Rent escrow and tenant organizing: what Council members said, from 'cannonball' to 'de facto property manager'

Two ideas to rein in Denver's worst-run apartment buildings got their first hearing at the Council's Budget and Policy Committee on Monday, Nov. 9, and not every member was sold. We laid out the proposals before the meeting (our story) and said we'd add what members said. The meeting hasn't been transcribed on our site yet, so this account relies on Denverite's reporting and the city's slides.

Why it matters: the proposals would give tenants a right to organize and meet with their landlords, and let the city hold rent in escrow until a building is fixed. They grew out of years of complaints at buildings like the William Penn Apartments and The Raven.

The sponsors' case

Amanda Sawyer, one of three sponsors with Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez and Council President Diana Romero Campbell, said most landlords are responsible but "a small minority of landlords" can't keep their properties up. Fixes to single complaints don't stick, she said, "and really the only option that we have as a city is to shut these locations down, which we do not want to do because that would make a significant number of people homeless," according to Denverite.

Gonzales-Gutierrez said tenants have "very little recourse" to get landlords to hear them, let alone fix unsafe conditions. Under the organizing model she described, landlords would have to meet with tenant groups regularly, let them use common areas for free, and could not retaliate. Outside organizers could take part with tenants' consent.

The doubts

Kevin Flynn said the approach struck him "just at first glance as trying to swat a swarm of flies with a cannonball when what we really need is a more surgical approach to get at the bad actors," Denverite reported.

Jamie Torres raised the city's risk "in suddenly becoming the de facto property manager for some of the worst possible actors in the city who don't ever intend to make those fixes."

Members also said it's not settled which department would run rent escrow. Planning, licensing, public health and the fire department all handle parts of these cases. Members said landlords would get due process.

A tenant organizing group also spoke to the committee, saying fines often work but that the city needs more leverage in serious cases, especially with out-of-state owners, Denverite reported.

What our records add

Most of today's Council voted for the licensing system this would build on. The rental licensing and inspection ordinance, 21-0420, passed 12-0 on May 3, 2021, with one member absent (roll call). Seven current members voted yes: Flynn, Stacie Gilmore, Chris Hinds, Paul Kashmann, Amanda Sandoval, Sawyer and Torres. Two amendments that night failed 1-11. Denver has since issued about 30,000 rental licenses, according to Denverite.

The complaint numbers. City health department figures in the slides show residential health complaints rising from 1,549 in 2023 to 1,794 in 2025, with 1,560 so far in 2026 as of Oct. 23. In 2025 the city issued $422,536 in citations and collected $313,963.

The same committee heard a second housing proposal. Licensing "We Buy Houses" wholesalers, 26-1721 (our story).

What's next

According to the slides: drafting and stakeholder meetings through February; the Health and Safety Committee on March 3, 2027; and a full Council vote and public hearing in April 2027. The item is 26-1720.