Bill introduced in Colorado House would cut rental fees for pet owners
At a dog park in Greenwood Village, Unicorn a four-year-old border collie mix chased after her favorite ball more than a dozen times, enjoying every second of her time outdoors.
"I got really lucky. She's truly the most amazing dog ever, which I know everyone says about their pets but she's such a good girl," Olivia Reiser said.
Reiser took her in when a coworker could no longer care for her.
"She's literally my family," she said.
But as a renter, Unicorn is one family member who comes with a fee.
"On top of my deposit for her, I have rent every month for her as well, so it adds up to be a lot," Reiser said.
State Rep. Alex Valdez says those fees are unnecessary when most landlords already require a security deposit.
"It's very expensive," Valdez said. "It's causing a family to decide between having a member of their family living with them or taking that pet and dropping them off at a shelter."
He introduced a bill that, among other things, would ban pet deposits, pet rent or other pet fees and instead create a statewide fund that landlords can pull up to $1,000 from to help pay for damage.
The bill would appropriate $250,000 annually to the Department of Local Affairs and would be first come, first serve. And property owners would need to show proof of the damage.
"We wanted to ensure that the bill we are creating is based on fact and we are not actually seeing as much damage from pets as most people might think," Valdez said.
"Anyone that owns a pet knows there are costs associated with them," Destiny Bossert, the government affairs manager for the Colorado Apartment Association said.
The Colorado Apartment Association represents landlords for roughly 75% of all rental units in the state.
"I think the unintended consequence to this bill that it would cause rents and deposits to increase just because they have to offset that wear and tear that our lovely pets come with," Bossert said.
With her own pup sitting in her lap, she says they're an organization comprising people that, like so many in Colorado, have and love pets, but she says charging a reasonable fee she says makes sense for property owners.
But even those like Reiser, who anticipated having some additional costs, say things are starting to add up.
"I mean, it's worth it, but its definitely a chunk of change," she said.
The CAA supports the fund for landlords but raised concerns about where that money would come from.
You can read more about the bill here: https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb23-1068
