Denver hit an apartment landlord with its first $999 fine for operating an unlicensed residential rental property on Thursday.
The multi-unit apartment complex at 3401 N Williams St. in the Cole neighborhood could face further repercussions: additional fines of $999 daily if it continues operating without a license. Denver Department of Excise and Licenses spokesperson Eric Escudero declined to comment on whether the city will opt to go that route.
“We’re sad to see that we had to issue a fine like this,” Escudero said.
Jonathan Schwartz, the San Francisco resident who received the fine, couldn’t be reached for comment.
On the apartment’s listing online, the building is tied to Acute Property Management. This business is affiliated with Shell Company LLC, which operated under the name Acute Living and had its real estate company license suspended in 2019 by the Colorado Real Estate Commission. The reasons include failure to account for security and other deposits, maintaining an “unworthy and incompetent practice” and “dishonest dealing,” according to a news release from the commission in 2019.
Both Acute Property Management and Shell Company are listed under the same Denver address. Acute Property Management couldn’t be reached for comment.
“When you go to a restaurant, you know that the food’s safe because it’s been inspected, and you know you’re not going to have any health challenges,” Escudero said in an interview. “It should be no different for a rental property that can cost people thousands of dollars a month to rent.”
“They should know where they’re living is safe.”
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So far, almost 1,600 warning letters have been sent to unlicensed residential rental properties, with around 150 $150 fines issued for a first violation and a dozen $500 fines issued for a second violation. The third violation results in a $999 fine.
In the next stages, “in extreme cases, (the landlords) could be even issued a criminal citation where they would have to appear in front of a judge,” Escudero said.
As of Thursday, close to 9,000 properties have secured their licenses – almost 5,000 for multi-unit properties and around 4,000 for single-unit properties. The former type was mandated to obtain licenses by Jan. 1, while the latter type isn’t required until next January.
The licensed properties are made up of 135,000 rental units. The residential rental license program was launched last March.
“We are off to a tremendous start in our effort to raise residential rental housing standards across Denver as we launch the largest expansion of required licensing in city history,” Escudero said. “For the first time ever, the city now has a licensing requirement to hold landlords accountable for renting out unsafe properties despite charging near record levels for rent every month.”
