02-2023 - Enact Pay to Stay permanently

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Placed on 1st reading & referred to HPD 1/17/23 Baker, Bullock, Kepple, Marx, Rader, Shachner ORDINANCE NO. 02-2023 By: AN ORDINANCE to take effect immediately provided it receives the vote of at least two thirds of the members of Council, or otherwise to take effect at the earliest period allowed by law, expanding rental rights within the City of Lakewood by allowing renters who tender their full rent plus any additional late fees and court costs prior to completion of eviction proceedings to avoid eviction for late payment of rent and setting reasonable late fees that a landlord may charge a tenant. WHEREAS, Ordinance No. 12-2021A, also known as "pay to stay" legislation in the City of Lakewood, was originally introduced as part of a multi -faceted government and public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic and is scheduled to expire on February 28, 2023; and WHEREAS, this Council recognizes the positive impact "pay to stay" has had on tenants and landlords and seeks to maintain that positive impact; and WHEREAS, this Council values the role of Ordinance No. 12-2021A in stabilizing housing for vulnerable renters and forecasts the ongoing need for "pay to stay" protections; and WHEREAS, "pay to stay" prevents tenants from experiencing one of life's most traumatic and destabilizing events, while also enabling landlords to be made financially whole; and WHEREAS, Council understands that housing instability and eviction have far reaching negative impacts on education, access to safe, healthy housing, and proximity to employment opportunities; and WI -AREAS, Council seeks to make permanent the protections and benefits of Ordinance No. 12-2021A that proved beneficial to all parties and was met with widespread public support; and WHEREAS, as set forth in Section 2.12 of the Third Amended Charter of the City of Lakewood, this Council by a vote of at least two thirds of its members determines that this ordinance is an emergency measure and that it shall take effect immediately, and that it is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public property, health, and safety and to provide for the usual daily operation of municipal departments, in that the ordinance will help ensure stable housing for vulnerable renters while enabling landlords to be made financially whole; now, therefore BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF LAKEWOOD: Section 1. That a new unnumbered section of the Codified Ordinances titled Pay to Stay is hereby enacted to read as follows: XXX.XX Pay to Stay in Rental Eviction Proceedings. For any eviction action for non-payment of rent, the following shall apply to all residential leases within the City of Lakewood: (A) Tenant's right to pay to stay prior to the filing of an eviction action (Complaint for Forcible Entry