Colorado HB 25 1090: What’s Next For the Real Estate Industry?

Colorado HB 25 1090 is now law, and every multifamily property owner in Colorado must understand its requirements. The act establishes clear disclosure standards for all fees across residential rental housing. It places specific transparency requirements on every cost passed to tenants. For property owners managing portfolios across the state, awareness and preparation are essential priorities. Compliance is now a standard part of professional property management.

What Does This Law Actually Require?

The act mandates full price transparency in every landlord-tenant transaction across the state. Every fee, charge, or cost imposed on a resident under HB 1090, Colorado, must be clearly and fully disclosed upfront. The law requires landlords to document every charge within a written rental agreement. Administrative fees, technology fees, and amenity charges all fall within the law’s scope. 

Every charge must be disclosed at the time the offer is made, as stipulated under this statute. Enforcement carries significant financial implications. A tenant with a valid concern may submit a written demand for reimbursement. The Colorado Consumer Protection Act treats violations of Colorado HB 1090 as deceptive trade practices. If the landlord fails to respond within 14 days, the matter may proceed to a determination of actual damages plus 18% interest, compounded annually. 

Property owners should note one important exemption regarding pass-through charges: utility service charges tied directly to a tenant’s unit consumption do not require a specific dollar amount disclosed upfront. The existence and nature of the charge must still be documented within the lease.

Tracking Colorado Hb 1090 Status: The Legislative Record

The legislative path for this bill is now fully complete. Introduced in January 2025, it moved through both the House and Senate Judiciary Committees before reaching the governor’s desk in Colorado. According to LegiScan, the House passed it 41 to 21, and the Senate approved it 22 to 12. Governor Jared Polis signed it into law on April 21, 2025, under Chapter 94 of the 2025 Session Laws.

The act became effective January 1, 2026, and it is currently enforced. This bill reflects a broader national legislative movement toward full fee disclosure in residential housing. Regulators at both the state and federal levels have designated HB 25-1090 in Colorado as a measure advancing transparent pricing standards across the industry.

According to the Colorado General Assembly, the act is formally titled “Protections Against Deceptive Pricing Practices.” Property owners who approach this as a standard-compliance matter will be well-positioned to meet its requirements. The act covers every fee in every rental agreement and grants tenants a direct private right of action to recover overcharges with compounding interest.

How This Law Affects Utility Billing for Multifamily Owners

Utility billing is where most multifamily owners carry the greatest compliance responsibility under this law. Water, energy, and common-area utility costs are among the most frequently passed-through charges in residential leases. Under Colorado HB 1090, consistent and thorough disclosure of these charges is a statutory requirement. Owners using Ratio Utility Billing Systems (RUBS) face specific obligations.

The total amount of utility charges is indeterminate at the time of lease signing because it varies with actual consumption. That structure is permissible, provided the owner clearly discloses the billing methodology, all mandatory fees tied to the system, and the variable nature of monthly charges. Submetered billing programs carry equivalent obligations. Owners must ensure full compliance with HB 25 1090 Colorado disclosure standards for any administrative fee layered on top of actual consumption charges within the lease agreement.

Owners who have embedded billing platform fees, meter reading charges, or statement fees into monthly utility bills must clearly document them at the time of the offer. At scale, across a portfolio, proactive disclosure practices support both regulatory standing and professional tenant relations.

The most effective path forward is to reduce underlying utility costs through water and energy conservation upgrades, so that amounts passed to tenants are both lower and easier to disclose with precision. Owners who reduce consumption establish a stronger billing position and a more defensible path to full transparency under HB 25-1090, Colorado.

The NOI Case for Conservation Under This Law

Every dollar of utility cost absorbed by ownership rather than lawfully recovered through tenant billing reduces Net Operating Income. That pressure compounds when improperly structured pass-through programs introduce legal liability on top of operational cost absorption. The most durable financial response is asset-level efficiency.

Utility benchmarking assessments establish consumption baselines that allow owners to target the highest-impact conservation investments across a portfolio. Without a verified baseline, it is difficult to project accurate savings, defend underwriting assumptions, or prioritize capital allocation with confidence. Properties with older plumbing fixtures, inefficient irrigation systems, or outdated common-area lighting represent the clearest near-term ROI opportunities under HB 1090 Colorado.

