The Denver Metro Association of Realtors on Thursday grilled seven Denver mayoral candidates about the city’s new rental home registration ordinance, some of whom argued that the new rule has been a disaster and should be repealed.  

The ordinance, which took effect this year, requires landlords to get a residential rental property license – after their property is checked by a certified inspector.

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Candidates Kelly Brough, Chris Hansen, Debbie Ortega, Mike Johnston, state Rep. Leslie Herod, Andy Rougeot and Kwame Spearman delved into other issues, too, notably affordable housing and public safety at the PPA Event Center. 

The candidates’ answers have been edited for brevity and clarity.

Question: Do you believe the new rental registration and inspection licensing ordinance is right for Denver? Do we need this program? If so, what kind of changes are needed to bring owners into compliance? Would you support an amendment to exempt Mom and Pop landlords with three units or less?

Johnston: So, I think the process of registration and licensure – I think people will say they can accommodate. I think the challenge is the inspection department here to require inspectors sometimes [with] a four or five, six-month wait to get access to an inspector … I think for two or three units or less, you should be able to not have to do an inspection.

Herod: We know that that has created a great market for inspectors. But what about the landlords? What about everyday people? It’s not working. But that does not mean that we should have people living in unsafe conditions.  Absolutely not. But when I talk to my friends who are middle-income [and] making ends meet by having small units that they are offering for rents, they can no longer do their jobs because they can’t get through this process and no one’s listening to them.

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Rougeot: We need to get rid of this law. I’m embarrassed that we haven’t already when we see how it’s failed. It’s like a lot of other city policies that have failed. We were sitting right now with the new compost and trash collection, where we have not been able to get out the trash. We’ve said, ‘Hey, we know the state is coming, city has known it’s coming.’ But a failure of the mayor, the failure of the city council, (they) didn’t do anything other than say, ‘Here’s a great idea’ and failed to execute.

Spearman: I would repeal the law, but I think what we need to ask ourselves is how did we get here in the first place? We got here in the first place because we do not have people leading our government to understand business. There are so many unintended consequences. I agree that we have good intentions when we’re passing these laws. … These are one-size-fits all solutions, that’s the problem.

Brough: I think we have to absolutely look at an exemption for the smallest landlords, but I also think this. I think we have to back up and ask the question, what are we trying to address? What’s the most efficient way to address it? To me, my guess is what we’re trying to address here is that there may be property landlords who are not taking care of their properties. I wonder if you could use resources better on a report-out basis, where people can actually report on those landlords, we respond timely, we address the issue and we fix it.

Hansen: You know, I don’t think this inspection program is suddenly causing a meltdown. I do think the legislation needs adjustment. I do think we need to focus on where the problem is. And this kind of across-the-city solution in a tight timeline is not working very well. But I also think there are problem landlords who are causing unsafe conditions. Having this rollout, I think the timeline, again, can be adjusted, I think the legislation can be adjusted so that we avoid unintended consequences.

Ortega: I was one of the members of council that did vote for this. We had a lot of input from renters, who were in buildings that were not up to par. … So, the issue is really how do we make sure that these are all safe homes for everybody, and that any of the property owners who don’t have the resource to do the upgrade have access to resources, whether it’s from the city or the state division to housing to assist them in addressing these issues.

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