Tenant Screening in Colorado

01Why it matters

Why Tenant Screening in Colorado Takes More Care Now

Colorado's population grew by more than 230,000 between 2020 and the 2025 estimate, and much of that growth landed in Weld, Douglas, Adams and Denver. Demand brings more applicants, more relocations from other states and more fraudulent documents. At the same time, the legislature has steadily tightened what landlords may consider and how they must explain a denial. Screening done carelessly can mean a bad tenancy or a complaint. Our Aurora investigators and Westminster team support many metro property managers.

Small landlords feel this most. An owner with one rental in Pueblo or Loveland does not have a compliance department, yet the same statute applies. We help by applying written criteria consistently, verifying what applicants submit and keeping the work inside the lookback limits. When a deal involves several units or a portfolio purchase, our real estate risk services look at the property side, and the general risk management team helps owners set policies.

02State rules

What C.R.S. § 38-12-904 Lets Landlords Consider

Colorado's residential screening statute sets firm limits. Under C.R.S. § 38-12-904, as read in the 2025 statutes, a landlord generally may not consider an arrest record from any time, or a conviction more than five years before the application, with exceptions for certain serious offenses the statute lists, such as methamphetamine manufacturing or distribution and offenses that require sex offender registration. Rental and credit history older than seven years is off limits. Our Colorado criminal records work applies those cutoffs precisely.

Income checks are capped too. A landlord may verify that income is at least 200 percent of the rent but may not require more, and for applicants using a housing subsidy, credit scores and adverse credit events generally cannot be considered unless federal law requires it. A denial must be in writing with the reasons, and if a consumer report was used, the applicant must get a copy and notice of the right to dispute it, generally within 20 calendar days of the decision. The Colorado legal limits guide covers related boundaries.

• No arrest records from any time
• Convictions limited to five years, with listed exceptions
• Rental and credit history limited to seven years
• Income checks capped at twice the rent

03Reports and consent

Portable Screening Reports and FCRA Steps

Since August 7, 2023, HB23-1099 has generally required Colorado landlords to accept a portable tenant screening report from an applicant, prepared by a consumer reporting agency within the previous 30 days, and to charge no application fee to an applicant who provides one. Landlords must tell applicants about that option before collecting information that would generate a fee. An exemption applies to landlords who accept one application fee at a time and refund it within 20 calendar days if the applicant is not offered the lease. Our Colorado pricing overview explains where our work fits.

When an outside firm prepares a report used to approve or deny a rental, the federal FCRA generally applies. That means a permissible purpose, the applicant's written authorization as the standard first step, accurate reporting and adverse action notices when the report contributes to a denial. We work with your forms and criteria rather than replacing them. For verification beyond what a portable report covers, such as a doubtful employer, our employee background check team uses the same confirmation methods.

04Court history

Searching Colorado Eviction and Civil Court Records

Evictions in Colorado are forcible entry and detainer cases, usually filed in county court, which hears them when rent and damages stay within $25,000. We review registers of actions through the Judicial Branch's approved vendors and, for Denver addresses, Denver County Court's separate records. A register entry shows a case was filed but not always how it ended, so we pull the outcome before reporting it. A dismissed case or a settlement reads very differently from a judgment for possession. Our Colorado court research for attorneys follows the same verification habit.

Small claims judgments up to $7,500 can show unpaid debts to prior landlords or contractors, although small claims courts do not hear evictions themselves. We search every state where the applicant has lived, since many Colorado applicants arrive from elsewhere. All of this stays within the seven-year rental and credit history window and the five-year conviction window. For applicants whose history is hard to trace, our lost-contact locate specialists confirm prior addresses.

05Verification

Confirming Income, Employment and Prior Landlords

Fake pay stubs and offer letters are easy to produce, so we confirm employment and income directly with employers or through verifiable sources, within the 200 percent cap. A prior landlord reference supplied by the applicant may be a friend, so we confirm the reference actually owns or manages the property through county assessor and Secretary of State records before calling. Our scam investigation team handles the rare case where an application is part of a larger fraud.

Relocating families, traveling nurses and military households often have short local histories. Fort Carson, Peterson and the Air Force Academy bring regular moves into El Paso County, and our Colorado Springs investigators understand those patterns. For co-signers, we verify income, employment and history on the guarantor as well, often with a $300 deep-dive check, because the guarantee is only as good as the person behind it.

