A bill saddling Colorado landlords with supposed safeguards for tenants is now on Gov. Jared Polis’ desk, awaiting his signature or veto. For the sake of affordable housing and the good of Colorado’s overall economy, let’s hope he vetoes House Bill 24-1098.

Just saying no to the bill would in fact make a lot of sense for a governor like Polis, who needs no lessons in Economics 101.

He must know renters are in no urgent need of additional legal protection from unwarranted evictions; there is no eviction “epidemic.” He also likely gets how the bill will strong-arm landlords into renewing leases in some cases, essentially conjuring up rights to which no tenants are entitled.

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And Polis, whose financial success attests to his keen grasp of markets, understands that all the bill really will accomplish is to shackle landlords. It will be harder to oust tenants who don’t pay the rent — eventually raising the rent for everyone else.

Its an easy veto, in other words — if Polis heeds his economics savvy and his basic instincts.

But can he resist the radical fringe of his party? His fellow Democrats rule both chambers of the Legislature and, on bill after bill, many of their members have distinguished themselves for their seeming obliviousness to economic realities. They are driven by dogma, not reason.

HB 24-1098 aims to limit the reasons for which a landlord may evict a tenant, and at first blush, it might seem modest in scope.

If enacted, landlords still would be allowed to evict when a tenant fails to pay rent; a rental property is going to be sold; provisions of the lease are violated; there are plans to demolish or make substantial repairs to a property, or when a tenant has engaged in conduct that creates a nuisance or damages the rental property.

Supporters of the bill contend its aim is to curb unjust or unwarranted evictions. They cite evictions purportedly carried out in retaliation for tenants who have complained about housing conditions, or who have quarreled with landlords or building managers. They say some tenants have been evicted after spurning unwanted advances from lecherous landlords, or after disagreeing with a landlord’s political views.

In reality, the bill has the potential to wreak havoc across the rental market — by serving as a legal tripwire for opportunistic tenants and their lawyers.

Given how the measure attempts to specify what is a just cause for eviction, it invites a new wave of claims by tenants that their evictions fell outside the new legal boundaries. A whole new standard for evictions would come into play.

Tenants facing eviction after months of unpaid rent, or after a history of disruptive, hostile or even criminal behavior, suddenly will have grounds for claiming retaliation by their landlords over some supposed slight — tying up eviction proceedings if not halting them outright.

That will lead to costly, protracted legal headaches for many landlords while other landlords shy away from evictions entirely, however much they may be warranted.

As critics also have noted of the legislation, it equates a landlord’s decision simply not to renew a lease, with an eviction. That means the standards the bill puts in place for evictions similarly would constrain a landlord who seeks simply to part ways with a problematic tenant when a lease period ends.

All of which ultimately serves to drive up the cost of housing. The bill will make it harder to replace nonpaying tenants with paying ones. It will discourage reinvestment in rental housing and investment in new rental construction. Supply will dwindle and demand continues to rise.

To repeat, Polis knows all this. He just needs to tune out the rabble-rousers at the Capitol — and tune into the true interests of the vast majority of tenants who play by the rules.

Colorado Springs Gazette Editorial Board