House Bill 442 would prevent cities from setting reasonable maximum fees or deposits for residential rental properties, like application fees or pet deposits. With cities unable to ensure these basic protections, there are no checks on unscrupulous landlords who can bankrupt families with exorbitant fees. 

Idaho is home to some of the most overvalued housing markets in America, which ripens opportunities for exploitative practices against desperate renters, and HB 442 weakens the ability of local officials to respond to this crisis. The National Low Income Housing Coalition shows 30% of Idahoans are renters. As the legislation is written, landlords would be able to collect application fees or security deposits from an unlimited number of people, charging whatever they want, without ever having to prove a unit is even available.

“This bill is proof that Idaho renters have no allies in the Idaho GOP. This bill offends the notion that the government closest to the people governs best and paves the way for tenants to be exploited by out-of-state property managers who are gobbling up investment properties at the expense of Idahoans who are increasingly struggling to afford a most basic human need, a place to live,” Rep. Colin Nash said.

“Government should protect consumers from unscrupulous bad actors. This bill protects unscrupulous bad actors from consumers,”  Rep. Steve Berch said.

“Our local communities should have the right to respond to the pressing issues impacting them. The application fee ordinance was the city of Boise’s appropriate response to the predatory behavior that is preventing our neighbors from putting a roof above their heads. Until we have a statewide solution, I will continue to support my community in protecting renters from this egregious behavior,” Rep. Brooke Green said.

“While many long-standing Idaho landlords treat renters fairly, we are seeing an increase in out-of-state investors turning the desperation of renters into quick cash with predatory fees. With a severe shortage of homes and prices skyrocketing, Idahoans are easy targets. This bill takes away the ability of local leaders to provide basic consumer protections so that Idaho families can get a fair shake,” Rep. Lauren Necochea said. 

Sen. Melissa Wintrow

Senate Bill 1240, sponsored by Sen. Melissa Wintrow (D-Boise), now heads to the full Senate, carrying with it strong bipartisan support. The legislation would allow homeowners and/or tenants to go to their county clerk’s office and update their housing covenant free of charge in compliance with the federal Fair Housing Act of 1968, which outlawed the use of racially restrictive language in these kinds of documents.

McKay Cunningham, the director of on-campus experiential learning at the College of Idaho, worked with Wintrow on the bill, and said this practice, along with redlining, was a common tool in the 20th century to create housing disparities based on race and prohibit people of color from buying homes. While it is illegal to embed racial covenants in property deeds nowadays, that language can still be found. 

Wintrow said she was contacted by one of her constituents, Ed Labenski, who found racially restrictive language in the deed to his own home built in the 1970s.

Labenski said he and his wife, Cynthia, purchased their house in 2018, and they only learned of the provision after their bid had been accepted. 

“Of course, I spent several subsequent hours researching this provision, and learned that it was void and unenforceable. But the initial impact of the language was clear and unavoidable, and it shaped our perception of the home,” Labenski told the committee in his testimony. “We have a chance to address this. … We can modify our records in a meaningful and standard way to better reflect the communities we live in today, the shared feeling and love we have for our neighbor, and the special status and prominence we give to the law in Idaho.”

Others who also spoke or submitted testimony in support of the bill included:

• Zoe Ann Olson, executive director at the Intermountain Fair Housing Council
• Linda Ipaye, a licensed real estate agent 

“This housing practice has been responsible for a lot of wealth disparities between people who are white and people of color,” Wintrow said. “The legislation won’t solve that problem, but it’s a way to acknowledge the issue and replace that very ugly language and policy in our state, ensuring all people know they are welcome here.”

As a result, people who’ve lived here for generations are being forced to move to other states. In some cases, Idahoans are losing their housing and becoming homeless for the very first time.

We can’t afford to ignore this growing crisis any longer, especially when mechanisms are already in place to help address the issue. One simple solution is to invest in Idaho’s Housing Trust Fund.

Established in the early ’90s, the fund was created as a way to support affordable housing developments. At the time, the state was experiencing a similar period of unprecedented growth, prompting legislators to take action. But no appropriations were ever allocated. Without a dedicated revenue stream, the fund cannot be utilized.

If the state put money into the fund – which could be a mix of state and federal revenue – it could be used to enable and empower local governments across Idaho to create tailored solutions to boost housing supply and lower cost for all citizens in their communities.

City and County officials are begging for an opportunity like this. I’ve talked with many local leaders about how they would use the fund to boost workforce and affordable housing options and the ideas are endless. Localities could use funding to create:

• Tax relief – provide tax relief to homeowners who use their property as their primary residence or leave their rentals in a long-term rental pool. Tax waivers could be used to mitigate supply issues created by short term rentals.
• Building incentives – reduce impact fees or property taxes for certain developers.
• Land banks – purchase land to contract with developers to build.
• Housing preservation – contract with developers to redevelop blight and unused or run-down buildings.

And the list goes on.

Housing is the number one issue for Idahoans. I can’t think of a better use for the state’s $900 million surplus other or federal COVID relief money other than investing in our serious housing problem. If our government fails to act, the crisis will only worsen.

You often hear lawmakers say they don’t want Idaho to turn into Oregon, Washington, or California. We are well on our way to becoming like our neighboring states – where tens of thousands of people are living in homelessness – if we continue to do nothing. The mechanism for the fund is already in place; only a funding source is needed.

Contact members of the Legislature and the Governor’s office today and ask that they allocate at least $40 million to Idaho’s Housing Trust Fund during the 2022 session. It’s time to chart a new course for our state before it’s too late. Spending millions of dollars now will prevent us from spending hundreds of millions later.