Call to Action: Rent Control Bill
Date postedMarch 17, 2021
As the Colorado Apartment Association has put it, "one of the most radically harmful bills to our industry this legislative session (SB21-173) is scheduled to be heard by the Senate State, Veterans & Military Affairs Committee on Tuesday March 16, 2021 at 2:00 pm. We have even less time to respond to this bill than we usually do, which is a clear attempt to catch the industry off guard."
We need you to immediately generate opposition emails to the committee members and give testimony at the Committee Hearing. It is an extremely long and complicated bill. To assist you in making sense of the issues, we provide you with the summary and talking points below and the full text of the bill can be found at:
A Brief Summary of the Bill (SB21-173):
- Prevents charging late fees until payment is 14 days late
- Caps fees at 2.5% of past due rent
- Prohibits agreements for reasonable lease break fees
- Requires housing providers to accept partial payments and file multiple lawsuits for the remaining balance
- Paralyzes the court system by converting possession cases to jury trials
- Eliminates court safeguards by abolishing warranty of habitability bonds and appeal bonds
- Mandates punitive penalties including a $5,000 minimum penalty, attorney fees, and treble damages
- Click Here for the full list of talking points
What You Can Do To Help:
Email Senate State, Veterans & Military Affairs Committee Members
To help you generate opposition emails to the committee members the AAMD has created a link: CLICK HERE TO TAKE ACTION that will automatically create emails to committee members and contains a suggested communication for anyone that does not have the ability to compose their own. Please take the time to add your own unique words and arguments as they are more persuasive than only repeating our canned suggestions.
Get Ready to Testify Against the Bill
TSH Law Firm will host a Client Testimony Preparation Webinar on Monday March 15, 2021 at 3:30 pm (MST). If you would like to testify to the Committee against this Bill, please register to attend this Preparation Webinar at the link below before Noon on Monday. You will be sent webinar login credentials on Monday prior to the webinar.
The Firm's attorneys will explain the Bill, the issues with it, and the most effective talking points to bring up to oppose this Bill. After the webinar, you'll be ready for Testimony based on these TALKING POINTS provided by the Colorado Apartment Association.
Sign up to Testify
The state has established a platform to allow you to testify via Webex call (like Zoom). You will not have to drive down the capital and endure the delays and rescheduling that always go along with committee hearings. We need a strong representation in the Webex platform, the link for registration is: click here to sign up to testify.
The easiest way to locate this hearing is using the “By Committee and Hearing Item” Tab. To sign up you will need to select the following from the drop down tabs:
Committee Name: Senate State, Veterans & Military Affairs
Meeting Time and Date: 03/16/2021 02:00 PM
Hearing Item: Senate State, Veterans & Military Affairs SB21-173 Rights in Residential Lease Agreements (Gonzales, Moreno, Caraveo, GonzalesGuitierrez)
Position: Against
Representing: Self
Thank you for voicing your opposition to this Bill in any way you are able and comfortable, whether that is generating emails, testifying at the Committee, or both.
We hope to see you in the webinar on Monday at 3:30pm (MST)!