Portable Tenant Screening Report Denver: How to get and use one
If you’re looking for an apartment in Denver, you may find yourself applying to more than one property before you find the right home.
Traditionally, that could mean going through tenant screening and paying an application fee again and again.
Colorado’s portable tenant screening report law gives renters another option.
A qualifying portable tenant screening report, usually called a PTSR, lets you bring recent screening information with you as you apply for homes. In most cases, Denver landlords must accept a qualifying report, and they cannot charge you an application fee or a fee to access or use it.
The important details are what makes a report qualify, when a landlord must accept it and what acceptance actually means.
What is a portable tenant screening report?
A portable tenant screening report is a consumer report prepared at the request of the renter that contains screening information specified by Colorado law.
Unlike traditional screening that may be ordered separately for each rental application, a PTSR belongs in the renter’s application process. You obtain the report and can use it when applying to different homes while it remains current.
Colorado law allows a landlord to require that the report was completed within the previous 30 days.
That makes a PTSR particularly useful when you’re actively searching for an apartment and expect to consider more than one property.
Do Denver landlords have to accept portable tenant screening reports?
In most cases, yes, if the report qualifies under Colorado law.
Denver is subject to Colorado’s statewide Rental Application Fairness Act. The statute says that, except for a specific exception discussed below, a landlord must accept a portable tenant screening report from a prospective tenant.
A landlord can require that:
The report was completed within the previous 30 days
The landlord can access or use the report at no cost
You provide a statement that there has not been a material change in information such as your name, address, bankruptcy status, criminal history or eviction history since the report was generated
As of January 1, 2026, a landlord can no longer require that your PTSR be made directly available by the consumer reporting agency or through a third-party consumer-reporting website. Colorado removed that requirement from the law.
A PTSR lasts 30 days, not 60
This is worth being precise about.
Colorado law allows a landlord to require that your PTSR was completed within the previous 30 days.
Once your report is more than 30 days old, a landlord is no longer required to accept it under the PTSR provision.
If you’re planning a Denver apartment search, timing therefore matters.
Getting your report when you’re ready to actively apply gives you the best opportunity to use the same screening information across multiple properties during that 30-day period.
What does a qualifying PTSR contain?
Colorado law specifies the information that makes up a portable tenant screening report.
A qualifying report includes:
Your name
Your contact information
Verification of income
Your last-known address
Rental and credit history for the jurisdictions indicated as your prior residences
A criminal history record check covering the information required by Colorado law
The date through which the information in the report is current
There is an important exception for renters using a housing subsidy.
For rental applications submitted on or after January 1, 2026, a PTSR for a prospective tenant using a housing subsidy does not have to include a credit history report, credit score or adverse credit event.
Not every background check or credit report you can buy online will meet Colorado’s definition of a PTSR. If you’re obtaining one specifically for your Denver apartment search, make sure it is designed to satisfy Colorado’s requirements.
Do you still have to pay an application fee?
Generally, not when you provide a qualifying PTSR and the landlord is subject to the PTSR requirements.
Colorado law says a landlord cannot charge you a rental application fee when you provide a portable tenant screening report under the statute.
The landlord also cannot charge you a separate fee to access or use your report.
This is one of the biggest practical benefits of having a PTSR during a Denver apartment search.
Instead of paying for new screening every time you find another apartment you want to apply for, you can potentially reuse the same qualifying report while it remains within the 30-day window.
Denver rental listings should tell you about your PTSR right
Colorado law doesn’t just give renters the right to provide a qualifying PTSR. It also requires landlords subject to the law to tell prospective renters about it before taking tenant-screening action for which they expect to collect an application fee.
The required notice tells renters that they have the right to provide a portable tenant screening report and that, if they do, the landlord is prohibited from charging an application fee or a fee to access or use the report.
The law requires this information to be provided somewhere reasonably likely to reach prospective tenants.
That can include:
The rental advertisement or other public notice
The landlord or property management company’s website
The rental application
An oral disclosure followed by written confirmation
So when you’re browsing Denver apartment listings or beginning an application, look for PTSR language before paying a screening or application fee.
There is an exception to the PTSR requirement
Colorado law includes a specific exception.
A landlord does not have to follow the PTSR acceptance and notice requirements if both of these conditions are met:
The landlord does not accept more than one application fee at a time for the dwelling unit, or the applicable prospective tenant or tenant group when there will be multiple occupants.
The landlord refunds the full application fee within 20 calendar days after written communication from either the landlord or the prospective tenant declining to enter into a lease for the home.
