Pets in Rental Homes

Whether you can have a pet in a rental home depends on what your lease says and whether the landlord agrees. State law allows landlords to set rules about pets, including limits on deposits, rent increases, and the types of animals allowed.

This guide explains: 

• How pet rules work in residential leases 
• What landlords may charge for pets
• How pets are handled during an eviction
• How the law treats assistance animals for people with disabilities 

Are pets allowed in rentals?

A landlord may allow pets, but they are not required to.

If you want to have a pet in a rental home:

• Check your written lease carefully.
• The lease must allow pets or include terms that permit them.

Landlords may also set rules such as:

• Limits on the number of pets.
• Restrictions on the type or size of animals.
• Additional pet-related conditions in the lease.

If your lease does not allow pets, keeping one without permission could violate the lease. It might even cause your landlord to try to evict you. 

Do I have to pay a pet deposit and pet rent?

Colorado law limits how much landlords can charge for pets.

Insurance and certain dogs

If a dog has been declared dangerous by a court, or is known to be dangerous, an insurance company may:

• Refuse to issue an insurance policy.
• Cancel an existing policy.
• Refuse to renew a policy.
• Increase insurance premiums.

These actions could impact your landlord’s homeowners insurance premium. You should also keep this in mind if you are a homeowner, not a tenant.

What happens to pets during an eviction?

If you are evicted, the court may issue a writ of restitution. This order allows law enforcement to remove you from the property.

Colorado law requires law enforcement to follow certain steps when pets are present:

• They must look for pets on the property.
• If you are present, the pets must be given to you.
• If you are not present, animal control must take the animals.

The landlord must:

• Allow animal control to retrieve the pets.
• Provide your name and contact information to animal control.
• Post a notice on the property explaining where the pet was taken.

If your pet is taken by animal control during an eviction, you may request the location and contact information for where the animal was taken. 

Assistance animals for people with disabilities

An assistance animal is not considered a pet under housing laws.

People with disabilities may request an assistance animal as a reasonable accommodation under the Fair Housing Act.

For more detailed information, see our guide on How to Ask for a Change to Your Rental Home Because of a Disability.

When a housing provider generally must allow an assistance animal

• The tenant has a disability;
• The animal helps with that disability; and
• The tenant has requested the reasonable accommodation.

When a housing provider may deny a request

A housing provider may deny a request only in limited situations, such as when:

• The accommodation would create an undue financial or administrative burden.
• It would fundamentally change the housing provider’s operations.
• The specific animal would pose a direct threat to health or safety.
• The animal would cause significant property damage that cannot be reduced by other reasonable steps.

Because assistance animals are not pets, typical pet rules may not apply in the same way. 

Need more help?

If you are low-income, a senior, or a veteran, you may qualify for free legal help from Colorado Legal Services (CLS). To apply or ask if you might qualify, go to the CLS website and find the office that serves your area. If you call or visit, CLS can help you in your native language.

You can get help from the courts. Every judicial district has staff called “Sherlocks” to help people with their legal questions. To find the Sherlock in your county, visit the Judicial Department’s Sherlock webpage.