Many of the legislative victories we
achieved this year cannot be easily
quantified because the costs are
speculative or would have been
administrative burdens that are not easy
to turn into a monetary impact. However,
several of the bigger wins can easily be
calculated in dollars saved to the industry.
Eviction Fee for CLS
Funding (HB20-1405)
This bill called for landlords to
pay a $30 fee on each eviction filed
to fund Colorado Legal Services.
The proponents of this bill
calculated that the fee would
generate $1.2 million in revenue for
CLS (all paid by Landlords) based on
40,00 annual eviction filings.
Construction Retainage
Limited to 5% (HB20-1046)
This bill would have limited
retainage by the owner to 5% of
completed work on new construction
and maintenance and remodel
contracts greater than $150,000.
We can’t accurately speculate
on the cost of contractor defaults
because of a lack of retainage
(although this is certainly one of the
biggest problems with the bill). It’s
also difficult to accurately calculate
the savings on maintenance and
remodel contracts, both because the
length of those contracts and their
amounts are not easily available.
However, the cash flow impact
on the roughly $6.5 Billion of new
construction would be having
about 10% of the project cost
advanced before they otherwise
would be. Ignoring loan origination
fees of between .50% to 1% (most
owners would be able to manage
this without necessarily requiring a
larger construction loan) and using
the current LIBOR based interest
floor rate of 3% on newly originated
construction loans, the annual cost
of interest on these accelerated
payments would be $29,250,000.
www.aamdhq.org
Inclusionary Zoning
(Rent Control on New
Construction) (HB20-1351)
The bill sought to mandate
40% rent decreases on 20% of new
construction.
Based on average rent of
$1,433/month and 26,000 new
units constructed annually, the
initial annual cost of this bill would
be approximately $35,768,000
and would increase to a total of
$107,304,000 within a two-year
building cycle.
Eviction Moratorium (Stand-
Alone Bills and Amendment
to HB20-1410)
These bills would have
prohibited all evictions. Moratorium
expirations started with May 31,
2021 and eventually fell to October
15, 2020 before being defeated
outright. There are normally 3,000
evictions monthly statewide and
the average monthly rent is $1,433.
Consequently, every month of
an eviction moratorium costs the
industry $4,299,000. With 12 months
ultimately eliminated $51,588,000
was saved.
Fee Caps and Prohibitions
(HB20-1141)
This bill would have prevented
charging late fees until payment was
14 days late, capped those fees at 3%
of past due rent, prohibited billing
utilities unless those utilities were
metered, prohibited all other fees
unless directly based on usage, and
established punitive penalties against
property owners (including treble
damages a $2,000 minimum penalty,
plus attorney fee).
THE NUMBERS:
DEFEATED IN COMMITTEE
$1,200,000
EVICTION FEE FOR CLS FUNDING (HB20-1405)
$107,314,000
INCLUSIONARY ZONING (HB20-1351)
(RENT CONTROL ON NEW CONSTRUCTION)
$32,445,000
FEE CAPS AND PROHIBITIONS (HB20-1141)
$29,250,000
CONSTRUCTION RETAINAGE LIMITED
TO 5% (HB20-1046)
KILLED ON THE SENATE FLOOR
$51,588,000
EVICTION MORATORIUM
(VARIOUS STAND-ALONE BILLS AND AMENDMENT TO DFHB20-141)
AMENDED - THEN KILLED IN
PRE-COMMITTEE MEETINGS
$30,252,000
ENERGY BENCHMARKING (THE KIPP BILL)
JULY 2020 TRENDS | 17