What Is a Seller’s Property Disclosure in Colorado?

The short answer

Is a seller’s property disclosure required in Colorado? It depends what you mean. Colorado is not a “no-disclosure” state. Sellers have a common-law duty to disclose known latent defects, and when you use the Colorado Real Estate Commission’s standard residential contract, you also agree to deliver the Commission’s Seller’s Property Disclosure form and to disclose adverse material facts you actually know. Certain items—such as special taxing districts, lead-based paint on many pre-1978 homes, known methamphetamine history, and known radon test results—have their own rules.

The form most residential sellers complete is SPD19, Seller’s Property Disclosure (Residential). The current version was adopted August 5, 2025, and became mandatory for broker use on January 1, 2026. You complete it, not your broker. Your answers are limited to your current actual knowledge. It is not a warranty, and it is not a substitute for the buyer’s inspection. I’m not an attorney, and this isn’t legal or tax advice. Use it as a map of what the form and contract ask for, then ask your own counsel about anything unusual on your property.

Is Colorado a “disclosure state”?

Search results often ask whether Colorado is a disclosure state or a non-disclosure state. The accurate answer is more careful than a yes or no. Colorado Lawyer’s July/August 2024 article on adverse material facts and latent defects explains the split: every seller has a common-law duty to disclose known latent defects (hidden physical problems a buyer would not easily see). When parties use the Commission’s standard form contract, sellers also agree to disclose known adverse material facts and to deliver the Seller’s Property Disclosure. Brokers must disclose adverse material facts they actually know, but they have no duty to investigate or inspect for facts they do not know.

So Colorado is not California-style mandatory checklist disclosure for every private sale, and it is not pure caveat emptor either. In the Denver metro and Colorado Springs sales I handle, nearly every resale uses the CREC residential contract and the SPD. Builder and attorney-drafted contracts can differ; ask your counsel if yours does.

What the SPD19 form covers

SPD19 is a long checklist organized by category. You answer from what you actually know, and you attach extra pages, reports or receipts when a yes needs context. The residential form groups questions roughly as follows:

• Building conditions — structure, moisture or seepage, pest or rodent damage, casualty damage, settling or cracking of foundations, floors, walls, driveways and related items, window leaks, EIFS and subfloors.
• Roof, appliances, electrical and telecom, mechanical, ventilation, air and heat — age, known problems and whether items are included is controlled by the contract, not the SPD.
• Water, source of water, sewer or septic, flooding and drainage — including the statewide note that some water providers rely on nonrenewable groundwater.
• Use, zoning and legal issues; access and parking; environmental conditions; radon.
• Common interest community and metropolitan district — limited to the unit itself except as Section P states; metro district website and related questions appear in their own section.
• General disclosures — written investigation reports, insurance claims, plans and specs, methamphetamine history, special improvements, construction litigation, deed restrictions, historic districts and more.
• Other known adverse material facts — a free-text section for anything material that does not fit a checkbox.

The form’s opening language is blunt: if you know an adverse material fact affecting the property or occupants, you must disclose it whether or not there is a specific line item. That is why I ask sellers to slow down, pull old reports and invoices, and write comments instead of leaving a thin yes.

How the disclosure ties to the Colorado contract

The Contract to Buy and Sell Real Estate (Residential), often called CBS1, became mandatory for broker use on January 1, 2026. Section 10.1 says that on or before the Seller’s Property Disclosure Deadline, the seller delivers the most current applicable CREC Seller’s Property Disclosure, completed to the seller’s actual knowledge and current as of that deadline. Section 10.2 requires written disclosure of adverse material facts actually known as of the contract date, and timely written disclosure if the seller discovers a new adverse material fact later. The buyer then has a right to terminate on the earlier of closing or five days after receiving the new disclosure.

Except as the contract provides, the buyer acknowledges the property is conveyed “As Is,” “Where Is” and “With All Faults.” That language does not erase the duty to disclose known latent defects or the contract’s adverse-material-fact rules. It also does not replace the buyer’s inspection rights under §10.3. My luxury home inspection checklist is written for buyers; sellers should expect a careful inspection either way.

