By Samuel G. Michael
Published May 2, 2025
In recent years, especially this legislative session, Colorado’s elected leaders have worked hard to address our ongoing housing crisis — taking steps to establish policies to put a dent in the 8,000 new apartment homes needed each year to keep up with increasing demand.
We are proud to have a governor and legislature that have made meaningful strides in increasing access to housing. But there is a proposal on the table this year to take the state in the wrong direction — HB 25-1235.
The bill would allow for jury trials in eviction cases, a change that might sound fair in theory but would create unnecessary delays and costs when put into practice. And for what? There has been no real problem identified to justify this shift. Eviction proceedings already involve legal oversight and tenants have important rights enforceable through existing channels.
Our community knows injustice, which is why we take proposed reforms seriously and weigh them carefully against the reality on the ground. But HB 25-1235 does not address a proven — it responds to a problem that hasn’t been clearly identified. And in rushing to solve a problem that hasn’t been clearly defined we risk creating real, measurable harm, particularly for the very communities that have historically faced injustice. In fact, this bill risks creating new forms of inequity by turning a functional legal process into a prolonged and costly ordeal.
Furthermore, those burdens won’t fall on big corporations — they’ll land squarely on working families and small housing providers. Many in our own Ethiopian and broader African immigrant community have invested in a property or two to build a better future for their families. Many in Aurora use the additional revenue to pay college tuition for their children. These small landlords cannot afford to spend weeks or months waiting on a jury trial that by all accounts will end in the same resolution a judge could have reached fairly and quickly.
HB 25-1235 isn’t just a threat to individual community members and their livelihoods — it poses a broader risk to Colorado’s housing ecosystem. In recent years, our elected leaders have made meaningful progress toward expanding housing access and affordability, streamlining development and encouraging new investment. But this bill could undermine that momentum. By introducing new legal risks, longer timelines and increased costs, HB 25-1235 would force many small-scale and minority landlords, who already operate on tight margins, to raise rents or reconsider their participation in the rental market altogether. This isn’t just a bureaucratic tweak; it’s a disincentive to housing stability, and it could reverse the very progress our state has fought so hard to achieve.
Our community stands firmly for justice, fairness and opportunity — for tenants, landlords and all Coloradans. But HB 25-1235 is a solution in search of a problem, one that risks undoing the hard-earned progress we’ve made toward housing stability. We urge Colorado’s leaders to stay the course on policies that promote true equity, expand access to affordable housing, and support both renters and the diverse communities working to provide homes for them.
Samuel G. Michael is president of the Ethiopian Community of Colorado which has more than 3,500 members.
