and bank accounts). If a tired property manager prints a ledger that still shows the last four digits of a tenant's debit card, the tenant gains an automatic affirmative defense. This means your eviction filing could be dismissed entirely, forcing you to restart the mandatory notice periods and lose another month of rent while the clock resets.

Furthermore, because standard non-payment eviction records will now be permanently suppressed, your tenant screening process is going to lose a major data point. You will no longer be able to rely on public court data to see if an applicant has a history of not paying rent elsewhere.

Here are three things you should do this week to prepare:

• Audit your payment software: Talk to your property management software rep. Ask if they have a way to process a zero-fee transaction on their end, or if you need to establish a physical lockbox and a manual entry process for checks.
• Update your eviction packets: If you use standardized forms for demands and notices, prepare to overhaul them. Create a mandatory checklist for your staff to ensure leases are attached and sensitive data is fully blacked out before posting a notice.
• Rethink your tenant screening: Since you won't be able to see past evictions for non-payment, start looking into alternative vetting metrics. You may need to rely more heavily on credit scores, higher income-to-rent ratios, or more rigorous direct employment verification to gauge risk.

Follow the Money

You might think a housing regulation bill wouldn't cost the state much, but changing how the courts handle paperwork always comes with a price tag. According to the official Fiscal Note, HB26-1047 will cost the state $59,282 in FY 2026-27 and about $40,482 annually after that. These funds come straight from the state's General Fund.

Where does the money actually go? First, the Judicial Department has to spend about $18,800 up front to remediate and translate 14 different court forms to match the new legal requirements and affirmative defenses. But the ongoing cost is for judicial staffing. Right now, eviction records are automatically unsuppressed when a landlord wins, which happens automatically in the system. Under this bill, court clerks will have to manually review approximately 27,000 eviction cases every single year to determine if the case involves a "substantial lease violation" (which gets unsuppressed) or a standard eviction (which stays hidden). The state estimates this will take about two extra minutes per case, requiring the hiring of an additional 0.4 FTE (Full-Time Equivalent) court staffer just to sort the files.

For local governments, there is no direct financial impact, but taxpayers are ultimately footing the bill for the extra court administration required to keep these records sealed.

Where This Bill Stands

HB26-1047 was introduced in the House on January 14, 2026, by its prime sponsor, Representative Junie Joseph. It has been assigned to the House Judiciary Committee, which is where the real debate will happen before it ever sees the floor for a full vote.

Because this bill touches on highly contentious landlord-tenant dynamics, expect fireworks in committee. Tenant advocacy groups will push hard for the privacy protections and the fee-free payment provisions, arguing they are essential for keeping working families housed. On the flip side, property management associations and real estate groups will likely push back aggressively on the strict paperwork liabilities and the loss of background check data, arguing it will force landlords to raise rents or security deposits to offset the unknown risks. Keep an eye out for the first committee hearing schedule—that will be the prime window to submit written testimony or show up at the Capitol to have your voice heard.