Current Legislative Action on Housing

Written By Annmarie Jensen
Housing issues attract legislative focus

The Colorado Legislature Is Busy, and Bills Are Being Introduced to Address the Housing Crisis

Many state legislators have introduced bills this session intended to create more housing and to protect those who are currently renters by stabilizing their current housing. In this month’s newsletter, we summarize several bills that ECHO has been working on, but there are many more. As a small organization, we work on only a few bills each session.

Housing Development

Governor Jared Polis has worked hard with members of the General Assembly to introduce reforms into the housing planning and zoning processes. Goals are to enhance individual property rights to get more housing built and to change the housing planning process so development focuses more on building the kinds of housing that are missing in our communities.

SB 23-213 on Land Use (https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/sb23-213) is a hefty 106 pages, but some of our friends have provided a 17-page summary, which you can find here on our website.

  • The bill will have a hearing on April 4 in the Senate Local Government and Housing Committee. ECHO has been working with other housing advocates to make improvements in the bill so it is more enforceable and will create a variety of types of housing designed to meet the needs of even the lowest-income residents, as well as preventing displacement of existing residents when new housing is built.

Fairness for Renters

There is a long list of introduced legislation designed to keep renters in their housing by protecting the rights of renters and creating more balance in the landlord/tenant law. Here are some measures that ECHO is supporting, as amended, because we believe they would create more equity and justice in our communities.

HB 1254 – Habitability of Residential Premises, https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb23-1254

Immediately after the Marshall Fire in 2022, ECHO found that while there was a lot of attention to homeowners and those rebuilding, there was very little attention to the plight of renters.

ECHO conducted a survey that documented how area renters were experiencing:

  1. A lack of adequate remediation for homes that had smoke and ash damage,

  2. Retaliation for complaints about smoke and ash damage, and

  3. Rental price gouging in the fire’s vicinity, with rents increasing as much as 50%—not just in Louisville and Superior but as far away as Longmont and Broomfield.

Representative Kyle Brown from Louisville and Representative Javier Mabrey from Denver have introduced HB 1254 to help survivors after a natural or man-made disaster. This bill should help improve things for renters by:

  • Creating specific language prohibiting retaliation,

  • Clarifying clean-up standards, and

  • Clarifying that a landlord must keep a unit habitable and may not charge for rent if the renter is displaced.

ECHO helped in the bill's drafting. A fact sheet summarizing the bill’s provisions is posted on our Learning page, https://www.echocolorado.com/learn-about-affordable-housing.

HB 1115 – Local Control of Rents, https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb23-1115

Many fire survivors wondered why their local governments were not doing anything to stop price gouging on rents. The reason is that, currently, local governments are prohibited from doing anything about rents, even implementing temporary measures after a disaster. HB 1115 would lift the state’s ban that keeps local governments from doing anything about rents. Passage of this bill would allow for a local post-disaster response to price gouging. Local measures would still have to be approved by a local governing body, with resident input.

It has been found across the country that such measures, if done properly, can be effective at balancing the needs for landlords to make a profit with renters’ abilities to be able to stay in their communities.

This bill is headed for the Senate Local Government Committee, where it faces an uphill battle, in part because of opposition from Governor Polis.

HB 1171 – Just Cause Evictions, https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb23-1171

This bill creates a “Just Cause Eviction Policy” that would apply to all residential premises in the state. Under current law, a tenancy may be terminated by written notice served within limited time frames, depending on the length of the tenancy. This bill would prohibit a landlord from evicting a tenant unless there is just cause.

Just cause exists when a tenant:

  • Fails to pay rent after receiving a written notice of non-payment;

  • Commits a substantial violation, such as antisocial or criminal acts, endangering other tenants, or acts that are violent or a drug-related felony, and so on;

  • Refuses to allow the landlord to enter the property after the landlord has provided written notice of intent to enter; or

  • Refuses to sign a new rental agreement.

The bill also establishes the conditions for a no-fault eviction, to include:

  • Demolition or conversion of the property to non-residential use;

  • Substantial repairs or renovations; or

  • Action on the part of the landlord or a family member to assume occupancy of the property.

This bill is headed for the Senate Local Government Committee, and its supporters are currently counting votes on the Senate floor to secure support before it goes to the committee.

  • People who support the bill can direct comments to Senate President Stephen Fenberg (D-18).

  • Residents can also share their views with all Democratic Senators, especially if you are in their district. For contact information, go to https://leg.colorado.gov/FindMyLegislator.

What’s Next in Longmont?

ECHO hosted a community meeting in Longmont on March 29. We were joined by Molly O'Donnell, Director of Housing for the City of Longmont, and Harold Dominguez, the City Manager. The meeting served to get folks to a baseline of understanding of the history of and plans for affordable/attainable housing in Longmont. But there is more learning to do, as well as more preparation to do to organize ourselves to be more effective and to counter the voices of those who do not want to change their neighborhoods to allow for denser, more sustainable, and more affordable developments.

We didn't have time to get more into what residents can do to be helpful. To be more effective in Longmont, we need to continue to educate ourselves, organize ourselves, and show up.

ECHO wants to know what topics matter the most to Longmont residents. Please use this form to share your views: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1KfA8KSlAGUYjyn_7yTmxKFCKgKVqMufgWyvaRstb1Dc/edit

In the meantime, here are some recommendations for action from City staff about how you can show your support for attainable and affordable housing.

  • Speak up at any Longmont City Council meeting during the segment, Public Invited to be Heard.

  • Attend a once-a-month Coffee with Council session. The next one will take place on April 29. The schedule is available at https://www.longmontcolorado.gov/departments/city-council/coffee-with-council.

  • Speak specifically in support of attainable housing fee waivers at the next council meeting on April 4.

  • Pay attention to the Housing Needs Study, which will be released June 27. Use the information in the study to develop support for more action.

  • Support future housing developments by speaking up at council when they are on the agenda. Engage others from your neighborhood, congregation or social group to join you in participating.

If you’d like to host a house party to talk about things like housing density, traffic impacts, and land costs, let's do it. Contact ECHO (ECHOBoulderCounty@gmail.com) and we can facilitate a neighborhood meeting for you.

Changes at ECHO

Effective May 1, ECHO’s Executive Director, Annmarie Jensen, will be retiring from full-time employment with ECHO. She will continue to work with ECHO on a limited basis. Annmarie will be traveling for the month of May and will return in June.

ECHO hopes that the communities we have been working in will find local, homegrown leadership to keep the momentum going on affordable housing advocacy. We will work to support local advocates and leaders by offering web and social media resources here on our website as wall as providing consulting assistance as long as our funding lasts.

  • If you would like to send Annmarie a note with your retirement wishes, you can contact her at ECHOBoulderCounty@gmail.com. Annmarie hopes to play more mandolin, do more traveling, and spend more time in creative pursuits.

The Longmont Community Foundation (https://longmontfoundation.org/) will be assisting ECHO as a fiscal sponsor in the future. We anticipate continuing our newsletter, but perhaps less regularly.

Thank you for your engagement and support.


Annmarie Jensen
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