For Immediate Release
Media Contact:
Nancy Burke, Vice President of Government and Community Relations
Email: nburke@aamdhq.org
Phone: 303-329-9968
Colorado Apartment Association Applauds Demise of Rent Control Legislation in the State Senate
DENVER (April 30, 2019) – Today, Senate Bill 225, a measure that would have allowed local governments in Colorado to set rent control policy, was effectively killed prior to its second reading in the State Senate after being laid over to Thursday, May 2. This leaves insufficient time for the bill to progress through both chambers before the end of the legislative session on Friday.
The bill sought to repeal a 1981 law which passed with bipartisan support and was signed by Democratic Governor Dick Lamm banning rent control in Colorado. Decades of rent control in cities like New York and San Francisco has shown that the policy hurts renters in the cities in which it is imposed and has significant negative spillover effects to neighboring nonrent controlled cities.
“The demise of Senate Bill 225 is a tremendous victory for hardworking Coloradans who deserve an abundance of affordable housing options,” said Mark Windhager, President of the Colorado Apartment Association. “Rent control policies have failed Americans from coast to coast, as they reduce rental housing supply, drive up the cost of existing rents, lead to blighted properties and neighborhoods, and reduce choices and mobility for renters. It appears that members from both parties agreed that Coloradans deserve better than a policy proven to fail in addressing Colorado’s housing crisis.”
The Colorado Apartment Association actively supported four bipartisan measures, introduced earlier this year in the Colorado House of Representatives, that employ a variety of innovative approaches to make housing more affordable in Colorado. These measures would:
- Establish a fund for affordable workforce housing initiatives (HB 19-1322)
• Create flexible funding opportunities and incentives for developers (HB 19-1319)
• Expand the State Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) (HB 19-1228)
• Create a pilot program to use tax credits to support employer-assisted housing (HB 19-1075)
“Rent control might seem politically expedient, but it’s economically disastrous. Capping rents leads to a shortage of rental housing, limiting opportunities for renters and, paradoxically, driving housing costs up overall,” said Teo Nicolais, instructor at Harvard Extension School specializing in real estate.
Nicolais noted, “In rejecting this bill, the state legislature has embraced a brighter, more inclusive vision for Colorado’s future. We look forward to working with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to implement housing policies which work for Colorado.”
According to a poll conducted by Baselice and Associates in late March, fewer than one in five (19%) of those surveyed selected rent control as their first choice for addressing housing affordability in Colorado. Ahead of rent control, respondents’ first choice for addressing housing affordability were public-private partnerships between state or local governments and the private housing sector to create more housing (28.6%) and building more housing and reducing barriers to increase supply (28.2%). An additional 13% of Coloradans supported increasing direct assistance to renters over rent control as their first choice.
About the Colorado Apartment Association
The Colorado Apartment Association (CAA) is a non-profit trade association representing owners, developers, management companies, and vendors of the multifamily rental housing industry. CAA is comprised of four local affiliates from across the state. The association represents over 3,100 members who own and manage over 282,000 apartment homes, which totals more than $60 billion in assets. Together with the local affiliates, the National Multifamily Housing Council, and the National Apartment Association (NAA), CAA offers a strong network of information, education and representation of the multifamily housing industry.