The act creates the strengthen Colorado homes enterprise (enterprise), which is a government-owned business created in the division of insurance (division) in the department of regulatory agencies. The enterprise is governed by a 7-member board (board), including the commissioner of insurance (commissioner), or their designee; members with expertise in home hardening, risk mitigation, resilient roof systems, and insurance underwriting or actuarial analysis; and members representing the interests of insurance companies, consumers, and counties. The primary purpose of the enterprise is to impose and collect an annual fee (fee) from an admitted insurance company that offers multiperil homeowner's insurance policies in the state and is subject to certain filing requirements with the division, not including the fair access to insurance requirements association (insurer). The enterprise shall use fee revenue to provide business services to insurers that pay the fee, including:Reducing insurer losses and administrative expenses due to hail damage claims by defraying the cost of retrofitting residential property by providing grants for the installation of resilient roof systems (grants). At least 85% of the fee revenue must be used for grants to Colorado homeowners to retrofit residential property to reduce insurer losses due to hail and windstorms.Analyzing data on hail losses to identify areas of the state to target for installation of resilient roof systems;Setting standards for resilient roof systems and awarding workforce training grants for installing and certifying resilient roof systems;Creating codes of conduct for roofing contractors to ensure roofs are properly and appropriately installed;Evaluating roofing protocols to ascertain if the protocols meet science-based, certifiable standards; Conducting or contracting with a third party to conduct a study to analyze insurance risk in high-risk wildfire areas of the state; andImproving market stability throughout the state. Beginning in the 2027 calendar year, the amount of the fee imposed and collected by the enterprise is an amount equal to 0.5% of the total premium collected by an insurer on multiperil homeowner's insurance policies in the state in the immediately preceding calender year. The insurer shall not surcharge the fee amount to policyholders. The enterprise may lower or cease collecting the fee from an insurer in any calendar year to ensure that total fee revenue does not exceed $100 million in the first 5 years of the enterprise's existence. In awarding grants, the board shall prioritize homes that are the homeowner applicant's (applicant) primary residence and shall consider other criteria, including applicant income, the age of the roof, the size of the home, the number of grant applicants, whether the home is in a locality with hail-resistant building codes, and whether the applicant lives in a location that has historically had a higher susceptibility to extreme weather events. In order to ensure the necessary workforce, fee revenue may also be used to award grants to defray the costs of training and certification related to installing and certifying resilient roof systems. A contractor that is awarded bids and receives money from a grant is prohibited from waiving homeowner's insurance deductibles. In addition, the board shall use fee revenue to conduct or contract with a third party to conduct a study to analyze insurance risk in high-risk wildfire areas of the state, including an analysis of market competition in those areas and the impact of a high risk program on the potential losses in the high-risk wildfire areas of the state and the availability of homeowner's insurance in those areas. The board or third party conducting the study shall engage with relevant stakeholders that include, at a minimum, representatives of reinsurers and reinsurance brokers, insurers writing homeowner's insurance contracts or policies in Colorado, individuals with expertise in complex financial instruments and debt instruments, and consumers or other individuals with expertise in wildfire mitigation. The board shall send the study to certain committees of the general assembly. The board shall adopt rules and policies for the regulation of the enterprise's affairs and the conduct of enterprise business, including standards for resilient roof systems and standards for contractor-specialized training in the installation of impact-resistant roof systems. No sooner than January 1, 2027, and upon the commissioner adopting rules, an insurer offering multiperil homeowner's insurance for property or risks located in the state is required to submit an annual filing to the commissioner that includes the number of policies in force, the number of homes that have installed a resilient roof system, the discount applied to homes due to the presence of a resilient roof system, and the wind and hail claims frequency and severity for homes with and without a resilient roof system. $66,250 is appropriated from the legal services cash fund to the department of law to provide legal services to the department of regulatory agencies to implement the act. The appropriation is from revenue received from the department of regulatory agencies that is continuously appropriated to the department of regulatory agencies from the strengthen Colorado homes enterprise fund. The appropriation to the department of law is based on an assumption that the department of law will require an additional 0.3 FTE to implement the act.