“Making housing more expensive”
Landlords and housing providers, meanwhile, warn that efforts to cap rents, to slow or limit evictions, and cut down on various fees will only further depress the state’s beleaguered housing development.
“There’s almost a hyperactivity (in the Capitol) in an attempt to change the laws that concern leasing properties from one person to another,” said Drew Hamrick, a senior vice president for the Colorado Apartment Association and board member of the state real estate alliance. “All of (these bills) have the effect of making housing more expensive to operate and discouraging investment in that housing going forward.”
Rep. Ryan Armagost, a Berthoud Republican who as a sheriff’s deputy served on the unit that handled evictions, described himself as “pro-landlord.” Contrary to Democratic concerns that property owners hold too much power, Armagost said he believes the balance has swung too far in favor of renters and
needs to be rectified.
“(Tenants’) hard times should not be spread to somebody that’s doing the service of renting their property,” he said.
Hamrick expressed specific concern about a measure supported by Gonzales, together with Denver Reps. Serena Gonzales-gutierrez and Javier Mabrey. The bill, introduced Thursday, seeks to establish “just cause” requirements for evictions in Colorado, meaning a limitation on why a tenant can be expelled from their unit.
The bill would allow evictions only for prescribed reasons, like when a tenant has “substantially” violated their lease without quickly rectifying it (like not paying rent). It would also give tenants a right of first refusal when their lease expires and prohibit landlords from unilaterally choosing not to re-up a renter, unless the property owner is willing to pay a relocation fee.
Hamrick criticized the bill as limiting the power of landlords over their own property and intervening in what should otherwise be a negotiation between renter and owner.
The bill isn’t new: Similar policies have been implemented in other states, like California and New Jersey, and just-cause eviction protections were endorsed by the White House last month. Gonzales and Gonzales-gutierrez tied the policy’s arrival here directly to the ending of pandemic-era rental assistance in Colorado, which comes just as evictions are ticking back up to pre-pandemic levels. The money for rental assistance ran out, Gonzales said. The need for help hasn’t.
which seeks to nix application fees for prospective tenants by creating a “portable” background screener. Under the measure, tenants could pay for one background check and use it for 30 days’ worth of applications across different property owners.
Rep. Junie Joseph is backing another bill to slow evictions for low-income or disabled tenants who receive direct cash assistance from the government. A bill from Rep. Steven Woodrow would prohibit several types of common provisions in lease agreements and limit various fees for tenants, like the one levied against renters who don’t provide notice that they’re moving out.
“I think you’re seeing those bills that are coming through based on our lived experiences of who we are,” said Joseph, a Boulder attorney and renter. “We are working-class people, a majority of us or a lot of us. We’re young. We’re dealing with those same issues, renters’ rights issues.”
Hamrick, of the apartment association, said he had concerns about all of the pro-tenant bills. He reiterated that slowing down evictions, cutting fees and capping rents will cause property owners to either stop developing or raise rental prices to make up for lost revenue. The state needs more housing, he said, and anything that gets in the way of that needs to be scrutinized.
Hamrick said he thought the bills were “counterintuitive” to Polis’s push to build more housing. In a statement Wednesday, Polis spokesman Conor Cahill reiterated that increasing supply was the governor’s priority. Cahill said that Polis was “skeptical of bill ideas that could lead to higher rents or home prices.” Though Cahill didn’t name specific legislation, Polis has previously used that same warning about rent control.
“He will monitor other bills as they move through the legislative process,” Cahill said of Polis, “and the governor’s goal is to save people money on housing, and he will apply that lens when reviewing any legislation.”