HB24-1318 Landlords Required To Pay For Tenant Disability Modifications To Rental Properties
*Grace Property Management is not an attorney firm, and this is not legal advice. The below is simply our interpretation of some aspects of HB 24-1318. A legal professional should be consulted before relying on any of the below information.
Colorado House Bill 24-1318 was recently passed into Colorado law and will significantly change the way property modifications are made to rental properties for tenants who have disabilities. This bill requires that Colorado landlords now cover the cost of tenant disability modifications.
Per the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the rule for property modifications has always been the same – housing providers must allow reasonable modifications to properties for tenants with disabilities.
HUD’s federal guidelines for modifications is basically understood as a three part test:
1. There must be a disability. (this disability may be physical, mental, emotional, psychological and may or may not be obvious).
2. There must be a legal nexus between the disability request and the person who has the disability
(for example - If the tenant is in a wheelchair and requests a wheelchair ramp, the wheelchair ramp must in some way offset that disability to make the property more accessible).
3. The request must be reasonable.
All reasonable accommodation or modification requests received from tenants should to be filtered through these criteria. Real estate investors in Colorado should NOT categorically decline these types requests or they may be violating federal law. Landlords need to allow what is requested by tenants with both physical and emotional disabilities in order to stay in compliance.
HUD regulations outside of HB 24-1318:
-The tenant must pay the cost of any property modifications
-Landlords must allow the requested modifications to be made (per the three guidelines stated above), but the tenant would be responsible for the cost
-The landlord may require tenant to pay to restore the property to it's original condition (If modifications made by the tenant have changed the construction of the property, housing providers may require the tenant to return the property to its original condition upon their move out).
Colorado changes per HB 24-1318:
-The landlord must pay the cost of any property modifications
(A tenant could request not only to install a wheelchair ramp, but also to have door handles brought down, doorways expanded, and countertops brought down – in Colorado, the landlord is now required to pay for these accommodations)
-The Landlord may NOT require the tenant to pay to restore the property to it's original condition
Reasonability Test For The Accommodation / Modification
One of HUD’s criteria for these modifications is that the request be reasonable. In the past, the financial obligation has never been part of the reasonability test because the tenant would be responsible for the cost of any modifications. However, modifications could cost thousands of dollars and be a large financial burden to the landlord.
Therefore, Colorado real estate investors could potentially deny expensive accommodation requests on the grounds that it is financially unreasonable for them to take on the financial burden of paying for the modifications to the property. This is a potential avenue for housing providers to take when navigating this bill (this is not legal advice) and we have yet to see how this will play out in the courts.
HB 24-1318 is effective August 7th of 2024.
To view and read the full bill click here. HB 24-1318 – Concerning Reasonable Modifications to Rental Premises for an Individual with a Disability
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