• Employers and income confirmed directly
• Prior landlords confirmed as real owners or managers
• Co-signers and guarantors verified separately
• Short local histories handled with prior-state research

06When a tenancy fails

Demands, FED Summonses and Service Under Colorado Law

Good screening reduces evictions but cannot end them. For most residential tenancies, Colorado requires a 10-day written notice for nonpayment or other breaches under C.R.S. § 13-40-104, with shorter periods for nonresidential and certain exempt agreements. The demand may be delivered to the tenant, left with a family member above the age of fifteen who lives on the premises, or posted conspicuously if no one is there. Our Colorado process serving division delivers and documents those demands.

The FED summons must generally be served personally or, after diligent attempts, posted on the premises by a qualified server with the plaintiff mailing a copy by first-class mail, at least seven days before the appearance date. Only a sheriff executes a writ of restitution, and we never carry out removals or lockouts. For tenants who left owing money, our debtor skip tracing service finds them, and our Fort Collins process servers handle Larimer County service.

07Special cases

Student Rentals, Resort Housing and Commercial Leases

College towns bring parents and co-signers into the file. Landlords near CU Boulder, Colorado State in Fort Collins and Colorado School of Mines in Golden often screen students with thin credit histories, so a basic check on the student plus a deep-dive check on the guarantor is common. Resort counties along I-70, such as Summit and Eagle, see seasonal workers and short-term arrangements that make income verification harder. Our Boulder investigators handle many student-area requests.

Commercial leases follow different rules, since Colorado's residential screening statute is aimed at housing, so counsel can confirm what applies to a retail or warehouse lease. There the questions are business ones: is the tenant entity in good standing with the Secretary of State, do its owners have judgments or failed businesses, and is the personal guarantor real? Our business partner checks and corporate investigations team answer them.

Services

Tenant screening services in Colorado

• Basic applicant checkIdentity, court and eviction history within Colorado's lookback limits and prior-state records for one adult applicant, delivered remotely for $102 each.Learn more
• Deep-dive applicant checkAdds employment and income confirmation, prior landlord verification and broader civil history for one applicant or guarantor, at $300 per adult.Learn more
• Income and employer verificationPay and employment confirmed directly with the source, within the statute's 200 percent of rent cap, when documents or references do not line up.Learn more
• Prior landlord confirmationWe confirm that a listed reference actually owns or manages the property through assessor and Secretary of State records before any call is made.Learn more
• Criteria and process reviewYour written screening criteria and denial letters reviewed against Colorado's lookback, income and notice rules, with practical suggestions for counsel.Learn more
• Commercial tenant reviewEntity standing, owner litigation, liens and guarantor history researched before a retail, office or industrial lease is signed in Colorado.Learn more
• Demand and notice deliveryEviction demands delivered and documented under Colorado's rules, including service on a family member above fifteen or posting when no one is home.Learn more
• FED summons servicePersonal service, or posting after diligent attempts, at least seven days before the appearance date, with a signed return for the court file.Learn more
• Former tenant locatesTenants who left owing rent or damages located for collection or a court case, under the $1,000 field-work skip trace minimum when field work is needed.Learn more

How it works

How tenant screening works

1. 01

   Set the criteria

   You share your written criteria, application form and the property. We confirm the screening level for each adult and the price in writing, and flag criteria that conflict with Colorado's rules.

2. 02

   Authorization first

   Each applicant provides written authorization on your form before research begins, and we note whether a portable screening report was offered so fees are handled correctly.

3. 03

   Research and verify

   We confirm identity, search court and eviction history within the lookback limits, verify income, employers and prior landlords, and confirm significant court entries with outcomes.

4. 04

   Report and notices

   You receive a written report tied to your criteria. If you deny an application, we help you assemble the reasons and report copy that Colorado and federal rules generally require.

Compare

Colorado Tenant Screening Scenarios and Pricing

Statewide coverage

Tenant screening across Colorado

We screen applicants for landlords throughout Colorado. Denver, Aurora, Lakewood and the north metro produce most multifamily requests, while Colorado Springs sees steady military relocations and Greeley and Loveland see fast suburban growth. College rentals in Boulder, Fort Collins and Golden, and seasonal housing in the I-70 resort counties, each have their own patterns. Western Slope landlords in Grand Junction and Durango use the same process, with field verification scheduled around mountain travel. See the Colorado investigations home page or the statewide coverage map for more.

• Denver
• Aurora
• Colorado Springs
• Boulder
• Fort Collins
• Greeley
• All of Colorado

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Every service

Investigations available in Colorado

Every service below is available in Colorado and across Colorado, run by the same Delator Group leadership that manages our Tennessee casework. Choose a service to read how it works in Colorado.

Service areas

Private investigators across Colorado