Cal. Civ. Code § 38-12-904

(1) (a) 
If a landlord uses rental history or credit history as criteria in
consideration of an application, the landlord shall not consider any rental
history or credit history beyond seven years immediately preceding the date of
the application, and the landlord must comply with subsections (1)(c) and
(1)(d) of this section.

(b) If
a landlord uses criminal history as a criterion in consideration of an
application, the landlord shall not consider an arrest record of a prospective
tenant from any time or any conviction of a prospective tenant that occurred
more than five years before the date of the application; except that a landlord
may consider any criminal conviction record or deferred judgment relating to:

(I) The
unlawful distribution, manufacturing, dispensing, or sale of a material,
compound, mixture, or preparation that contains methamphetamine, as described
in section 18-18-405;

(II) 
The unlawful possession of materials to make methamphetamine and amphetamine,
as described in section 18-18-412.5;

(III) 
Any offense that required the prospective tenant to register as a sex offender
pursuant to section 16-22-103; or

(IV) 
Any offense described in part 1 or part 6 of article 3 of title 18.

(c) If
a landlord uses financial information, including rental history or credit
history, as a criterion in consideration of a rental application from a
prospective tenant who is seeking to rent with the assistance of a housing
subsidy, the landlord shall not consider or inquire about the prospective
tenant's:

(I) 
Amount of income, except for the purpose of determining that the prospective
tenant's annual amount of income equals or exceeds two hundred percent of the
portion of the annual cost of rent that is to be paid by the prospective
tenant; or

(II) 
Credit score, adverse credit event, or lack of credit score unless the landlord
is required by federal law to consider a credit score or a lack of a credit
score.

(d) If
a landlord uses financial information, including rental history or credit
history, as a criterion in consideration of a rental application from any
prospective tenant who is seeking to rent without the assistance of a housing
subsidy, the landlord shall not consider or inquire about the prospective
tenant's amount of income, except for the purpose of determining that the
prospective tenant's annual amount of income equals or exceeds two hundred
percent of the annual cost of rent. A landlord shall not require a prospective
tenant to have an annual amount of income that exceeds two hundred percent of
the annual cost of rent.

(e) 
Notwithstanding subsections (1)(c) and (1)(d) of this section, nothing in said
subsections precludes a landlord who is receiving funding from a governmental
entity, quasi-governmental entity, or nonprofit organization that requires
landlords to income-qualify tenants for income-restricted rental units from
gathering any financial information about a prospective tenant for the purpose
of determining the prospective tenant's eligibility for an income-restricted
rental unit if the funding source requires the landlord to collect such
information as a condition for the receipt of funding.

(1.5)
(a) Except as provided in subsection (1.5)(f) of this section, a landlord
shall accept a portable tenant screening report from a prospective tenant.

(b) A
landlord receiving a portable tenant screening report may require:

(I) 
That the screening report was completed within the previous thirty days;

(II) 
Repealed.

(III) 
That the screening report is made available to the landlord at no cost to
access or use in the rental application process; and

(IV) A
statement from the prospective tenant that there has not been a material change
in the information in the screening report, including the prospective tenant's
name, address, bankruptcy status, criminal history, or eviction history, since
the report was generated.

(c) A
landlord shall not charge a prospective tenant a fee to access or use the
screening report.

(d) Prior
to taking any action relating to tenant screening for which a landlord would
expect to collect an application fee, a landlord shall advise a prospective
tenant of the following, using substantially similar language:

1. The prospective tenant has the
right to provide to the landlord a portable tenant screening report, as defined
in section 38-12-902 (2.5), Colorado Revised Statutes; and

2. If the prospective tenant
provides the landlord with a portable tenant screening report, the landlord is
prohibited from:

Charging the prospective tenant a
rental application fee; or

Charging the prospective tenant a
fee for the landlord to access or use the portable tenant screening report.

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(e) A
landlord shall provide the advisement required in subsection (1.5)(d) of this
section in a location and using a method reasonably likely to reach prospective
tenants, including:

(I) In
advertisements and other public notices of the dwelling unit's availability,
displayed in at least twelve-point, bold-faced type unless the size, format, or
display requirements of the advertisement or other public notice make this
requirement impracticable, in which case the font and size of the advisement
must match the rest of the advertisement or other public notice;

(II) On
the home page of a website maintained by the landlord or the landlord's agent,
including a property management company, displayed in at least twelve-point,
bold-faced type;

(III) 
In a paper or an online rental application for the dwelling unit, displayed in
at least twelve-point, bold-faced type; or

(IV) 
Orally, directly to a prospective tenant, with a written confirmation of
receipt by the prospective tenant of the advisement.

(f) A
landlord is exempt from the requirements set forth in subsections (1.5)(a) to
(1.5)(e) of this section if the landlord:

(I) 
Does not accept more than one application fee at a time for a dwelling unit or,
if a dwelling unit is rented to more than one occupant, does not accept more
than one application fee at a time from each prospective tenant or tenant group
for the dwelling unit; and

(II) 
Refunds the total amount of the application fee to each prospective tenant
within twenty calendar days after written communication from either the
landlord or landlord's agent or the prospective tenant declining to enter into
a lease agreement for the dwelling unit.

(1.7) [ Editor's
note: Subsection (1.7) is effective January 1, 2027. ]

(a) A
landlord shall include in all rental applications:

(I) A
notice to prospective tenants regarding the information and data the landlord
will attempt to access when conducting a tenant screening;

(II) A
general description of the factors the landlord will consider when evaluating a
rental application, including a prospective tenant's credit history, rental
history, income, and criminal background, if applicable; and

(III) 
Whether the landlord uses a third-party tenant screening service, and if so,
the name of the service.

(b) 
Nothing in this subsection (1.7) requires a landlord to adopt or disclose fixed
disqualifying criteria.

(1.8) A
violation of subsection (1)(c) or (1)(d) of this section constitutes unlawful
discrimination against an individual on the basis of the individual's amount of
income in violation of section 24-34-502 (1)(q), for which violation
enforcement, penalties, and other relief is provided pursuant to parts 3 and 5
of article 34 of title 24 in addition to any relief provided under this part 9.

(2) (a)
(I) (A) If a landlord denies a rental application, the landlord shall
provide to the prospective tenant a written notice of the denial that states
the reasons for the denial.

(B) If
the prospective tenant submits an application that results in a landlord
obtaining a consumer report relating to the prospective tenant, the landlord
shall also provide a copy of the consumer report relating to the prospective
tenant and an advisement of the prospective tenant's right to dispute the
accuracy of the consumer report with the consumer reporting agency pursuant to
section 5-18-106.

(II) If
the specific screening criteria cannot be directly cited because of the use of
a proprietary screening system, the landlord shall instead provide the
prospective tenant a copy of the report from the screening company that uses
the proprietary screening system, with only the proprietary information
redacted.

(III) A
landlord may provide a prospective tenant an electronic version of the denial
notice required in this subsection (2) unless the prospective tenant requests a
paper denial notice, in which case the landlord shall provide the prospective
tenant a paper denial notice.

(b) A
landlord who is required to provide a notice of denial to a prospective tenant
as described in subsection (2)(a) of this section shall make a good-faith
effort to do so not more than twenty calendar days after making the decision to
deny the prospective tenant's rental application.