Colorado lawmakers introduce hundreds of bills each year. Bills in brief cuts through the noise by explaining which proposals matter, what’s at stake, and how decisions at the Capitol could affect everyday life across the state.

House Bill 1013, sponsored by Reps. Emily Sirota, D-Denver, and Javier Mabrey, D-Denver, and Sens. Lisa Cutter, D-Evergreen, and Mike Weissman, D-Aurora, would allow landlords to implement a ratio utility billing system for their tenants if they meet certain requirements.

No hearing date for the bill has been set.

House Bill 1047, sponsored by Rep. Junie Joseph, D-Boulder, would require individuals who file complaints concerning the wrongful retention or possession of property to include certain documentation in their complaint.

The bill also requires courts to suppress eviction records, with certain exceptions. Courts would be permitted to publish judicial opinions on the action, provided the names of all parties are redacted.

The bill also requires landlords to provide tenants with a payment option that does not require access to an online portal.

House Bill 1047 will be heard by the House Judiciary Committee on Feb. 24.

House Bill 1106, sponsored by Reps. Mandy Lindsay, D-Aurora, and Elizabeth Velasco, D-Glenwood Springs, and Sens. Mike Weissman, D-Aurora, limit the number of evictions a county court can schedule in a single day.

The bill also prohibits naming a minor as a named defendant in an eviction complaint and requires courts to hold a trial or hearing when a tenant’s answer to an eviction complaint expresses an intent to cure the nonpayment.

Additionally, HB 1106 would create a list of excusable reasons for a tenant to not have filed a timely written answer to an eviction complaint, such as hospitalization, sickness or injury, or transportation issues.

The bill also repeals the appeals bond in eviction cases and would extend the time to execute a writ of restitution in an eviction case from 48 hours to 30 days.

The bill will be heard by the House Judiciary Committee on March 10.

House Bill 1196, sponsored by Reps. Regina English, D-Colorado Springs, and Junie Joseph, D-Boulder, require landlords to inform prospective tenants if they plan to obtain certain information about them for tenant screening.

The bill also requires landlords who own more than five properties and receive certain financial assistance to offer prospective tenants the option to file a positive rent report to a credit bureau, which can help boost their credit score. If a tenant initially declines the offer and later signs a lease with the landlord, the landlord must make the offer when the lease is renewed. If the tenant accepts the offer, the landlord must send the tenant’s payment information to at least one consumer reporting agency each time the tenant pays rent at no cost to the tenant.

The bill is scheduled to be heard by the House Transportation, Housing and Local Government Committee on March 3.

House Bill 1284, sponsored by Reps. Jacque Phillips, D-Thornton, and Amy Paschal, D-Colorado Springs, allows property owners to bill tenants using a submeter or ratio utility billing system, which bills tenants based on their unit’s square footage or occupancy.

The bill also requires all new residential buildings to install submeters on each unit to measure water consumption and charge tenants based on their unit’s submeter reading.

Starting on Jan. 1, 2027, all new residential construction must install individual submeters for each unit to measure water consumption for each unit. A tenant’s water utility bill must be calculated based on the individual submeter reading. No hearing date has been announced yet.

Senate Bill 054, sponsored by Sens. Marc Catlin, R-Montrose, and Marc Snyder, D-Colorado Springs, and Reps. Naquetta Ricks, D-Aurora, and Chris Richardson, R-Elizabeth, create an exception in current law, allowing landlords to not require tenants to submit a security deposit worth more than two months of rent if the buyer and seller of the property have signed a post-closing occupancy agreement. No hearing date has been announced yet.