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act establishes and clarifies financial protections for mobile home park residents. The act requires a landlord of a mobile home park to notify residents when the landlord is temporarily prohibited from increasing rent. Under current law, a landlord is required to send notice to residents when the landlord intends to sell the mobile home park. The act adds to the information that must be included in the notice that the landlord sends to residents of the park to include a statement that the landlord must provide additional information and documentation to a home owner upon request by the home owner, including:The basis of the purchase price, such as aggregate rental data, rent projections, and recent appraisals of the property;Disclosure of the age of major infrastructure in the mobile home park;Documentation of any infrastructure inspections, maintenance, and repair services from the previous 3 years;The most up-to-date rent roll and any documentation related to rents, charges, outstanding balances, and the vacancy rate; andThe operating expenses and income for the park from the previous 3 years. The act requires that, for a potential sale of a mobile home park that is a portfolio sale including real property or structures located outside of the mobile home park, the price, terms, or conditions of the proposed sale, including for the real property or structures located outside of the park, must be made available to the home owners of the park, even if the home owners submit an offer to purchase only the park. The act requires the landlord and any potential buyer to conduct the sale of the mobile home park at arms-length and in good faith. The act establishes certain parameters related to the registration fee that must be paid by a landlord of a mobile home park and limits the amount that the landlord may charge each resident to cover the registration fee at $17.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Under current law, the Colorado homeless contribution tax credit (credit) may only be claimed through state income tax year 2026. The act amends the credit to allow taxpayers to claim the credit through state income tax year 2030.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Current law provides an exemption for taxation on property acquired and developed for low-income housing by nonprofit housing providers, community land trusts, and nonprofit affordable homeownership developers. The bill expands the exemption to also include property intended for low-income residential rental property.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill gives city and county housing authorities (housing authority) the power to provide for the levy of a sales tax, sales and use tax, or property tax both within the jurisdiction of the authority, the resulting revenue of which will be directed to the housing authority, subject to the following conditions:The city or county has adopted a resolution determining that the levying of the tax will fairly distribute the costs of the housing authority's activities among the beneficiaries of the housing authority's activities and will not impose an undue burden on any particular group of people or businesses ; andA ballot question has been submitted to a vote of the registered electors of the city or county and subsequently approved by a majority of such registered electors, and the ballot question describes the purposes for which the tax will be used by the housing authority and complies with section 20 of article X of the state constitution. All new tax revenues generated are irrevocably pledged to the authority for the purposes set forth in the ballot question. If a sales or sales and use tax is approved by the voters of a housing authority:The rate of the sales or sales and use tax must not exceed 1% on any transaction taxable by the state , excluding the sale or use of cigarettes ; andThe executive director of the department of revenue shall collect, administer, and enforce the tax, and the city or county shall pay the net incremental cost incurred by the department in the administration and collection of the tax. The authority shall designate a liaison to coordinate with the department of revenue to implement the collection of the tax and to identify people eligible to collect the sales and use tax; and The tax revenue must be directed to a fund of the authority.The provisions authorizing the levy of the sales or sales and use tax will only take effect if the department of revenue receives an amount of gifts, grants, and donations sufficient to pay for the department's costs in administering the tax. If an ad valorem property tax is approved by the voters of a housing authority:The rate of the ad valorem property tax must not exceed 5 mills on each dollar of valuation for assessment of the taxable property within the authority's jurisdiction;The board of county commissioners of the county in which the housing authority is located shall levy the ad valorem property tax upon the valuation for assessment of all taxable property within the authority's jurisdiction;The officials charged with collecting ad valorem property taxes for the county in which the housing authority is located shall collect the taxes at the time and in the form and manner and with like interest and penalties as other property taxes