The Exclusive Right-to-Sell listing contract asks whether you Agree or Do Not Agree to provide an SPD by the sale-contract deadline, and notes that Colorado law requires certain facts whether or not an SPD is used. Most of my listings check Agree and complete SPD19 before photos go live.

Statutory and contract items that sit beside the SPD

Several disclosures live in the contract or statute even when they also appear on the form:

• Special taxing and metropolitan districts. C.R.S. §38-35.7-101 requires a bold disclosure in every residential purchase-and-sale contract about special taxing districts and the risk of mill-levy increases. CBS1 §8.4 carries related language. Buyers should still investigate districts; my metro districts guide explains what those bills look like in practice.
• Lead-based paint. Unless exempt, if the home includes a dwelling constructed or permitted before January 1, 1978, seller and required licensees must deliver a completed Lead-Based Paint Disclosure (Sales) by the Lead-Based Paint Disclosure Deadline (CBS1 §10.10).
• Carbon monoxide alarms. If the home has a fuel-fired heater or appliance, a fireplace or an attached garage and includes bedrooms, Colorado law requires an operational CO alarm within fifteen feet of each bedroom entrance or as the building code requires (CBS1 §10.11).
• Methamphetamine. If you know methamphetamine was manufactured, processed, cooked, disposed of, used or stored at the property, you must disclose that fact, with a remediation exception under C.R.S. §25-18.5-102 (CBS1 §10.12).
• Radon. The contract includes the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment radon notice. The seller must provide any known radon test results, and CDPHE strongly recommends buyers test (CBS1 §10.13; C.R.S. §25-11-114).
• Source of potable water. Buyers acknowledge receipt of the SPD or a Source of Water Addendum disclosing the water source; wells have their own permit acknowledgment (CBS1 §10.8).

Association documents are a separate track under §7 in common interest communities such as the Village at Castle Pines, Solterra, Anthem Ranch in Broomfield and Flying Horse in Colorado Springs. The SPD itself stays focused on the unit, except as Section P provides.

How I help sellers complete the form

I never fill the SPD out for you. What I do is sit with you (or walk the form on a call), translate the categories into plain English, and help you gather the paper that makes a yes answer complete:

1. Pull the file. Prior inspections, roof and HVAC invoices, insurance claims, well or septic records, radon results and any engineering or soils letters.
2. Answer carefully. If you are unsure whether something “ever existed,” say so in the comments or attach the report instead of guessing.
3. Use the free-text box for anything material that does not fit a checkbox.
4. Update promptly in writing if something breaks, a new inspection finds an issue, or you remember a repair after you signed.
5. Keep the net sheet nearby. Disclosure often surfaces repair decisions that affect credits. See my cost to sell and capital gains guides.

Honest disclosure usually helps the sale. Buyers and inspectors will look anyway, and a clean written record reduces last-minute inspection surprises. Pricing, staging and timing are covered in how to sell a luxury home in Denver and the best time to sell a house in Denver; the SPD is about truthfulness, not marketing copy.

What usually does not go on the form

Colorado law generally treats psychologically impacted or stigmatized circumstances as non-material for brokers, and sellers should not use the SPD to volunteer protected or irrelevant personal history. Fair housing rules still apply. When you are unsure whether something must be disclosed, ask a real estate attorney.

Selling across the Denver metro and Colorado Springs

The SPD and CBS1 rules are statewide. What changes by neighborhood is the paperwork around the property: layered associations and metro districts in Castle Pines and Highlands Ranch, foothills wells and septic in parts of Jefferson and Douglas Counties, 55+ association rules at Anthem Ranch in Broomfield, and golf-community documents at Flying Horse. I help sellers in Denver, Lakewood, Castle Pines, Highlands Ranch, Parker and Castle Rock complete disclosures before photos go live, then keep the file current through inspection.

How I help

I grew up in Castle Rock and work with sellers across Denver, Lakewood, Castle Pines, Highlands Ranch, Parker, Castle Rock, Broomfield and Colorado Springs. I work with Sean Gribbons at The Gold Standard Brokerage; Sean founded the brokerage, and we run it together. I will not give legal advice, but I will help you complete the Seller’s Property Disclosure carefully, organize the reports a buyer and inspector will ask for, and time the listing around your move. Start with the “What’s my home worth?” tool, call or text me at 720-357-5785, or use the inquiry form on this page.