Bills ‘based on our lived experiences’
Mabrey, an eviction defense attorney, is also the primary sponsor of a bill that would allow local governments to enact rent control and stabilization policies. He and other supporters have said rent caps should be a resource available for local officials who want to use it, tucked into a housing toolbox alongside land-use reform and other tenant protections. Others have warned of “unintended consequences” of the policy, like increased housing costs and stagnating development.
Beyond rent control, there’s Vigil’s bill, HB231099, 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.”