Pay Stubs for a Colorado Rental Application: The 2026 Rules

A Colorado landlord can ask for your pay stubs, and Colorado law limits what those stubs have to prove. Under C.R.S. 38-12-904, a landlord cannot require annual income above 200% of the annual rent, so a $2,000-a-month Denver apartment needs $4,000 a month in gross income, not the $6,000 that the old 3x rule demanded.

This guide covers what Front Range landlords check on a pay stub, what the Colorado rental application laws let them ask, how to document gig or self-employed income, and what a rent-to-own program or a CHFA lender asks for instead. Every rule below is Colorado law or Front Range practice.

How many pay stubs do Colorado landlords ask for?

Two to four. Most Denver metro property managers ask for the two most recent stubs from a biweekly payroll, or four from a weekly one, so the file shows a full month of income. Landlords that run applicants through a screening service such as TransUnion SmartMove upload the same stubs into the screening file.

Bring the stubs with matching documents:

• Photo ID with the same legal name that prints on the stub.
• One bank statement showing the payroll deposits landing.
• An offer letter if you started the job within the last 60 days and have fewer than two stubs.
• A portable tenant screening report if you already paid for one (details below).

What income do you need to rent in Colorado?

Gross income of at least twice the rent. Senate Bill 23-184, in force since August 7, 2023, bars a Colorado landlord from requiring annual income above 200% of the annual rent. The same law caps security deposits at two months' rent and requires the landlord to count a housing subsidy: if a voucher pays part of the rent, the 200% test applies only to the tenant's share.

Here is the math for common Front Range rents.

A landlord who demands 3x rent in Colorado owes the applicant $50 for the violation and $2,500 more if the landlord fails to cure it after notice, plus the applicant's damages, court costs and attorney fees. The bill text is on the Colorado General Assembly page for SB 23-184.

What landlords check on a Colorado pay stub

A property manager reads a stub in under a minute and looks for six things:

• Name and employer match. The legal name matches the ID and the employer matches the application. A missing middle initial slows the file; a different last name stops it until you explain it.
• Gross pay. The number before taxes is the one measured against the 200% rule.
• Pay dates in rhythm. Weekly, biweekly, semi-monthly or monthly, with no unexplained gaps. Unpaid leave gets a one-line note.
• Year-to-date totals that add up. Ten checks of $2,000 gross show $20,000 YTD. Check the math yourself before you upload.
• Normal deductions. Federal tax, Colorado flat state income tax, and FICA at 7.65%. Large 401(k) or pre-tax deductions get a note so the gross figure still reads clearly.
• Employer contact. Managers call a number they find online, not the one printed on the stub, to confirm employment.

If your employer's stubs are hard to read or leave out the YTD line, a pay stub generator produces a clean PDF from your real payroll numbers. Use it only to present income you actually earned. Inventing income on a Colorado rental application is fraud and grounds for eviction after move-in. The Employment Law Handbook keeps a reviewed list if you want a trusted pay-stub generator to compare.

Do Denver landlords have to accept a portable tenant screening report?

Yes. House Bill 23-1099 requires every Colorado landlord to accept a portable tenant screening report (PTSR) that a consumer reporting agency prepared within the past 30 days at the applicant's request. When you hand over a PTSR, the landlord cannot charge you an application fee or a fee to open the report.

The report holds the same items a landlord would pull on their own: employment and income verification, rental history, credit history and criminal history. Landlords must state, in the listing or before collecting any fee, whether they accept PTSRs. One paid report covers every unit you apply to in a 30-day window, which matters when Denver application fees run $35 to $75 each.

Since January 1, 2026, under HB 25-1236, an applicant renting with a housing subsidy does not need a credit score or credit history in the PTSR, and a landlord cannot reject the report for lacking one. Read the statute summary on the Colorado General Assembly page for HB 23-1099.

How much can a rental application fee be in Colorado, and do you get it back?

Only the landlord's actual screening cost, and yes, the unused part comes back. The Rental Application Fairness Act (C.R.S. 38-12-903, from HB 19-1106) sets four rules:

• Same fee for every applicant on the same unit.
• Fee equals actual cost. The landlord must make a good-faith effort to refund any unused portion within 20 days.
• Written denial reasons. A landlord who denies you must send written notice of the reasons within 20 calendar days.
• Look-back limits. The landlord cannot weigh rental or credit history older than 7 years, or criminal history older than 5 years, with exceptions for a short list of serious convictions.

A landlord who breaks these rules owes triple the application fee plus court costs, and the 2023 update raised the penalty for an uncured violation to $2,500.

How do you prove income in Colorado if you are self-employed or drive for a gig app?

With the documents that replace a stub. Colorado landlords accept any of these, and the 200% test still applies to the gross figure:

• The last two years of federal tax returns with Schedule C, plus this year's 1099 forms.
• Three months of business bank statements showing deposits from Uber, DoorDash, Upwork or your clients.
• A profit-and-loss statement for the year to date, signed by you or your accountant.
• Invoices and payment records. If clients pay you by check or transfer, generate invoice copies that match the deposits so the manager can trace each one.
• Award letters for Social Security, disability, pension, child support or VA benefits. Colorado landlords must count these as income.

Put the documents in one PDF, newest first, with a half-page cover note that totals gross income for the last 12 months and divides it by 12. Managers approve the file they can read in two minutes and set aside the one they have to decode.

What if you are short of the Colorado income rule?

Three fixes work on the Front Range:

• A co-signer whose own income meets the 200% test. The co-signer signs the lease as guarantor and stays on it for the full term.
• A roommate on the lease. Combined gross income counts toward the test.
• Prepaid rent. Some landlords accept 2 to 3 months of rent paid up front. The security deposit itself is capped at two months' rent and cannot be raised as a workaround.

How is this different from a mortgage or rent-to-own application?

A lender asks for more history and checks it harder. A Colorado mortgage lender, including a CHFA participating lender, asks for:

• 30 days of pay stubs and the two most recent W-2s.
• Two years of tax returns if any income is self-employed, commission or bonus.
• Two months of bank statements for every account, with every large deposit explained in writing.
• A credit score of 620 or higher for CHFA programs, plus a CHFA-approved homebuyer education class before closing.

A rent-to-own home sits between the two. The Kenna Real Estate Group's Colorado rent-to-own program starts with the same stubs and bank statements a landlord reads, then maps the path from the lease to a mortgage. Renters in Denver start at Denver rent-to-own homes, in Aurora at Aurora rent-to-own homes, in Colorado Springs at Colorado Springs rent-to-own homes, and in Greeley at Greeley rent-to-own homes.

If the credit side is the problem, Kenna Credit Care mortgage readiness works the score up before a lender pulls it. The first-time home buyer guide for Colorado lists every document a lender needs, and the Colorado mortgage pre-approval guide shows the order to gather them in.

Where to go next

• Colorado rent-to-own homes and how the program works
• First-time renters in Colorado: what to know before you sign a lease
• Renting vs buying in Denver: the complete guide
• Rent-to-own vs down payment assistance in Colorado
• Search homes for sale in Denver
• Meet the Kenna Real Estate Group agents

Talk to the Kenna Real Estate Group

The Kenna Real Estate Group at Keller Williams DTC helps Colorado renters turn a rental file into a home purchase: rent-to-own homes across the Front Range, Kenna Credit Care for the score, and lenders who work with gig and self-employed income. Call or text 303-955-4220. A live person answers. Not a robot, not a phone tree. When you are ready, search every home for sale in Colorado.