DENVER – The House Committee voted 7-4 in favor of a bill Tuesday that would protect renters from unnecessarily high rental application fees.
Under current state law, there are no limits on what landlords can charge for rental application fees, and there are no safeguards to ensure the fee matches the actual costs of screening a prospective tenant.
“The goal of this bill is to ease the housing crunch, increase transparency in the rental application process and ensure bad actors aren’t harming Coloradans seeking a home for themselves and their families,” Representative Brianna Titone said.
More than a dozen states have created policies that set reasonable terms when it comes to rental application fees.
HB19-1106 puts commonsense limits in place to protect renters. The bill keeps the cost of application fees fair and ensures the fee is refunded if the applicant is never screened.
The bill is now headed to the House floor.
