2023 Colorado Revised Statutes › Title 24 - GOVERNMENT - STATE (§§ 24-1-101 — 24-116-102) › PRINCIPAL DEPARTMENTS (§§ 24-30-101 — 24-36-306) › Article 34 - DEPARTMENT OF REGULATORY AGENCIES (§§ 24-34-101 — 24-34-1008) › Part 5 - HOUSING PRACTICES (§§ 24-34-501 — 24-34-510) › Section 24-34-502 - Unfair housing practices prohibited - definition

(1)
It is an unfair housing practice, unlawful, and prohibited:
(a)
(I)
For any person to refuse to show, sell, transfer, rent, or lease any housing; refuse to receive and transmit any bona fide offer to buy, sell, rent, or lease any housing; or otherwise make unavailable or deny or withhold from an individual any housing because of disability, race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, familial status, veteran or military status, religion, national origin, or ancestry; to discriminate against an individual because of disability, race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, familial status, veteran or military status, religion, national origin, or ancestry in the terms, conditions, or privileges pertaining to any housing or the transfer, sale, rental, or lease of housing or in furnishing facilities or services in connection with housing; or to cause to be made any written or oral inquiry or record concerning the disability, race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, familial status, veteran or military status, religion, national origin, or ancestry of an individual seeking to purchase, rent, or lease any housing; however, nothing in this subsection (1)(a) requires 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;
(II)
Nothing in this subsection (1)(a) prohibits a written or oral inquiry or record concerning military or veteran status when the purpose of the inquiry or record is to determine a person's eligibility for veteran or military housing or for a veteran or military housing benefit.
(b)
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, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, familial status, veteran or military status, religion, national origin, or ancestry of an individual seeking financial assistance or concerning the disability, race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, familial status, veteran or military status, religion, national origin, or ancestry of prospective occupants or tenants of the housing, or to discriminate against any individual because of the disability, race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, familial status, veteran or military status, religion, national origin, or ancestry of the individual or prospective occupants or tenants in the terms, conditions, or privileges relating to obtaining or using any such financial assistance;
(c)
(I)
For any person to include in any transfer, sale, rental, or lease of housing any restrictive 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;
(d)
(I)
For any person to make, print, or publish or cause to be made, printed, or published any 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, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, familial status, veteran or military status, national origin, or ancestry;
(II)
This subsection (1)(d) does not apply when the purpose of the notice or advertisement is to promote veteran or military housing or a veteran or military housing benefit.
(e)
For any person: To aid, abet, incite, compel, or coerce the doing of any act defined in this 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;
(f)
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;
(g)
For any person whose business includes residential real estate-related transactions, which transactions involve making or purchasing loans secured by residential real estate or providing other financial assistance for purchasing, constructing, improving, repairing, or maintaining a dwelling or selling, brokering, or appraising residential real property, to discriminate against an individual 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, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, disability, familial status, veteran or military status, national origin, or ancestry;
(h)
For any person to deny an individual access to or membership or participation in any multiple-listing service, real estate brokers' organization, or other service, organization, or facility related to the business of selling or renting dwellings or to discriminate against the individual in the terms or conditions of such access, membership, or participation on account of race, creed, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, marital status, familial status, veteran or military status, national origin or ancestry, or source of income;
(i)
For any person, for profit, to induce or attempt to induce any person to sell or rent any dwelling by representations regarding the entry or prospective entry into the neighborhood of any individual of a particular race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, familial status, veteran or military status, creed, national origin, or ancestry;
(j)
For any person to represent to any other person that a dwelling is not available for inspection, sale, or rental, when the dwelling is in fact available, for the purpose of discriminating against any individual on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, familial status, veteran or military status, creed, national origin, or ancestry;
(k)
For any person to violate the provisions of section
24-34-502.2
;
(l)
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;
(m)
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;
(n)
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;
(o)
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;
(p)
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; or
(q)
For any person to violate section
38-12-904 (1)(c) or (1)(d)
.
(1.5)
(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.
(b)
Nothing in subsection (1) of this section precludes a landlord from checking the credit 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.
(c)
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)
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.
(1.8)
It is not a violation of this section for a landlord to ask a residential tenant whether the tenant receives supplemental security income, social security disability insurance under Title II of the federal "Social Security Act",
42 U.S.C. sec. 401
et seq., as amended, or cash assistance through the Colorado works program created in part 7 of article
2
of title
26
for the purposes of complying with section
13-40-110 (1)
.
(2)
The provisions of this section shall not apply to or prohibit compliance with local zoning 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 prohibits a person engaged in the business of furnishing appraisals of real property from taking into consideration factors other than race, creed, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, familial status, veteran or military 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:
(I)
That the housing facility or community publish and adhere to policies and procedures that demonstrate the intent required under this paragraph (b);
(II)
That at least eighty percent of the occupied units be occupied by at least one person who is fifty-five years of age or older; and
(III)
That the housing facility or community comply with rules promulgated by the commission for verification of occupancy. Such rules shall:
(A)
Provide for verification by reliable surveys and affidavits; and
(B)
Include examples of the types of policies and procedures relevant to a determination of 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.
(c)
Housing shall not fail to meet the requirements for housing for older persons by reason 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).
(d)
(I)
A person shall not be held personally liable for monetary damages for a violation of 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:
(A)
Such person has no actual knowledge that the facility or community is not or will not be eligible for the exemption claimed; and
(B)
The owner, operator, or other official representative of the facility or community has stated, 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:
(A)
Without the use in any manner of the sales or rental facilities or the sales or rental services 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
(B)
Without the publication, posting, or mailing, after notice, of any advertisement or written 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:
(I)
He has, within the preceding twelve months, participated as principal in three or more transactions involving the sale or rental of any dwelling or any interest therein;
(II)
He has, within the preceding twelve months, participated as agent, other than in the sale 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
(III)
He is the owner of any dwelling designed or intended for occupancy by, or occupied by, five or more families.
(9)
Repealed.
(10)
(a)
Nothing in this part 5 prohibits a seller of property from considering legitimate and nondiscriminatory factors when deciding whether to accept an offer.
(b)
Nothing in this part 5 prohibits adherence to requirements under
38 CFR 36
that govern the United States department of veterans affairs benefits, including restrictions on options on a home contract, or prohibits inquiry regarding an individual's veteran or military status to the extent necessary to determine if the individual is eligible for a benefit offered to veterans or members of the military. Such adherence does not constitute a violation of this part 5.
Amended by 2023 Ch. 402,§ 4, eff. 8/7/2023.
Amended by 2023 Ch. 414,§ 5, eff. 6/6/2023.
Amended by 2022 Ch. 65, § 2, eff. 8/10/2022.
Amended by 2021 Ch. 156, § 6, eff. 9/7/2021.
Amended by 2020 Ch. 298, § 2, eff. 1/1/2021.
Amended by 2014 Ch. 250, § 4, eff. 8/6/2014.
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. 977, 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. 1480, p. 1480, § 2, effective 1/1/2021.
2023 Ch. 402, was passed without a safety clause. See Colo. Const. art. V, § 1(3).
2022 Ch. 65, was passed without a safety clause. See Colo. Const. art. V, § 1(3).
(1) 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. (2) For the legislative declaration in HB 21-1108, see section 1 of chapter 156, Session Laws of Colorado 2021.