When Rita Carrasco and her family were the victims of a drive by shooting at their home, she called her landlord to inform them of what happened. That same day, Carrasco said, her landlord told her she was being evicted, giving her only two days to move out.

A single mother of four, Carrasco sent her older children to move in with her ex-husband, while she and her 2-year-old youngest child lived out of a car for a month.

“That was the hardest month of my life,” Carrasco said. “Any one of us could have been killed and after reporting this crime, now we have to leave.”

Carrasco and dozens of other renters who said they’ve experienced unfair evictions shared their stories with Colorado lawmakers Wednesday, during a committee hearing on House Bill 1171.

If passed, the bill would prohibit landlords from evicting residential tenants or refusing to renew leases unless they have “just cause.” Just cause includes a tenant failing to pay rent, violating lease agreements, committing illegal activity, refusing to let the landlord enter the property with advanced notice, and refusing to sign a new but substantially similar lease, among other conditions.

Under the bill, landlords could evict tenants or terminate leases in certain no-fault circumstances, such as to renovate or demolish the property or to move themselves or their family into the property. However, in these cases, the landlord would have to give the tenant 120 days’ notice and pay the tenant two to three months’ worth of rent to help them pay for new housing.

“Evictions have devastating consequences,” said bill sponsor Rep. Javier Mabrey, D-Denver, an eviction defense attorney who himself was evicted as a teenager. “It is up to us to do everything in our power to prevent unnecessary displacement and new cases of homelessness.”

The House Transportation, Housing and Local Government Committee advanced the bill on Wednesday, voting 9-4 to send it to the full House for consideration. The vote came after more than five hours of debate and testimony among residents and lawmakers.

Groups including the Colorado Apartment Association and Colorado Bankers Association argued that the bill goes too far by treating the decision not to renew a lease as an eviction, saying it essentially forces landlords into endless leases. They also noted that the 120-day notice for terminating leases makes single-month leases functionally impossible to enforce.

“The issue is that if you want people to rent a property to another, you have to give them a contractual mechanism to ask for the property back,” said Andrew Hamrick with the Colorado Apartment Association.

Proponents of the bill said it is intended to prevent landlords from discriminating or retaliating against tenants by evicting them or terminating their leases.

Mabrey and other housing attorneys testified that landlords had refused to renew their clients’ leases after calling them racial slurs or propositioning them for sex. Mabrey said these actions don’t matter to the court, as state law currently allows landlords to not renew leases for any reason, or for no reason at all.

Erika Reyes, a Commerce City single mother of three, said her landlord tried to evict her from her low-income apartment because she repeatedly asked them to improve the living conditions, saying the apartment had cockroaches, mold and water damage. Reyes said her landlord gave her three days to pay $600 or be thrown out, alleging that she didn’t pay her total rent in April 2021. Reyes then provided receipts proving she did pay the full rent.

“We are extremely vulnerable,” Reyes said. “HB 1171 will protect tenants like me from landlord retaliation for advocating for repairs and our legal rights. Help us hold our corporate landlords accountable.”

Other states including New Jersey, California, New Hampshire, Washington and Oregon have their own versions of just cause eviction laws, and the White House’s blueprint for a renters’ bill of rights includes requiring justified cause for evictions and notice if a lease will not be renewed.

However, the blueprint doesn’t include landlords providing financial assistance for tenants to relocate – which was one of the biggest points of contention during Wednesday’s debate.

Gary Jones, a 70-year-old landlord of two multi-unit-converted houses in Greeley, said he could not afford to pay thousands of dollars to tenants to terminate their leases. He added that he’s previously chosen not to renew leases for reasons that would not qualify under the bill, saying some tenants have been “obnoxious” and “unsavory” without breaking the lease or without proof of their behavior.

“It puts the burden on people like me,” Jones said. “I’m not rich, I’m just a single guy and I can’t afford it. … It feels like you’re trying to punish me for being an honest landlord and keep me from making a living.”

Under the bill, landlords would have to pay tenants two months’ rent to evict them or terminate their lease under the no-fault circumstances. Landlords would have to pay three months’ rent if the tenant is low-income, has a disability, is younger than 18 years old or is 60 years old or older.

Mabrey said he is considering amending the bill to potentially exempt small landlords from having to pay the relocation assistance to tenants. However, he said the relocation assistance is “an essential part” of maintaining housing stability for tenants.

On Wednesday, Mabrey amended the bill to exempt short-term rentals and landlords who live on single-family properties with their tenants – the latter of which includes Mabrey himself, who said he is a landlord to a tenant who lives in his basement.

“We don’t feel that what we’re doing here is unreasonable,” Mabrey said. “These sorts of evictions are not actually incredibly common. I would say it’s probably about 10% of the evictions that we see. However, when they happen, they’re devastating. … It’s time the tenants have a fighting chance in court to remain in their homes.”

Nearly two dozen organizations are backing the bill, including Denver Public Schools, ACLU of Colorado, the Colorado Children’s Campaign, Mental Health Colorado and the Community Economic Defense Project, where Mabrey works as a staff attorney.

Groups opposing the bill include the Colorado Association of Home Builders, Colorado Landlord Legislative Coalition, Rocky Mountain Home Association and the chambers of commerce of Denver and Colorado Springs.

During Wednesday’s committee hearing, all Democratic committee members voted in favor of the bill while all Republicans voted against it.

The bill will next head to the House floor for a full chamber vote. If passed, the bill will need approval from the Senate and Gov. Jared Polis to take effect.