2021 Affordable Housing Bills
People burdened with spending half or more of their paycheck on housing have no disposable income to spend and suffer stress and instability. Small businesses need sufficient affordable housing in their communities to foster a vibrant economy and to recruit and retain employees who can focus on their work and not on keeping a roof over their heads.
SB21-173 "Keep Coloradans Housed Act"
aka Rights In Residential Lease Agreements
GBC Position: SUPPORT
This omnibus renter’s rights bill would reform court procedures for evictions, regulate the use of late fees, and implement meaningful damages for landlords who evict unlawfully. Small business owners and employees struggle with the affordable housing shortage in Colorado. This bill would help responsible renters experiencing temporary setbacks stay in their homes
Reformed eviction court procedures would give renters more time to pay rent and avoid eviction. It would also lower the cost and burden of proof for renters to withhold rent if the home is not safe or habitable.
Late fees would be capped at 5% of rent owed and landlords could not evict on the basis of late fees owed alone. A seven day grace period would be established before landlords could charge late fees.
Renters would have more legal power to collect damages from a landlord who does not follow the eviction process.
The Colorado Apartment Association and the Denver Metro Chamber oppose the bill. As originally introduced, the bill set the late fee cap at 2.5% and the grace period at 14 days, which opponents said would hurt smaller landlords who depend on timely rent payments to cover their monthly mortgages. Since then the cap has doubled and the grace period cut in half.
GBC believes a 14 days grace period could make it hard for small local landlords to compete with larger property owners (who could more easily handle late rent), but that 7 days would be too little to help renters. We support SB21-173 and are advocating for a 10 day grace period.
HB21-1117 Local Government Authority Promote Affordable Housing Units
GBC Position: SUPPORT
This bill would clarify that cities and counties have the authority to regulate development or redevelopment in their communities so as to promote the construction of new affordable housing units. It further states that local land use regulation may restrict rents on these new units as long as the owner or developer has at least one alternative to building the new affordable units on-site. Without this bill, local communities do not have access to decide for themselves whether this type of land use tool makes sense to address their affordable housing needs.
HB21-1054 Housing Public Benefit Verification Requirement
GBC Position: SUPPORT
BILL PASSED AND SIGNED INTO LAW
If passed this bill would permit immigrants without documentation to apply for public or assisted housing benefits on the state or local level. Immigrants without documentation are already allowed to access short-term shelter, so including housing, housing services and housing assistance as allowable benefits will help the state, local governments, and non-profit agencies to plan for housing assistance that maximizes health, education, community stability, and cost efficiencies.
Limit Evictions During COVID
This bill, which has not yet been introduced, would temporarily limit residential and commercial evictions and foreclosures for non-payment due to COVID-related income decreases. A transition period would follow this moratorium, during which rental assistance funds would be available to qualifying landlords and tenants, and specific steps would be required before initiating eviction (such as negotiating repayment schedules). Details and timelines for this bill are not yet available.
GBC Position: REVIEWING