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HB 25-1207

Pet Ownership Residential Housing Structures

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Jennifer Bacon and 21 co-sponsors

Expands homeowners insurance to cover more residences and bans breed-based dog discrimination; DOLA-financed housing must allow up to two pets with reasonable rules.

Governor Signed
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Bill Summary · HB 25-1207

Summary — HB 25-1207: Pet Ownership — Residential Housing Structures (Governor Signed)

Status and timing
- Governor signed: May 22, 2025.
- Effective date: August 6, 2025 (assuming no successful referendum).
- Key implementation deadline: Division of Housing must apply new pet rules to developments receiving financing on or after January 1, 2026.
- Fiscal: Final fiscal note — no appropriation required; minimal ongoing state workload.

Purpose and intent
- Reduce barriers to pet ownership for people who live in insured residential structures and in publicly financed affordable housing by (1) broadening insurance protections tied to dog-breed discrimination, and (2) requiring certain publicly funded housing to allow tenant pets subject to reasonable conditions.

Key provisions
1. Homeowners insurance (amendment to C.R.S. 10-4-110.8)
- Expands the statutory definition of “homeowners insurance” to expressly include policies that insure residential structures (including condominiums, mobile/manufactured homes, and commercial multifamily buildings) and policies covering contents of those structures.
- Continues to prohibit insurers from refusing to issue, cancelling, refusing to renew, or increasing premiums/rates based on the breed or mixture of breeds of a dog kept at the residence — except where a particular dog is known or has been declared to be dangerous under C.R.S. § 18-9-204.5 (sound underwriting/actuarial exceptions still allowed in that case).
- Applies to policies issued or renewed on or after the act’s effective date.

  1. Pet-inclusive publicly financed housing (adds C.R.S. 24-32-735)
    • Division of Housing (DOLA) must require that each housing development receiving Division financing on or after Jan 1, 2026, authorize tenants to own or keep up to two pet animals (defined as dogs or cats kept for companionship), subject to “reasonable conditions.”
    • Examples of permissible “reasonable conditions”: prohibition on dangerous dogs, nuisance-behavior rules, leashing and waste removal, tenant liability insurance requirements, unit-size–based limits on pet numbers, permitted pet security deposits or pet rent (subject to landlord-tenant law), and narrowly tailored, time-limited medical/mental-health determinations requiring temporary removal with a reunification plan.
    • “Reasonable conditions” expressly may not include an outright prohibition on up to two pets or breed/weight bans.
    • Does not affect laws requiring reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities who use service, assistance, or support animals.
    • Requirement is subject to applicable state and local public health, animal-control, and anti‑cruelty laws and applicable Division/Department rules.

Who is affected
- Tenants and owners of residential structures (including multifamily housing) — increased ability to keep pets.
- Insurers and the Division of Insurance — prohibition on breed-based adverse actions for covered residential and contents policies; potential minimal increase in regulatory workload and consumer complaints.
- Developers and landlords receiving DOLA financing — must allow pets under the statute’s conditions.
- DOLA and statutory entities — minimal additional administrative workload to ensure compliance.

Notes and limitations
- The enacted law focuses on homeowner/multifamily insurance definitions and DOLA-financed housing pet allowances. Previous bill drafts that would have tied tax-credit allocations (CHFA) to pet allowances were not included in the final enacted version.
- The law preserves insurer actions based on dogs that meet statutory “dangerous” criteria and preserves reasonable accommodation protections for disability-related animals.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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