APCHA Needs Your Input on Housing Strategy

The Aspen/Pitkin County Housing Authority is extending the deadline for its strategic planning survey to Wednesday, Jan. 15, aiming to gather more input from the community.

The survey offers residents, renters, property owners, employers, and other stakeholders a chance to shape APCHA’s goals and priorities for the next five years. Feedback collected through the survey will help APCHA assess current programs, identify areas for growth, and guide the development of its 2025–2030 strategic plan.

Board members and staff said they are committed to ensuring the plan reflects community needs and expectations.

“By extending the survey deadline, we hope to give more people the chance to contribute their insights and ideas to this important process,” APCHA Executive Director Matthew Gillen said in a news release.

The survey is open to anyone in the community, from homeowners and renters to local business owners. Participants can share their experiences with APCHA’s initiatives, offer feedback on its performance, and suggest future priorities for affordable housing in the area.

The survey is available in both English and Spanish. To learn more about the survey, or APCHA’s work, visit www.apcha.org.

Housing Issues in Focus as 2025 Legislative Session Begins

Colorado lawmakers representing rural resort communities say they will pursue bills to increase affordable housing, aid ranchers impacted by wolves and protect outdoor workers in the legislative session that begins this week. But any future policies will also need to be balanced with a projected $750 million shortfall in the state budget, with legislators signaling they will favor bills that don’t require new spending.

“If members are bringing forward bills that have a price tag, that will be challenging for us,” said House Speaker Julie McCluskie (D-Dillon) during a press call with state Democrats in early January.

Factors like dried-up COVID-19 pandemic-era federal funding, a slew of recent tax cuts and an aging population that is forcing the state to spend more on Medicaid are all contributing to the budget deficit.

And while the state’s economy remains robust, limits placed on government revenue by the 1992 voter-approved Taxpayer’s Bill or Rights “really prevents us from capturing all of the revenue we bring in to utilize for these needs,” McCluskie said.

Getting to a balanced budget is likely to be the top priority for lawmakers this session. Here’s what else the legislature could be juggling in 2025:

Affordable housing

The lack of affordable housing and escalating cost of living in rural resort areas remain top issues for Western Slope lawmakers.

Sen. Dylan Roberts (D-Frisco) said the first bill he intends to introduce this session will be aimed at lowering construction costs for developers of for-sale affordable homes, like Habitat for Humanity. The proposal will be to use existing funds from the Colorado Treasurer’s Office to provide bonds to developers to help buy down building costs and loans for construction.  While communities are continuing to build more income-based rental properties, Roberts said there is a need for more homeownership opportunities that allow people to “buy into their community and potentially start building generational wealth.”

Rep. Meghan Lukens (D-Steamboat Springs) said she plans to introduce a bill to allow school districts to lease district-owned property indefinitely.  While the proposal was born out of a desire for the Eagle County School District to lease land for solar gardens, Lukens said the legislation would help districts unlock land for a host of community needs, like affordable housing.

Democratic lawmakers last session made housing a cornerstone of their legislative agenda, approving a package of sweeping land-use reform bills mainly aimed at increasing housing density along the Front Range. Those measures, however, largely excluded ski towns amid worries that a mandate for increased development wouldn’t necessarily translate to more affordable housing in those areas, where market-rate prices sit well above the state average.

Western Slope lawmakers have instead opted to incentivize income-based projects that leave more decision-making in local hands rather than introduce a top-down land use approach.

Education, short-term rentals and other issues

Other priorities for lawmakers include public education, with Lukens saying she will introduce legislation that would require school districts to create a phone policy for students “in order to ensure that kids are focused on learning instead of focused on their cell phone.”

Lawmakers said they will also push for bills that improve cell phone connectivity throughout rural Colorado, continue water quality and conservation efforts and provide free access to state parks for members of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe and Ute Mountain Ute Tribe — which is being advanced by Rep-elect Katie Stewart, who represents Durango and the southwestern most corner of Colorado

Regarding regulations on short-term rentals, which has become a hot-button issue in resort communities across the state, McCluskie said she is not yet aware of any bills coming forward that specifically target those properties.

But other policy proposals, like a bill to allow counties and statutory towns to impose excise taxes on certain industries, goods and services, could be used to increase taxes on lodging properties. McCluskie and Roberts plan to sponsor that bill.

Another proposal from the Colorado Association of Ski Towns to allow local communities to impose taxes on vacant homes may also appear this session, though the association stated it would not apply to short-term rentals.

