Colorado's HB26-1287 is in effect: referral disclosure and written consent
Colorado's HB26-1287 is in effect: affiliated-business referral disclosure and express written consent. Plus Minnesota's no-fee fallback when a rent portal fails, the FTC's rental-fee notice, and what a regulator asks about referral fees.
A weekly read on what changes for companies operating under real estate licenses in more than one state. Every item links to the primary source.
Colorado's HB26-1287 is in effect: referral disclosure and written consent
Colorado's sunset bill took effect August 12. HB26-1287, signed June 4, implements the 2025 sunset report. A broker discloses an affiliated business arrangement to the party the broker represents at the time of referral. Disclosing a client's confidential information now takes express written consent, not informed consent, whether the broker acts for a seller, landlord, buyer or tenant. A broker may share confidential information with the employing broker or designee for supervision, as long as it is not used to the client's detriment. Trust-fund discipline for converting, diverting, commingling or failing to remit funds applies when the licensee is acting in a capacity that requires a broker license. The wait before a revoked licensee can reapply goes from one year to two.
What this means for you: a Colorado seat that touches referrals or tenant-side work now has two records to keep: the disclosure made at the moment of referral and the written consent in the file. Source: Colorado Division of Real Estate, legislative update webinar, August 6, 2026
Already in effect
Minnesota — online rent payment, since August 1. Chapter 81 (S.F. 4171), signed May 12. If a landlord requires or allows rent payment through a digital platform, the landlord offers an alternative method, with no fee, when the platform is not working. No eviction filing and no late fee while both are unavailable to the tenant. A tenant can raise a violation as a defense to a nonpayment eviction filed on or after August 1. The same chapter bars naming a tenant's minor child as an eviction defendant unless the minor is the only renter, and lets a landlord estimate a final utility bill from the prior billing period.
What this means for you: a portal outage is now a compliance event in Minnesota, not only a support ticket. The statute turns on whether the platform and the fallback were both unavailable to the tenant, so the outage log and a no-fee alternative are the records that matter. Source: Minnesota Revisor of Statutes, Laws 2026, Chapter 81
Not law yet — watch these
Federal — FTC rental housing fees. The FTC's advance notice (91 FR 12325, March 13, 2026) asks 74 questions on total-rent advertising, itemized fees, fee disclosure before payment, and limits on security deposit deductions. Comments closed April 13, docket FTC-2026-0266. The FTC's rulemaking page lists the advance notice as the current stage. An advance notice asks whether a rule is needed. It sets no obligation. Source: Federal Register
What a regulator actually asks for
The referral fee. A referral fee is a commission question, and the question is who held a license when the money moved. Commissions generally travel broker to broker, so the file carries a written referral agreement between the two brokerages, the underlying listing or representation agreement, and a payment trail that ends at a licensed brokerage entity. A fee routed to an unlicensed party is the version that reads as a kickback.
What this means for you: the payment record and the paper travel together: referral agreement, disclosure, and the closing statement showing where the fee went. State rules on out-of-state referral fees differ. Source: Colorado Division of Real Estate, August 6, 2026
Elsewhere
Texas: the Education Standards Advisory Committee met October 5 on a possible Texas-specific course and how long qualifying education stays valid before an application. TREC
Washington: SHB 2452, service of rent increase notices (Chapter 118, Laws of 2026), took effect June 11. The enrolled text amends manufactured and mobile home notice service. Washington Legislature
50 State Brokerage provides nationwide (50-state) designated, managing and qualifying broker coverage for PropTech companies, SFR and build-to-rent operators, and property management firms.
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This describes regulatory developments and is not legal advice.