A Pueblo landlord association is opposing legislation in Denver that would extend the time renters have to pay owed rent to 10 days from three before the eviction process begins.

John Zamora, of the Southern Colorado Residential Rental Association, said that House Bill 1118 would significantly extend the time before landlords can evict and recover an apartment or house when a tenant hasn't paid.

Current law says the eviction process — which takes weeks in itself — can start after three days. The bill would delay that to 10 days.

It has passed the full House and is in the Senate for consideration.

The bill's sponsor, Rep. Dominque Jackson, D-Aurora, says the delay is needed to help people avoid eviction and homelessness. During debate in the House on Feb. 27, she minimized the change as simply giving tenants another seven days to catch up on rent.

"And it is that much harder for people to find someplace to live if they have an eviction on their record," she said.

Zamora countered that it is not that simple, that delaying the notice deadline by another week actually becomes a two-week grace period if weekends are included.

That pushes what is often a month-long process into a second month, he said.

"That means that property isn't available to the landlord for rental purposes for several more weeks, and that's a real loss in income," he said.

Zamora said the local association has more than 100 members who represent more than 2,000 rental units.

He said landlords aren't opposed to extending a few more days to the process, such as a five-day notice period, but argued that 10 days is too long.

"We're contacting senators now hoping we can change the bill in the Senate," he said.

Zamora said Pueblo's rental market is extremely tight.

"I've had several members says that if the 10-day notice period goes through, they make shift their property to short-term (weekly) rentals, where the eviction process doesn't apply," he said.

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