collected within the county;The property tax revenue must be directed to a fund of the authority; andAll property tax revenue, together with interest thereon and penalties for default in payment thereof, and all costs of collecting the same shall constitute, until paid, a perpetual lien on and against the property taxed, and such lien shall be on a parity with the tax lien of other general taxes. The bill gives county housing authorities the power to issue revenue or general obligation bonds and to pledge the authority's revenues and revenue-raising powers for the payment of such bonds. The bill allows an urban renewal authority to enter into a shortfall guaranty contract with an urban renewal project developer (developer) specifying that, if the tax increment revenue is insufficient to pay the indebtedness incurred by the authority that is due, the developer is obligated to make a direct payment covering the full amount of the insufficiency. A shortfall guaranty contract:Constitutes a lien on the urban renewal project property the same as, and equal in priority to, a tax lien;Has priority over any mortgage, lien that is not a tax lien, or other encumbrance;Constitutes a covenant running with the land for the term of the contract; andMay be recorded against the real property upon which the urban renewal project is developed.(Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.)(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
The bill limits the number of forcible entry and detainer (eviction) actions that a county court schedules on one business day. The bill prohibits including a minor defendant as a named defendant in an eviction complaint when a parent or adult guardian is also listed as a defendant on the same complaint. The bill prohibits a court from entering judgment without a trial or a hearing when a tenant's answer to an eviction complaint expresses an intent to cure nonpayment. The bill specifies that the following reasons excuse a tenant from filing a timely written answer to an eviction complaint: A hospitalization, a sickness or injury, a reasonable accommodation request for a disability, a lack of proper service, a transportation issue, a complication related to electronic filing that was reasonably outside of the tenant's control, and a court issue that was reasonably outside of the tenant's control. When a tenant in an eviction action asserts that they were affected by one of the specified reasons, the bill requires a court to:Relieve a tenant from final judgment, vacate any judgment or writ of restitution that was issued, and provide the tenant with a reasonable amount of time to file an answer;Permit additional and amended pleadings; andExtend the trial date. The bill repeals appeals bond in eviction cases. The bill extends the time for executing a writ of restitution in an eviction action from 48 hours to 30 days, except in cases involving substantial violations. The bill prohibits the execution of writs in eviction actions during inclement weather.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill requires a plaintiff that files a complaint concerning the unlawful detention of real property to include certain documentation with the complaint.The bill requires that if a landlord posts a written demand or notice, the landlord must:Include in the demand or notice certain information; andRedact from the document certain personal identifying information.Under current law, when a landlord commences an action for forcible entry and detainer, any court record of the action is a suppressed court record. If the court issues an order granting the landlord possession of the premises, the record is no longer a suppressed court record unless the parties agree that the record remain suppressed. Under the bill, such a court record remains suppressed unless it concerns a substantial violation of the lease. A court may publish a judicial opinion concerning the action if the names and identifiers of the parties are anonymized.The bill requires a landlord to provide a tenant at least one rent payment option that does not require the tenant to access an online portal or pay a transaction fee.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill authorizes a county or municipality (local government), after approval by the electors of the local government, to impose an excise or a property tax, or both, on vacant residential properties within the boundaries of the local government (local taxes on vacant residential properties) ( sections 1 and 3 of the bill). A local government may use the revenues collected from either tax only for affordable, attainable, or workforce housing. A county assessor has no duty in implementing local taxes on vacant residential properties, but in an assessor's discretion, the assessor may assist by providing data and information to a local government or local housing tax authority, and may enter into an intergovernmental agreement that provides for compensation in exchange for the assessor's assistance.The bill also creates a process for the creation of a local housing tax authority (authority) by intergovernmental agreement to allow 2 or more counties, cities and counties, or municipalities to form a joint taxing authority to collectively establish, levy, collect, and enforce local taxes on vacant residential properties within the boundaries of the authority ( section 2 ).(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
