AURORA | The city is looking to create a rental registration and licensing program encompassing both multi-family properties and single family homes in an effort to improve standards of living and better enforce code violations.

At the June 8 study session, city council members discussed a resolution to direct the city manager to develop a potential registration program, which would need approval from council before it could be implemented.

Council will likely vote on the resolution at its June 22 meeting.

The city has for decades had a systematic apartment rental inspection program for health and safety standards, as well as inspections for any rental property at the request of tenants. Joshua King, manager of the neighborhood support division, said the registration and licensing program would help bolster the existing program.

“The rental registration would allow us to mandate owners or property managers in Aurora to register yearly with contact information and have a locally registered property manager or the owner themselves that are local, so we can actually contact them quickly,” King said at the May 19 housing committee meeting.

Mayor Pro Tem Alison Coombs said at the study session that the city is having a major issue with rental properties that don’t have a designated property manager to respond to violations or complaints.

“Code enforcement isn’t working within this space and so, requiring that folks say ‘This is a rental property and this is who you contact if there’s a problem,’ is one of the outcomes that we’re trying to pursue,” Coombs said.

Coombs said the resolution is “essentially just acknowledging that we’ve received a lot of concern from community members about the difficulty with enforcing tenant rental protections” and directing staff to work on a rental registry program to help address the concerns. 

Mayor Mike Coffman, who is co-sponsoring the resolution with Coombs, said the program will be particularly important in northwest Aurora and will hopefully include regulations for both interior and exterior issues. 

“I think blight is a contagion and I think those who have rental properties in the city of Aurora ought to maintain them,” Coffman said.

Aurora was embroiled in a lawsuit filed against a New York apartment property owner after the city shut down three apartment complexes, deeming them unlivable for a period of time. The landlord, CBZ, blamed the condition of the apartments, without evidence, on Venezuelan gangs. The controversy drew national media attention and that of then presidential-candidate Donald Trump. 

Councilmember Françoise Bergan listed several concerns, including the operating costs and the potential for government overreach. She said the city already does inspections and regulates building codes, while the state provides tenant resources through Colorado Housing Connects.

“Personally I think it’s growing government at the municipal level and taking away property rights,” Bergan said.

Bergan told Coffman that she was surprised he supported the program when, in her opinion, it could intrude on property rights. Coffman said he doesn’t “think property rights cover the ability to be a slumlord.”

Councilmember Stephanie Hancock echoed Bergan’s concerns and added that a new registration program could unintentionally cause rents to increase when landlords pass the costs of fees on to tenants.

“I feel like sometimes that we’re shooting a fly with an elephant gun,” Hancock said. “I want to make sure that this is the appropriate resource that we’re using to handle the problem.”

If the council approves the resolution, city staff will conduct research, conversations with stakeholders and community outreach this summer and fall with the intent of bringing the proposed program to council in the winter. 

As part of the research for a potential program, staff will determine the number of staff needed to operate the program, potential fees for registration and how to collaborate with existing tenant resources at the state level. 

Implementation could start next year if the council supports the program.

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