Colorado HB 25-1249, effective January 1, 2026
The burden of proof just moved onto you.
RoomProof is where you keep it.
Colorado landlords must now prove a rental unit's condition, not the other way around. RoomProof turns an iPhone LiDAR scan into a dimensioned floor plan, position-pinned photos, and a cryptographically timestamped record, reviewed and signed off by the tenant. Built for the dispute you hope never comes.
Pre-launch. Colorado only. Founding pilot program now open.
What is RoomProof?
RoomProof is rental unit condition documentation software for Colorado landlords and property managers. It uses an iPhone LiDAR scan to generate a dimensioned floor plan with position-pinned photos, seals the record with an RFC-3161 cryptographic timestamp, and has the tenant review and sign off on it. That jointly-witnessed baseline is the evidence a landlord needs to meet the burden of proof that Colorado's HB 25-1249 now places on them.
The problem
The law changed on January 1, 2026. Most landlords' paperwork didn't.
For years, a landlord's word and a handful of undated phone photos were enough to withhold part of a deposit. Colorado's HB 25-1249 ends that. In a dispute, the landlord now has to prove the unit's condition, and getting it wrong is expensive.
None of this requires photos by law. It requires proof, and proof is exactly what a folder of camera-roll pictures and a memory of the walk-through isn't.
Burden of proof shifts to the landlord
In a deposit dispute, the landlord must prove the unit's condition, not the tenant.
Treble damages, plus the tenant's legal fees
Bad-faith withholding can cost three times the disputed amount, and the tenant's attorney's fees.
Bad faith is presumed at 125%
Retain 125% or more of actual damages and the law presumes you acted in bad faith. The landlord has to rebut that, not the other way around.
"Normal wear and tear" got broader
More of what used to be chargeable now isn't. Deductions that felt safe under the old rule may not hold up under the new one.
No charge for carpet older than 10 years
Carpet age is now a hard cutoff, and repaint charges are limited too. A deduction the landlord can't legally make is a deduction that shouldn't go on the itemized statement.
Remote walk-throughs are explicitly allowed
The statute permits a "telecommunication-assisted interactive walk-through," a remote, joint inspection both parties take part in.
Summary of Colorado HB 25-1249 provisions relevant to security deposit documentation, effective January 1, 2026. This is a plain-language summary, not legal advice. See the footer disclaimer.
How it works
Scan. Baseline. Sign-off. Evidence.
Four steps, most of them under a minute each. The output is a record built to be read by a judge or an adjuster who has never opened the app.
Scan
Walk the unit with an iPhone Pro. The LiDAR sensor builds a dimensioned floor plan while photos drop onto it at the exact spot they were taken.
Baseline
The scan locks as an immutable, RFC-3161 timestamped record tied to the unit and the tenancy. Move-in, move-out, or post-repair, each stage gets its own baseline.
Sign-off
The tenant reviews the scan and can flag or dispute any condition. If they sign, it becomes a jointly-witnessed record. If they refuse, that refusal is logged and timestamped, never hidden or thrown out.
Evidence
Months later, when the dispute shows up, one tap assembles the burden-of-proof package and the itemized statement, each deduction tied to a documented condition.
What's in the record
Built to hold up in a dispute, not just look tidy in a folder.
The burden-of-proof record
A LiDAR scan produces a dimensioned floor plan, position-pinned photos, and an RFC-3161 cryptographic timestamp. Not a pile of photos. A record.
The jointly-witnessed baseline
The tenant reviews the scan and signs off, or their refusal is logged and preserved, never hidden. A record the tenant acknowledged beats a landlord-only record.
Move-in vs. move-out comparison
Surfaces the real condition deltas and flags which deductions are even legally chargeable, including the 10-year carpet rule, keeping you out of the 125% bad-faith trap.
Evidence package + itemized statement
One tap builds the burden-of-proof evidence package and the itemized statement, each deduction tied to its documented condition and evidence.
14-day documentation-request responder
When a tenant requests the documentation in writing, one button assembles the complete record with a logged delivery timestamp, inside the deadline.
Colorado-first rules engine
Deposit rules live in a per-state configuration built on Colorado's HB 25-1249 at launch. More states follow, without rebuilding the product underneath them.
Who it's for
Colorado property managers and landlords, one unit or a whole portfolio.
Built for
- Property managers handling move-in and move-out inspections across a Colorado portfolio
- Independent landlords who want a record that holds up without a legal team on retainer
- Anyone who has already faced a deposit dispute and doesn't want to lose the next one on paperwork
Not yet built for
- Properties outside Colorado. Colorado is the launch market; other states follow.
- Tenants looking for a standalone deposit-recovery tool (that's a separate product, built later)
- Anyone who needs legal advice rather than documentation. RoomProof is not a law firm.
Founding pilot program. Free for early Colorado property managers.
RoomProof is pre-launch. We're onboarding a small number of founding Colorado property managers to prove the record out on real units before general availability.