City council on Tuesday night agreed to delay a vote on a measure that would temporarily block property owners from charging additional fees to tenants who are late with the rent due to COVID-related hardships.
Council, by a 6-1 margin, agreed to allow city staff to collect more data and opinions on how the ordinance would affect property owners and tenants. The proposal is slated to come back in two weeks for another vote.
Mayor Brian Bagley pushed for the delay, saying more information was needed on the consequences of the proposed ordinance. Bagley said he does not like the idea of the city preventing property owners from using late fees to keep tenants up to date on their rent payments.
Councilmember Polly Christensen was the dissenting vote, saying Broomfield in August passed a similar measure with few repercussions.
“This would be a tiny amount of people we would help,” Christensen said. “We are already very late on this.”
Council members also said they were waiting on recommendations from a special commission appointed by Gov. Jared Polis to study housing instability caused by COVID-19. The Special Eviction Prevention Task Force is expected to issue its findings in a few days, according to a staff report.
“If the governor’s working group has recommendations, we would follow the governor’s recommendations,” Councilmember Tim Waters said. He also said the late fee prohibition proposal was put together with haste.
“We have come back with this (ordinance) way quicker than we usually do,” Waters said.
Karen Roney, director of Community Services, said the city is collecting survey responses on the issue. “We have surveys on the street and we are right now collecting input,” she said.
The draft ordinance requires residents to produce documentation of a COVID-related hardship such as a job loss or sickness.
The proposed ordinance would end with the expiration of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention eviction moratorium order, which is set for Dec. 31, unless extended, modified or rescinded, according to the staff report. The ordinance also would end if Polis rescinds the declaration of a disaster emergency related to COVID-19 in Colorado, according to the staff report.
Property owners could be fined up to $500 for violating the ordinance.