According to the EPA WaterSense program, conservation upgrades and fixture retrofits generate measurable reductions in water and operating costs for multifamily properties.JPMorgan Chase further confirms that multifamily cap rates remained stable between Q4 2024 and Q4 2025, meaning every dollar of sustained utility savings contributes directly to overall asset value. Owners entering Colorado through acquisition should integrate Energy Star Portfolio Manager assessments into due diligence to quantify utility performance against comparable assets before closing.

Understanding the 2019 and 2025 Colorado Pricing Laws

HB 25-1090, Colorado, established a significantly more comprehensive regulatory standard than its 2019 predecessor, and property owners must understand the distinction between the two frameworks. The 2019 legislation addressed utility billing transparency in a narrower context. It applied specifically to certain landlord structures for passing utility costs to tenants and established baseline disclosure standards for that arrangement. It is the predecessor to the significantly broader consumer pricing protections enacted in 2025. Owners who achieved compliance under the 2019 standards should conduct a full review of current lease agreements and billing practices under the current law.

HB 25 1090, Colorado, replaces that narrower framework with a comprehensive consumer protection statute. The 2025 law covers all fees, all charges, and all amounts in any rental agreement, not just utility billing structures. The enforcement mechanisms are significantly stronger. The private right of action is explicitly codified, and the 18% compounding-interest penalty creates a financial consequence that increases over time. Denver’s Energize Denver ordinance already places mandatory energy performance requirements on buildings over 25,000 square feet. Together, these frameworks define a demanding regulatory environment for Colorado commercial real estate.

Proactive Steps for Portfolio Owners

Colorado HB 1090 compliance begins with a thorough audit of the current lease language. Every fee currently charged to tenants must be reviewed against the law’s disclosure standard. Technology fees, administrative fees, utility billing fees, and amenity charges all require explicit disclosure of the maximum total amount in the lease agreement at the time the offer is made.

Beyond legal review, owners should conduct a comprehensive assessment of their utility billing infrastructure. RUBS and submetered programs that rely on variable charges must include explicit lease disclosure of the billing methodology, all mandatory fees associated with the billing platform, and the variable nature of the monthly total under HB 1090 in Colorado.

For properties with EV charging stations, pass-through billing for charging usage is also subject to the law’s disclosure requirements. EV charging energy management programs that include resident-facing charges must structure those amounts with full transparency. Common-area outdoor security lighting upgrades through LED retrofits and smart controls reduce shared energy costs that might otherwise qualify as candidates for pass-through billing. Reduced consumption eliminates both the financial burden and the associated disclosure requirements.

Owners seeking to quantify their full compliance exposure and identify conservation opportunities that most directly protect NOI benefit from a portfolio review and sustainability consulting engagement that integrates regulatory awareness with disciplined financial modeling under Colorado HB 25 1090.

Leveraging Green Financing to Support Compliance and Conservation

Colorado property owners pursuing conservation upgrades to reduce utility costs and strengthen billing transparency do not need to absorb the full capital requirement upfront. A range of green financing instruments, rebate programs, and shared-savings structures is available to qualified multifamily owners seeking to fund asset-level efficiency improvements.

Green loan programs such as Fannie Mae Green Rewards and Freddie Mac Green Advantage allow owners to finance water and energy conservation upgrades while potentially securing improved loan terms based on projected utility savings. These programs are specifically structured to reward measurable reductions in consumption under HB 25-1090, Colorado. making them a natural complement to the disclosure requirements established by the act. Owners who reduce their utility expenditures through financed improvements simultaneously strengthen their compliance position and their asset valuation.

Local and state utility rebate programs provide an additional layer of capital offset. In select Colorado markets, rebate availability can materially reduce the net cost of plumbing fixture upgrades, LED lighting retrofits, smart irrigation controls, and submetering installations. Owners who integrate energy and water benchmarking into their asset management strategy are best positioned to identify which properties qualify for the highest rebate value and sequence capital deployment accordingly.

Protect Your NOI. Start With a Portfolio Review Today.

Colorado HB 25 1090 has reset the compliance baseline for every multifamily owner in the state. The financial exposure for non-compliant billing practices is real and it compounds monthly. Ecofi helps property owners reduce utility costs, structure compliant billing programs, and protect Net Operating Income. Contact the team at 786.600.0620 or visit the contact page to schedule your portfolio review today.