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Longmont looks to adopt a rental licensing law

“Longmont is really the first city I have lived in that doesn’t have a rental licensing law,” Marcia Martin said.
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Photo by Brian Babb on Unsplash

A majority of the City Council is floating the idea of requiring landlords to be licensed to rent their properties to tenants, a proposal criticized because the mandate may not be properly enforced.

A residential rental licensing law emerged last week while the council considered problems regulating accessory dwelling units - smaller residential structures that are attached to larger homes.

City staff members told the council during the work session that the city requires the owner of the residential property to live either in the ADU or in the main lot. There have been complaints owners are not following the rule, city staff members said.

Councilmember Polly Christensen said Longmont needed a rental licensing and annual inspection program because landlords lacked any accountability to ensure rental units are meeting health and safety requirements.

“This just sets a basic tone that we want fair and decent housing here,” Christensen said. “It’s just a very logical thing to do.”

Councilmember Marcia Martin asked city staff members to return with an outline of a rental licensing plan, adding a rental law would allow the city to better manage ADUs and issues with short-term rentals.

“Longmont is really the first city I have lived in that doesn’t have a rental licensing law,” Martin said.

The council voted 5-2 for the city staff to study the idea but gave no deadline for a formal council review.

Mayor Brian Bagley and Councilmember Tim Waters offered “no” votes on the idea, saying Longmont already faces enforcement problems because of a lack of staff.

“I think it’s a problem if we don’t have a plan to generate more revenue to hire additional enforcement staff,” Waters said.

Bagley said he wasn’t sure how the new program would spawn better landlords. “If the purpose is to make sure we have good landlords, we’re not going to do it with more costs,” Bagley said.