Colorado state law bans all local communities from passing any rent controls. This means there is nothing stopping landlords from jacking up rents as high as they like. And landlords across the state have been doing just that, profiting at the serious expense of renters.
Landlords in Colorado have been jacking up rents at ridiculous rates over the last few years. Rent in the Denver area alone has increased by 12% in the last year, and 88% over the last decade. Hundreds of thousands of people are being forced to choose between making rent and paying for other necessities like groceries, medicine, transportation, and everything else they and their families need. These rent hikes have pushed people out of their homes at an alarming rate — the number of people in the state without a stable home has risen by 266% since 2007.
People of color are getting hit the hardest by Colorado’s skyrocketing rents. Corporate landlords are targeting Black and brown communities where they buy up affordable properties and jack up the rents while contributing minimal repairs and upkeep.
This year, a proposed bill could have changed all that, repealing the ban and giving communities back the freedom to finally stop the huge rent hikes that are hurting them. But lobbyists for big corporate landlords like Greystar Real Estate set out to squash the new bill, and – surprise, surprise – it never made it out of a committee.
