COLORADO SPRINGS — A barrier for renters; property manager Aaron Blazis with Premier Real Estate says not all renters have the means to take on extra costs.
“The mom and pop landlords are the teachers, the plumbers, the roofers who saved up and bought one," Blazis said. "They're big here in Colorado and in Colorado Springs.”
Last year, Senate Bill 94 was passed in by state legislators, a law designed to give tenants more protections if their home is damaged.
To Blazis, a lot of his owners normally cannot afford to meet this bill’s needs, like putting a tenant up in a hotel if the home is in disrepair.
“It makes it harder to get something fixed or not have a huge amount of risk for a financial risk for kind of taking care of their needs in the meantime," Blazis said.
VP of Government Relations for the Colorado Springs Chamber and EDC Jeff Thormodsgaard added these liability concerns begin even before these homes are built.
“I think we've had a perennial problem in our state," Thormodsgaard said. “If it is built, it's going to be built at such a rate that no one can buy it and they can't get into it because they're so expensive, because they have to front load the insurance.”
Blazis said these new rules are impacting how many people choose to rent out their homes.
“We would see a decrease in the mom and pop landlords, and the guest consequence would be that lower inventory," he added.
Blazis also said it's impacting the price of rent.
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Homeless Union in Colorado Springs speaks out during cleanup operation
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