Spread the Word – Let Your Legislators Know How You Feel About Rent Control
In 1981, Colorado lawmakers banned the passage of local rent control ordinances—effectively leaving rent pricing to the market. In January 2023, twenty-four Democrats in the Colorado state legislature introduced House Bill 23-1115 that, if passed into law, would eliminate the state’s statutory prohibition on rent control. If this bill passes, local governments will have the authority to implement rent control within their jurisdictions. Rents charged in privately owned buildings must comply with local rules regulating rents and annual rental increases.
Conflicting Laws Cause Confusion
The Affordable Housing Bill 21-1117 allows local governments to regulate the development and use of land within their jurisdictions to promote affordable housing. HB 23-1115 eliminates the ability of local governments to provide developers with alternatives to building onsite affordable housing, which conflicts with HB 21-1117, passed in 2021. If passed, HB 23-1115 will create confusion with local governments that enacted inclusionary zoning rules following HB 21-1117.
One Party Rule
After the 2022 elections, Democrats increased their majorities in both state legislative chambers. They now have a 46-19 supermajority in the state house and a 23-12 advantage in the state senate, just one seat short of a veto-proof majority. That one seat may prove pivotal in stopping HB 23-1115. Also, Gov. Jared Polis does not favor repealing the state’s statutory prohibition on rent control. Gov. Polis’s office said he is “skeptical that rent control will create more housing stock, and locations with these policies often have the unintended consequences of higher rents.”
The Senate Local Government & Housing Committee will deliberate on this bill on Thursday, April 20, at 10:30 am. In advance of the hearing, DenCO Property Management suggests that real estate professionals opposed to this bill send the committee members emails stating their opposition. These emails could give the Governor and members of the Senate some cover to oppose the bill.
Search the internet for “find my legislator Colorado” to get their names and email addresses and send them opinions about HB 23-1115 before Thursday. Below are some talking points to help organize thoughts before writing or calling state representatives.
What is Wrong With Rent Control
- Most economists agree that price controls on rent are inefficient, counterproductive, and lead to unintended consequences.
- Rent control reduces the financial incentive for developers to build new rental housing units, ultimately reducing supply, which artificially bids up rental prices.
- Rent control limits the ability of owners and investors to recover operational costs, causing them to postpone maintenance and improvements.
- Without annual maintenance, the rental stock deteriorates, leading to the loss of critically needed housing.
- Owners convert rent-restricted units to condominiums to preserve asset value and avoid rent control.
- Local governments lose property tax revenue as rent-controlled properties’ assessed value declines.
- A rent control ordinance becomes a de facto anti-growth measure, stressing the housing of neighboring communities as renters and developers move out of rent-control areas.
- Rent control laws typically are not income-targeted, which allows anyone to take advantage of rent restrictions, regardless of need.
Click here for the full text of the bill.
DenCO is here for owners when they decide to put their investments under expert management. DenCO manages over 150 home, duplex, and apartment rentals in the DU, Washington Park, and other Denver neighborhoods and has been in business since 1990. Call us at 303-722-9688 or click here to complete a contact us form.
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