Find legal forms, law schools, and legal resources
Try “residential lease” — forms for your state are shown first.
Colorado landlord · tenant screening
Download the Colorado residential rental application — screens prospective tenants with application-money elections, a standalone screening-report authorization, and the disclosures federal and Colorado law require — in fillable Word and fillable PDF, with the Colorado Tenant Selection Criteria sheet, the Colorado Completion & Use Guide.
Renting out property in more than one state? This page is the Colorado application — each state's edition is built to its own screening and application-money law.
Every file below is included: the fillable Word application, a fillable PDF, the Colorado Tenant Screening Criteria and Data-Access Disclosure, the Colorado Completion and Use Guide, the Colorado Denial and Adverse-Action Notice, and the federal FCRA Summary of Your Rights.
The real document — not a mockup. Page 1 of the form included in your download.
Every part of the form, in order — the application summary, 17 sections, and the office-use panel.
About this form
A residential rental application is the landlord's first line of protection: it collects the applicant's identity, household composition, rental history, employment and income, and references, and it carries the disclosures and signed authorizations that make lawful tenant screening possible before a lease is signed.
Colorado law shapes three things this edition builds in. First, the application-fee rules of C.R.S. § 38-12-903: a fee may cover only the actual or average expense of processing the application, it must be the same amount charged to every applicant for the unit, the owner/manager must give a written cost disclosure and a receipt, and any unused portion must be returned within twenty calendar days — Section 1 walks the owner/manager through each duty. Second, the portable tenant screening report right of C.R.S. § 38-12-904(1.5): an applicant may tender a qualifying recent report, and when one is provided no application fee — and no fee to access or use the report — may be charged; Section 12 carries the applicant’s tender block and material-change statement. Third, Colorado’s criminal-history limits (C.R.S. §§ 38-12-904(1)(b), 24-72-703): an arrest is never considered, most convictions more than five years old are off-limits, and sealed or expunged records are entirely out of bounds.
The Colorado Tenant Screening Criteria & Data-Access Disclosure in this kit is the printed notice that carries the fee cost basis and the screening factors, drafted to also satisfy the HB26-1196 application-notice content when that provision takes effect on January 1, 2027. The Colorado Completion & Use Guide covers the fee rules and the twenty-day refund duty, the portable-report workflow, the criminal-history limits, the denial and adverse-action notices, and recordkeeping.
ILRG provides self-help legal forms and download support. PublicLegal landlord forms are provided for you to complete with your own property and screening information. Screening rules vary by state and change frequently — the Completion & Use Guide explains the rules in your state and the steps that keep this application within them. If you are not 100 percent satisfied after purchasing from us, contact us for a refund.
The Colorado residential rental application in fillable Word (.docx) with a fillable PDF, the Colorado Tenant Screening Criteria and Data-Access Disclosure (Form PL-CO-RA02), the Colorado Completion & Use Guide, the Colorado Denial & Adverse-Action Notice (Form PL-CO-RA03), and the federal FCRA Summary of Your Rights. A completed sample is available as an optional add-on.
Under C.R.S. § 38-12-903, a rental application fee may cover only the actual or average expense of processing the application, must be the same amount charged to every applicant for the unit, and requires a written cost disclosure and a receipt. Any unused portion must be returned with a good-faith effort within twenty calendar days after the application is processed. Section 1 of the application walks the owner/manager through each step.
Under C.R.S. § 38-12-904(1.5), an applicant may provide a qualifying portable tenant screening report prepared at the applicant’s request within the previous thirty days. When a qualifying report is provided, you may not charge any application fee or any fee to access or use the report — and an applicant renting with a housing subsidy may not be rejected for a report that omits credit information. Section 12 of the application carries the applicant’s tender block and the material-change statement.
Only within tight limits: no arrest records from any time, and no convictions more than five years old except specific serious offenses (methamphetamine manufacturing or distribution, sex-offender-registration offenses, homicide-related offenses, and stalking). Sealed or expunged records may never be requested, considered, or used. The application never asks applicants to self-report criminal history; the Section 13 election governs any lawful criteria-based screening.
If a consumer report contributed in whole or in part to the denial or to a conditional approval, federal law requires an adverse-action notice identifying the reporting agency and explaining the applicant’s free-report and dispute rights. This kit includes the Colorado Denial & Adverse-Action Notice (Form PL-CO-RA03), and the guide explains the twenty-day unused-fee refund duty that applies independently.