February 03, 2009 09:20 PM UTC

Builders Demand Their Loophole

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• by: Colorado Pols

Another big fight is shaping up in the state legislature, this time over a bill that would ‘clarify’ existing law as it pertains to affordable housing agreements between local governments and property developers.

According to proponents of House Bill 1138, sponsored by Sen. Gail Schwartz and Rep. Kathleen Curry, developers have filed suit recently seeking to overturn rent controls they had previously agreed to in the permitting process, citing ‘novel’ interpretations of state law. HB-1138 bill would clarify that “that the state’s rent control statute…is not intended to prohibit or restrict the right of any property owner and any municipality, county, state agency or housing authority to enter into and enforce a contract that controls rent on a private residential housing unit.”

Which of course it isn’t: like we said, it requires a novel interpretation of the law–but more importantly a willful desire to nullify prior agreements to provide rent-controlled housing, and exploit whatever ambiguity that exists today in future agreements–in order to justify opposition to this bill. Given the chronic shortages of affordable housing in the home districts of the sponsors (and the heavy-handed pressure routinely exerted by developers there), you can understand pretty easily why they introduced the legislation.

Now, usually it’s the case that commercial interests (and their lobbyists) like clarity in laws pertinent to their business, finding clarity preferable to litigious uncertainty that might impact their balance sheet. And in short, the intent of this bill is to make the law clearer and prevent unnecessary litigation.

But like any good corporate lobbyist will tell you, for example those working furiously today to kill HB-1138 in committee, all “clarity” is not created equal.