Cassa Niedringhaus

cniedringhaus@coloradoan.com

Fort Collins' oft-debated "U+2 rental occupancy law is on a record-setting pace, with 112 complaints lodged this year.

It took until mid-September to hit that number in 2015, 2014 and 2012. In 2013, complaints for the city's housing ordinance never reached 112.

Neighborhood Services was flooded with 19 complaints last week when Colorado State University students returned en masse for the start of the fall semester. Seven of those complaints were from a single street, Timber Lane, west of the CSU campus.

The over-occupancy ordinance sets limits on how many unrelated people can reside in a rental unit, generally capping that number at three, hence the "U+2" nickname.

RELATED: Avery Park struggles with Fort Collins housing rules

Dale Wood, senior compliance inspector for Neighborhood Services, said he thinks the rise is due in part to growing populations of both CSU and the city as a whole, and in part to growing awareness of the law.

"Our concern is this growth in our call load that you can almost plot out every year now," he said.

He expects another spike in complaints at the beginning of September, as complainants are often wise to the fine print of the law. It allows for a guest to stay up to 30 days, and most rental leases in the city began around Aug. 1. That means a fourth occupant runs out of time to legally stay in the house at the end of August.

The vast majority of complaints are handled through voluntary compliance, Wood said. Typically, he investigates for evidence of wrongdoing and issues a warning if a complaint is sustained. Violators have 20 days to comply with the law. However, Wood levies tickets against egregious or repeat violators, such as landlords who consistently sign more than three unrelated people to a lease or tenants who receive multiple warnings about sneaking extra people into their homes.

HOUSING: Units for 1,200 students planned near CSU

Those tickets come with a cost of $1,000 per person per day. Wood determines who's culpable and typically doesn't ticket property managers, landlords and tenants.

This year 14 tickets have been issued. The yearly average hovers around 30 tickets. Money from the tickets goes to the city's general fund.

Most notably, in 2011, one property owner who was a three-time offender was stuck with a $38,000 fine.

The law has been in effect since 1964, but was redrafted in 2005 and took effect Jan. 1, 2007. In the decade since, the city has launched nearly 1,100 investigations. These typically are spurred by complaints, but this year Wood began proactive patrols of the Avery Park neighborhood, which is responsible for 25 percent of citywide complaints. The number of cars outside a residence is usually a giveaway as to how many people reside inside.

Spikes in complaints typically occur in the fall as students flood back into town and around the beginning of the year, Wood said. In September, a nuisance investigator from Neighborhood Services aids Wood in handling investigations. The rest of the year, Wood works alone.

The department asked for additional inspectors in 2017, one of whom would split time evenly between nuisance complaints and occupancy complaints to help ease Wood's caseload.

YOUR TAKE: Should city reform U+2 rule?

The law has proved divisive for some residents. In June, 51 percent of respondents to a Coloradoan poll said they didn't think the law was effective. However, in a December poll, 75 percent of respondents said they supported "U+2" rather than a "Me+3" proposal to loosen rental restrictions.

The Associated Students of Colorado State University organized a petition drive to place a “Me plus 3” measure on an upcoming city ballot, but came up short in April.

Fort Collins manages and enforces the law more than other communities, Wood said.

"Neighborhood livability is very important to City Council and city management, and that trickles down to Neighborhood Services here," Wood said. "That's our mission within this department is to make the community as desirable as we possibly can so that people want to live here and enjoy living here."

Live-in rules

Select situations and how the city’s occupancy ordinance applies:

What’s allowed

A family, of any size, and one additional adult, such as a nanny or exchange student

Two adults, their dependents and one other adult

Two siblings and one other adult

What's not allowed

Two couples

Two siblings and two other adults

A family of any size, and two other adults, such as a caretaker and an exchange student

Information: Fort Collins Community Development and Neighborhood Services, 970-224-6046 or dwood@fcgov.com.