Be On The Record
BlogSign inSubscribe
HearingsBillsAlerts
← Hearings

Senate Local Government & Housing

Thursday, February 12, 2026·1h 17m·▶ Watch / Listen

The Senate Local Government & Housing Committee advanced two housing-related bills: SB26-054, which creates an exception to Colorado's two-month security deposit cap for post-closing occupancy agreements in home sales, passed unanimously 7-0; and SB26-053, which allows CHAFA to offer home mortgage loans to law enforcement officers and first responders without income limits, passed 6-1 over Senator Baisley's philosophical objection to government involvement in the mortgage market.

Key Actions

·SB26-054 – Security Deposits & Post-Closing Occupancy AgreementsPassed

+ 1 more action

Controversies

Whether SB26-053 should include a means test for high-earning officers

Senator Ball raised the example of Denver's police chief making approximately $240,000 a year and asked why a means test should not be added so that officers with clearly sufficient income do not access affordable housing benefits. Senator Mullica responded that CHAFA would address parameters in testimony and that the intent is for funds to go to those who need it, but acknowledged there may be a police officer just coming out of the academy who needs assistance.

+ 4 more controversies

Notable Quotes

“The affordability problem that comes with this is that it inflates the purchase price and the full purchase price number is the only number that the outside world sees so that higher price becomes a recorded comparable sale. Brokers and sellers use it to price the next listing in the neighborhood. Appraisers use it and rely on it for valuations. But the rent workaround itself is private and typically not visible in the public records or MLS data in a way that corrects the sale price. So the comp system actually absorbs that price inflation.”

Cooper Thayer — Thayer was explaining why the current workaround used by buyers and sellers to get around the two-month security deposit cap in post-closing occupancy agreements — manufacturing rent at an inflated price — distorts the comparable sales data used across the real estate market, in support of SB26-054.

+ 3 more quotes

Votes

Move Senate Bill 26054, as amended, to the committee of the whole with a favorable recommendationPassed
Yes (7)Mark Baisley, Larry Liston, Marc Snyder, Matt Ball, Chris Kolker, Janice Rich, Tony Exum
Move L001 to Senate Bill 54Passed
Route SB26-054 to consent calendarPassed
Yes (7)Mark Baisley, Larry Liston, Marc Snyder, Matt Ball, Chris Kolker, Janice Rich, Tony Exum
Move L001 to Senate Bill 53Passed
Move Senate Bill 26053, as amended, to the committee of the whole with a favorable recommendationPassed
Yes (6)Matt Ball, Chris Kolker, Janice Rich, Marc Snyder, Tony Exum, Larry Liston
No (1)Mark Baisley
Unlock the full summary

Subscribe to see all key actions, controversies, quotes, and what's next.

Sign in to subscribe
TranscriptPreview
Senate Local Government Housing Committee will come to order. Mr. Please call the roll. Senators Basley. President Ball. Excused. Kolker. Here. Liston. Here. Rich excused. Snyder here. Mr. Chair, good afternoon. Thanks everybody for joining us. So we're gonna go with Senate Bill 54 first instead of 53 by request of one of the bill sponsors to for timing issues. Sometimes during this, in this time, sponsors are presenting other bills and other committees. So we'll try to make that adjustment. So we're going to hear Senate Bill 54 first with Senators Catlin and Snyder. Who would like to go first? Senator Snyder. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you, the members of the committee that are here for hearing this bill. I'm sure the rest of our colleagues will be rambling in any moment now. So today you'll be hearing Senate Bill 26 054. And it's a really simple bill concerning the exception to the statutory limit from the 23 bill of which our distinguished chair was the prime sponsor of, that basically limits the amount of a security deposit that a landlord can charge to a tenant to two months of the rent. And what's happened is the…
Continue reading

Subscribe to unlock the full transcript, summary, and search across all Colorado committee hearings.

Sign in to subscribe