ESA Letters · Colorado
Get an ESA Letter in Colorado
Colorado just did something no other state managed: it wrote the withdrawn federal assistance-animal guidance into its own statute book. HB26-1045 means the rules most sites still quote from HUD now have Colorado statutory force behind them.
Free to check · Takes about 5 minutes
- Licensed providers
- HIPAA compliant
- Most of Our Applicants Qualify
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33.8%
Households renting
18
State statutes cited
on our full guide
$0
Pet fees with a letter
~5 min
Check time
What your Colorado letter stops, and what stays
With a valid letter
- operate a complete prohibition on assistance animals, which C.R.S. § 24-34-502.2(2)(b)(II)(B) presumes to be discriminatory from August 12, 2026
- treat the mere presence of an assistance animal as a direct threat to health or safety, or presume it will cause substantial physical damage to the property of others, under C.R.S. § 24-34-502(1)(a)(III)
- refuse to make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices or services where necessary to afford a person with a disability equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling, under C.R.S. § 24-34-502.2(2)(b)
- rely on the small-landlord and owner-occupied exemptions that exist under federal law, because Colorado's disability provisions carry no equivalent, the three-or-fewer-units carve-out at C.R.S. § 24-34-502(1.5)(a) applies only to the source-of-income rules
- charge a pet deposit or pet rent for an approved assistance animal, because waiving that charge is an exception to a policy within the definition of reasonable accommodation at C.R.S. § 24-34-501(3.5)
- take more than a three-hundred-dollar refundable pet deposit, or more than thirty-five dollars a month or one and one-half percent of rent, whichever is greater, for an ordinary pet under C.R.S. § 38-12-106
- justify a breed restriction by pointing at its insurer, since C.R.S. § 10-4-110.8(16) bars an insurer from pricing or refusing a policy on dog breed and from asking about breed at all
- keep any part of a deposit without a written statement of the exact reasons within thirty days, and cannot charge for carpet replacement across a unit where the carpet was not replaced within the previous ten years, under C.R.S. § 38-12-103
- place a lien on the animal itself for unpaid rent, under C.R.S. § 38-20-102(3)(a)
Still applies
- request reasonable documentation supporting the claim of disability or the disability-related need, and may run a good faith interactive process, without that being discrimination, unless the disability or the need is obvious, under C.R.S. § 24-34-502.2(2)(b)(II)(C)
- act on documented, specific conduct of the animal that poses a direct threat to health or safety or causes substantial physical damage to property
- hold a tenant responsible for damage the animal actually causes, provided it exceeds normal wear and tear, did not preexist the tenancy, and is substantiated with the photographs, invoices or estimates C.R.S. § 38-12-103(8) requires on request
- ask for a walk-through inspection at the end of the tenancy, as may the tenant, under C.R.S. § 38-12-103(1.5)
The Colorado rule: the federal guidance, codified
C.R.S. § 24-34-502.2 now carries the two-question framework and the documentation standard the 2025 federal withdrawal orphaned. For you that is good news twice over: the duties are stricter than the federal floor, and a Colorado landlord cannot argue the guidance vanished when HUD pulled it.
The law behind the letter
Every claim on this page traces to a primary source. The ones doing the work in Colorado:
- C.R.S. § 24-34-301(2.5) and (8.5)
- C.R.S. § 24-34-502.2(2)(b)(II)(A)
- C.R.S. § 24-34-502.2(2)(b)(II)(B)
- C.R.S. § 24-34-502.2(2)(b)(II)(C)
What pet charges actually look like in Colorado
Typical figures from our 20 Colorado city guides. Every one of these charges falls to $0 once a valid letter is on file.
| City | Monthly pet rent | Pet deposit |
|---|---|---|
| Denver | Capped at $35/mo | Capped at $300 |
| Colorado Springs | Capped at $35/mo | Capped at $300 |
| Aurora | Capped at $35/mo | Capped at $300 |
| Fort Collins | Capped at $35/mo | Capped at $300 |
| Lakewood | Capped at $35/mo | Capped at $300 |
Three steps to your Colorado letter
Check that you qualify
Answer a short screening about how your condition affects daily life in Colorado. No diagnosis paperwork needed up front.
About 5 minutes: free
Connect with a licensed professional
You are matched with a provider licensed for Colorado clients who reviews your situation in a telehealth evaluation.
Telehealth evaluation
Complete your evaluation
The professional evaluates whether an emotional support animal alleviates symptoms of a condition recognized in the DSM-5. Honest evaluations, not everyone qualifies.
Most of Our Applicants Qualify
Receive your signed letter
Your letter arrives on the professional's letterhead with their license number: the documentation Colorado landlords may lawfully request.
Typically within days of approval
Send it to your landlord
Submit the letter with a short reasonable-accommodation request. Pet fees, pet deposits, and breed limits no longer apply to your animal in Colorado.
Protection under FHA + state law
About “ESA registration” in Colorado
No Colorado agency registers emotional support animals, and no certificate, vest, identification card or online listing carries any weight with a Colorado landlord or with the Civil Rights Division. What the law asks about is a disability and a disability-related need for the animal. Colorado is unusual in policing the paperwork from both ends. C.R.S. § 18-13-107.3 makes it an offence to intentionally misrepresent entitlement to an assistance animal in order to obtain a housing accommodation, though only where the person was already warned that doing so is illegal: a class 2 civil infraction since March 1, 2022, carrying fines of twenty-five dollars, then fifty to two hundred, then one hundred to five hundred. At the other end, C.R.S. §§ 12-240-144 and 12-245-229 tell the licensed professional what a written finding has to involve, and a finding made under those sections is an affirmative defence to the offence. A purchased registration is not.
Colorado ESA letter FAQs
Did the 2025 federal changes weaken my Colorado protections?
In Colorado, no: HB26-1045 moved the substance of the old federal guidance into state statute, so the framework survives independently of anything Washington does.
What may a Denver landlord ask about my animal?
The two statutory questions: whether you have a disability-related need, and whether the animal assists with it. Anything beyond that (diagnosis, records, training proof) sits outside what the statute allows.
Do Denver-area breed bans apply to my ESA?
No. Breed and weight restrictions are pet rules, and a documented assistance animal is not a pet under the Colorado statutes any more than under the FHA.
Is an online ESA letter valid in Colorado?
Yes. Colorado layers its own fair housing law on top of the federal Fair Housing Act, and neither requires an in-person visit, what both require is a real evaluation by a provider licensed for Colorado. A telehealth evaluation that ends in a signed letter meets that standard; a questionnaire that ends in a PDF does not.
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