New Colorado laws aimed at making housing more attainable take effect

A new round of laws took effect in Colorado Monday that aim to help make housing more attainable for renters in the state.

One of those laws caps minimum income requirements for renters and limits the amount landlords can charge for a security deposit. Previously, many landlords required tenants to make at least three times what they charge for rent.

"Only needing to make two times the rent that makes such a big difference," Colorado renter Dakota Hitchner said. "If you don't make three times the rent, there's literally nowhere to live."

Hitchner, a grad student at the University of Denver, said when she moved to Colorado a year ago, it was difficult finding a place to live.

"It was very stressful. It took some solid weeks of searching. I ended up actually not having a house for two weeks, because it took so long to find a place. I was staying with friends," she said.

The new law also caps the amount a landlord can charge for a security deposit to two months' worth of rent.

But not everyone is excited about the new laws. When the bill first passed, Denver7 spoke to William Bronchick, who has been a landlord for around 30 years.

"I don't see why the government at all, should be telling a landlord what the criteria should be," he said. "You're putting landlords in a very difficult position."

In April, we also spoke with Rep. Meg Froelich, D-Greenwood Village, who was a prime sponsor of the bill.

"We have an affordable housing crisis," said Froelich. "The more we crunched the numbers, the more we realized the folks who can't afford to pay a deposit of three times their monthly rent, are teachers, first responders, and folks we want living in our community. So that was really pretty shocking as we went through the process of passing this bill."