This is important because the rule is not simply “every Denver landlord must always accept every PTSR.”
If a landlord is relying on this statutory exception and follows its requirements, the normal PTSR acceptance requirement does not apply.
Does accepting your PTSR mean accepting your rental application?
No.
This is probably the most important distinction in the entire process.
Accepting your PTSR means accepting your qualifying screening report. It does not mean approving you for the apartment.
A Denver property manager can still apply its lawful rental criteria to the information in your report and make its own decision about your application.
Think of the PTSR as changing how screening information gets from you to the property manager.
It doesn’t eliminate screening criteria.
It doesn’t put you ahead of other applicants.
And it doesn’t guarantee a lease.
It lets you reuse qualifying screening information instead of necessarily paying to generate substantially the same type of screening information for every application.
How to use a PTSR during your Denver apartment search
1. Start your report when you’re ready to seriously apply
Remember the 30-day window.
If you’re casually looking at Denver apartments but don’t expect to apply for another month, generating your report immediately may waste part of its useful window.
A better time is when you’ve narrowed your search and expect to start submitting applications.
2. Review your report
One advantage of getting your own screening report is knowing what’s in it.
Read your information before you begin sharing it.
Check your identity information, income, rental and credit history, and background information for anything that looks inaccurate or unfamiliar.
If something is wrong, you may have rights under federal consumer reporting law to dispute inaccurate information.
3. Check the Denver property’s screening criteria
A PTSR doesn’t replace a landlord’s rental criteria.
Before applying, look at what the property says it considers.
That can help you make a more informed decision about where you apply rather than assuming that having a PTSR means you’ll qualify everywhere.
4. Look for the property’s PTSR notice
Check the listing, property management website and application.
If the landlord is subject to Colorado’s PTSR requirements and expects to charge an application fee, it should provide the required notice about your right to submit a portable report.
5. Tell the property manager you have a PTSR
Don’t wait until after you’ve paid an application fee.
When you’re ready to apply, tell the Denver property manager that you have a current Colorado portable tenant screening report and want to use it with your application.
Follow the property’s process for submitting your application and providing the report.
6. Provide your material-change statement
A landlord may require a statement confirming that there hasn’t been a material change in the relevant information since your PTSR was generated.
That can include changes to your name, address, bankruptcy status, criminal history or eviction history.
7. Reuse it while it remains current
If the first Denver apartment isn’t right for you, you can use your qualifying report with another property while it remains within the required timeframe.
That’s where portability becomes useful.
One report can travel with you through your Denver apartment search rather than being tied to a single property.
What if a Denver landlord won’t accept your PTSR?
First, make sure your report actually meets Colorado’s requirements.
Check that:
It qualifies as a portable tenant screening report under Colorado law
It was completed within the previous 30 days
It is available to the landlord at no cost
You can provide the required statement about material changes
Then ask the landlord why it isn’t accepting the report.
It may be relying on Colorado’s one-application-at-a-time exception. Or there may be a question about whether your report meets the statutory requirements.
Don’t assume that every refusal is unlawful before understanding the reason.
If you have a qualifying report and the landlord isn’t relying on the statutory exception, Colorado law generally requires the landlord to accept the report.
Read our guide to what to do when a landlord won’t accept a portable tenant screening report in Colorado for a more detailed explanation of your options.
How to get a portable tenant screening report in Denver
You don’t need a special Denver version of a PTSR.
The right comes from Colorado law, so you need a portable tenant screening report that meets Colorado’s requirements.
Rentell provides PTSRs specifically for Colorado renters.
With Rentell, you create one screening report, review your information and then share your report with property managers as you apply for homes.
For someone actively searching across Denver, that means your screening can move with you from application to application during the report’s 30-day window.
You still choose where to apply. Each property manager still decides whether you meet its rental criteria.
But you don’t have to start the screening process from zero every time.
The bottom line
If you’re apartment hunting in Denver, Colorado’s portable tenant screening law applies to your search.
In most cases, a Denver landlord must accept a qualifying PTSR completed within the previous 30 days. When you provide one under the statute, the landlord cannot charge you a rental application fee or a fee to access or use the report.
There is a specific exception for landlords who take no more than one application fee at a time for the unit and refund that fee within 20 calendar days after either side declines to enter into a lease.
And remember the distinction that matters most:
Your PTSR can be accepted while your rental application is denied.
The report supplies screening information. The Denver landlord or property manager still applies its criteria and makes the rental decision.
For renters applying to multiple homes, the value is simpler: get your screening information once, understand what it says about you and take it with you through your Denver apartment search.
