April 2024 Landlord Legislative Update
The House approved the Senate amendments, so it’s headed to the governor’s desk for a signature.
Renters would be given the right of first refusal to renew their leases when their leases expire under legislation (for cause evictions). The Colorado State Capitol’s Senate chamber is on the left as state senator Julie Gonzales prepares to speak in favor of an amendment on March 25, 2024. Among the amendments was one setting protections for renters who are evicted for cause.
Almost a year after a similar proposal died in the Colorado Senate, Democrats in the state’s Senate emerged victorious Monday against a challenge from within their own party.
A right of first refusal would generally apply to apartment and other housing renters whose leases are expiring. Rent arrears or plans for substantial renovations would be enough for landlords to deny renewals.
As a result of more than six hours of debate in the Senate on Monday afternoon, HB 1098 cleared its first hurdle after passage by the House last month. In response to concerns that the bill would tilt the balance too much toward tenants, Republicans and some Democrats sharply reacted.
As early as Tuesday, the Senate could vote on the measure. For the bill to reach Gov. Jared Polis’ desk, it needs to be approved by legislators in both chambers.
Supporters say the bill’s “for-cause” eviction rules would address two problems: first, they would prevent tenants from being displaced when their landlords fail to renew their leases, resulting in expensive relocation expenses. As a result of the policy, renters would be protected from discriminatory and retaliatory property owners.
Democrat senator Nick Hinrichsen sponsors the bill and says state laws requiring safe and healthy living spaces are too often flouted, especially by low-income tenants nearing the end of their leases.
“There are cases where tenants who assert their rights to stable, safe housing, with a peaceful atmosphere, are evicted when their leases are up.”.
At a committee meeting earlier this month, Denver Democrat Sen. Julie Gonzales said the bill provided clarity for landlords and tenant protections.
While supporters of the bill see it as empowering tenants, opponents contend that it would make it harder to remove difficult tenants, as it goes too far in allowing tenants to occupy landlords’ property without their consent.
On March 25, 2024, Colorado Senate Minority Leader Paul Lundeen speaks against a bill that would give renters protections from for-cause evictions across the state.
Paul Lundeen, a Monument Republican and Senate Minority Leader, called the bill offensive to property rights. “Consequently, I consider it to be offensive to life, liberty and happiness.”
During the penultimate day of the legislative session, a similar but broader bill died on the Senate calendar. The bill’s Democratic backers narrowed the proposed policy by removing the requirement that landlords must offer substantially similar lease terms to displaced tenants and by no longer requiring landlords to pay relocation costs.
Additionally, the Senate amended the law so it applies only to tenants who have lived in a unit for one year or longer. The Colorado Apartment Association, a powerful player in housing policy in the Capitol, took a neutral position on the bill as a result of that change.
Despite moderate Democrats’ opposition, last year’s version of the bill floundered. In a similar effort to rewrite the bill on Monday, a small group of moderate Democrats and the chamber’s Republicans failed.
A Thornton Democrat, Sen. Kyle Mullica, brought an amendment to hijack the bill. As a result of his amendments, discrimination protections for tenants would have been expanded while the provision allowing unapproved lease renewals would have been removed.
Originally, the amendment would have required landlords to give tenants four months’ notice if they would not renew their leases.
The senator expressed concern that “one party to a contract may be forced to stay in that contract forever,” Mullica told his colleagues. “That concerns me.”. That is what I am addressing. Here, I’m trying to find a middle ground.”
In the Senate chamber at the Colorado State Capitol in Denver on March 25, 2024, members of the Colorado Senate consider legislation setting for-cause eviction protections for renters.
Gonzales responded by saying Mullica’s middle ground version would strike the entire bill on which we were able to reach neutrality with the apartment association, the Realtors, and the governor.
As a result of most Senate Democrats voting against Mullica’s amendment, it narrowly failed. His support was joined by three other moderate Democrats and the chamber’s Republicans.
The House and Senate would need to reconcile the differing versions of the bill if the Senate approves the bill in its final vote. There are new provisions for when a landlord can subsequently rent out a property as well as exemptions that allow a landlord not to renew a tenant’s lease.
According to Gonzales, the bill had been “agreed” by the governor, a fellow Democrat.
During a conference call last week, Polis spokesperson Shelby Wieman said the governor “appreciates the good conversations between the sponsors and our office” and looks forward to continued communication with legislators as the bill moves forward.
