Utility billing laws for landlords in Colorado

Rules reviewed September 2026

At a glance

Admin fee

Not allowed on allocated bills

Lease disclosure

Required. State the utilities billed and the allocation method before the tenant signs.

Billing above the utility's bill

Not permitted. Tenant shares must never total more than the master bill.

Common areas

Excluded. Hallways, laundry and irrigation stay the owner's cost.

What Colorado requires

• Colorado allows allocated utility billing with clear lease disclosure of the method (HB26-1013, 2026).
• Total billed to tenants may not exceed the utility's bill, and common areas must be excluded.
• Markups, surcharges, and admin fees are restricted; review C.R.S. 38-12-801 before adding a fee.

How SplitDue handles this

• Because Colorado restricts admin fees on allocated bills, SplitDue shows that warning when you set one and records the rule alongside the utility.
• Tenant shares are calculated so they add up to the master bill exactly, never more, and rounding remainders are absorbed rather than collected twice.
• Vacant and owner-occupied units still take their share of every bill, but that share is assigned to you rather than pushed onto the remaining tenants.
• Each tenant bill states the method, the service dates, the inputs used, and the utility's total, which is the disclosure most states expect you to be able to produce.