The 2025 legislative session kicks off on Wednesday, Jan. 8 at the Capitol. The session will last 120 days

State News

Protecting Your Privacy. CAR is leading the charge to prevent an invasion of privacy by fighting for changes to a bill (SB 011) allowing wildfire-detection cameras across the state. Good intent to catch wildfires early but these 360-degree cameras can zoom 20 times, covering up to 10 miles, and view private property structures (i.e. houses). We are actively working to permanently remove private structures from view, notify property owners that cameras can view their property, and make sure users of these cameras know they are subject to penalty for any unintended use.

Wildfire Code Board. The Colorado Wildfire Resiliency Code Board (WRCB) will adopt minimum codes and standards for hardening structures and reducing fire risk in space around structures by this July. These new codes and standards would supersede local ordinances. The WRCB is meeting on Friday, 2/21 at 9:00am to solicit stakeholder feedback on the draft statewide wildfire resiliency code and the draft state fire hazard map for the code. Townhalls will be 90-minute virtual sessions hosted on zoom (see link to meeting). The public is invited to join. Those interested in providing comments at a townhall are asked to rsvp via the stakeholder and public feedback form. Written comment may also be submitted to the WRCB at cdps_dfpc_wrcb@state.co.us.

Federal News: NAR Comments on Effectiveness of State Appraiser and Appraisal Management Company Regulatory Programs

On February 4, 2025, NAR issued a comment letter to the Appraisal Subcommittee (ASC) in response to a proposed rule on the "ASC Enforcement Authority Regarding the Effectiveness of State Appraiser and Appraisal Management Company (AMC) Regulatory Programs."

NAR policy supports independent valuations of real property performed by state credentialed appraisers in adherence with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP); therefore, it is crucial that effective oversight of both appraisers and the appraisal management companies is in place and exercised. While the proposed rule codifies ways the states should oversee appraisers, it omits specific language on AMC monitoring and ways to report AMC violations.

This comment letter suggests additional monitoring, adding whistleblower protection, promoting consistency in regulation and investigation, monitoring adequacy of jurisdictions’ funding, and measurement of how effectively new rules and oversight affect compliance.

Read the comment letter here:  https://narfocus.com/file/7473.pdf

Federal News: NAR Reports Progress on the Corporate Transparency Act

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently granted the U.S. government's request to lift the temporary nationwide injunction halting the Corporate Transparency Act, and implementation and enforcement of the Beneficial Ownership Rule. The Fifth Circuit's actions in granting the government's request to stay reinstates the Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting (BOI) Rule and means that reporting companies and beneficial owners must be filed with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) by January 13, 2025, the new reporting deadline.

On December 3rd, a Texas federal court issued a preliminary nationwide injunction halting implementation and enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), including enforcement of the Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting Rule. The Court noted in its opinion that the law was likely unconstitutional and issued the injunction. The government promptly appealed the injunction, and the law has been reinstated as of today, December 23, 2024.

Given the recent court decision, FinCEN issued the following impact statement:

In light of a December 23, 2024, federal Court of Appeals decision, reporting companies, except as indicated below, are once again required to file beneficial ownership information with FinCEN. However, because the Department of the Treasury recognizes that reporting companies may need additional time to comply given the period when the preliminary injunction had been in effect, we have extended the reporting deadline as follows:

Reporting companies that were created or registered prior to January 1, 2024, have until January 13, 2025, to file their initial beneficial ownership information reports with FinCEN. (These companies would otherwise have been required to report by January 1, 2025.)

Reporting companies created or registered in the United States on or after September 4, 2024 that had a filing deadline between December 3, 2024 and December 23, 2024 have until January 13, 2025 to file their initial beneficial ownership information reports with FinCEN.

Reporting companies created or registered in the United States on or after December 3, 2024 and on or before December 23, 2024 have an additional 21 days from their original filing deadline to file their initial beneficial ownership information reports with FinCEN.

Reporting companies that qualify for disaster relief may have extended deadlines that fall beyond January 13, 2025. These companies should abide by whichever deadline falls later.

Reporting companies that are created or registered in the United States on or after January 1, 2025, have 30 days to file their initial beneficial ownership information reports with FinCEN after receiving actual or public notice that their creation or registration is effective.

BOI Compliance Resources

NAR's Advocacy and Legal Teams provided a compliance webinar on reporting requirements, and you can find the webinar recording here: https://www.nar.realtor/washington-report/real-estate-compliance-webinar-recording

You will also find additional guidance on reporting at www.fincen.gov/boi,  including a five-minute demo video with step-by-step instructions on how to file the BOI Report.

NAR will continue to provide you with updates regarding the BOI Rule and any relevant changes.