John Russell was happy to move into his apartment at 18th and Canyon, his first time living alone. The rent was reasonable, his landlords were local, and he could walk to his job as manager of a Boulder food hall. When his partner, a PhD student at CU Boulder, moved in a year later, she walked to classes, too. They use their 2004 Jeep mostly for mountain excursions.
“I’ve never driven to work once,” Russell says. “It’s about a 10-minute walk to work for me.”
That may change next year. That’s because Russell’s rent is going up — way up. After the duplex he lives in changed hands, rent for the 100-year-old, two-bedroom unit will rise from $1,220 to $2,095, a 72% increase.
“We can’t absorb that cost, nor would we,” Russell says. “Even if we do understand the economics of it, we’re still kinda looking at the ethics of it. It just seemed like an egregious, pretty huge jump.”
Russell is exactly the type of Coloradan who would benefit from efforts to limit how much rents can be raised each year. Historically associated with New York City, modern-day rent stabilization policies have been enacted in hundreds of local cities; Oregon and California passed statewide limits on rent increases in 2019.
Rent control is illegal in Colorado and 30 other states. State lawmakers tried to change that last year, but the bill went nowhere. There are no plans to resuscitate it this session.
The market is king
Rent control was long considered a non-starter for economists and certain people serious about addressing the nation’s affordable housing crisis. Opponents argued that it would suppress building, exacerbating an already acute shortage and delivering benefits only to existing residents, which some studies have found.
But as the affordability crisis worsens and new forms of rent stabilization have evolved, economists and advocates have started to come around.
“Over the last few years,” a group of economists wrote to the Federal Housing Finance Agency in August, asking the agency to “pursue” rent regulations, “we have seen the devastating impact of a poorly regulated housing market on people’s livelihoods, as already unaffordable rental prices outpace wage growth.”
In 2021, the U.S. passed a grim milestone: Not one state has two-bedroom apartments affordable to a person working a full-time minimum wage job, according to a report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition. The typical American renter now spends more than 30% of their income on housing costs, a situation referred to as being rent burdened.
In expensive Boulder County, 60% of tenants are rent-burdened. The average Boulder renter spent $4,383 more on yearly rent in 2023 than in 2017, according to data provided by Apartment List and analyzed by Boulder Weekly. The average two-bedroom apartment now costs more than $2,000 per month.
Figures reported to rental marketplaces like Apartment List and Zillow can be slightly inflated by newer, more expensive units and larger complexes; a homeowner renting out an extra room is unlikely to report rental data, for example. But more expensive units do contribute to driving up market rents.
After the Marshall Fire, the Colorado Attorney General’s office warned online rental marketplaces against price gouging. But officials never fully defined how large of an increase would constitute price gouging and ultimately did not seek prosecutions against any landlords — even though many renters saw double-digit increases, some upward of 50%. The state’s own guidelines said price gouging had not occurred if rents rose due to “market conditions.”
When Russell pushed back on his impending 72% rent hike, property managers sent over a list of “comparable” two-bedroom units renting for $2,115 to $2,900, noting which ones — like Russell’s — have no dishwasher or on-site laundry.
“We need to get the unit up to the current market value,” they wrote, adding that the new rent was a conservative estimate.
Housing gains and hesitation
Housing has been a big focus for the state’s elected officials. Lawmakers have recently tackled application and late fees and tightened rules around security deposits and income requirements. A 2022 bill added a housing division to the Colorado Attorney General’s office; its first case resulted in a $1 million settlement with Boulder’s Four Star Realty over alleged illegal billing. Legislation that failed last session was recently reintroduced; it would allow evictions only for cause such as non-payment of rent or other lease violations.
But as of now, there are no plans to revive rent control.
“I’ve been told by the advocates and the past sponsors that the rent control bill is not getting introduced this year,” wrote Senate President Steve Fenberg, in response to requests for comment. “There has been talk of a renter’s tax credit, but I’m not sure where that’s at in the policy formation at the moment.”
The sponsor’s of last year’s rent control measure, Sen. Robert Rodriguez and Rep. Javier Mabrey, did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Gov. Jared Polis’ own approach has been primarily to expand supply. He has opposed growth and occupancy limits and attempted to force cities to allow more dense housing, and last year attempted a major land use reform bill that faced heavy opposition from city leaders Boulder was the sole exception. City leaders brought back a toned-down version for this session.
When it comes to rent control, the governor has expressed skepticism and threatened vetoes. He has also been uneven when it comes to aiding renters and homeowners.
The Colorado Sun reported that his administration discouraged renters for applying for emergency assistance during a historic increase in evictions, allowing $8 million in funds to go unspent. Although voters rejected Polis’ plan to provide tax relief for property owners, he called an emergency session of the Legislature and passed one into law. There is no indication that he plans to act with similar urgency to aid renters.
In response to questions from Boulder Weekly about the governor’s explicit plans for the affordable rental crisis, press secretary Eric Maruyama noted that Polis included $30 million for rental assistance in his proposed budget.
The governor “is focused on saving Coloradans money on housing whether they experience that cost as rent or mortgage,” Maruyama wrote via email.
“In the State of the State [address], the Governor highlighted many policies he hopes to work with the legislature on to increase the supply of homes to rent or buy at affordable prices. During this legislative session, Governor Polis will be skeptical of any legislation that will increase housing and rent costs or limit the housing supply.”
‘I need to be strategic’
Rent control is not a panacea for Colorado’s multi-faceted housing crisis. As even proponents have noted, the policy will help only a small number of existing residents if it’s not paired with an increase in the supply of housing. In that case, rent control could paradoxically increase costs.
But it also has the potential to reduce displacement — especially the kind Russell is experiencing: a drastic increase forcing a move from a home he would otherwise like to remain in.
“I’m trying to weigh out whether it was my old landlord’s generosity that got me in this situation or the new landlord’s want to get it up to market rate,” Russell says. He is aware of the history of rent control in Colorado, and notes that it was Boulder’s 1980 push for the policy that led the state to ban it.
“It’s funny we’re round trip here,” Russell says. “Thirty-plus years later, and you’ve got a situation [where] rent is going up 72%, and that’s completely legal. There’s nothing that can be done.”
He and his partner hope to find a new home within walking distance or close to buses. “Worst case” would be moving out of Boulder, although Russell is wary of the costs of owning and maintaining a vehicle.
Until and unless something changes at the state level, Russell knows his life decisions will be dictated, in part, by the whims of property owners.
“I can’t invent a better system on the fly, so I need to be strategic and work within what exists,” he says. “Keeping our finances in order, that’s going to be a larger priority.”
“I want landlords in Boulder to consider the fact that the quality of Boulder and its restaurants and small businesses and culture kind of hinges on the ability of everyday people to move here. The more people get priced out, the worse things are going to get.”