(Re-post of a March 2008 column...)
There’s a knock on your door. You answer it. The person standing on your front step identifies himself as an employee of the City of Fort Collins. He’d like to inspect your house. You see, some of your neighbors have tipped off the government that you might have more than three unrelated people living together in your rented home.
Would you let him in? Would you let him look around?
Remember, this isn’t a police officer. He carries no warrant. He’s just a member of the city staff, responding to a complaint from your neighbor.
Again, would you let him in to inspect your living quarters? Your sleeping arrangements?
Suppose you say no. Then what? Should your city government then be able to issue you a citation?
What would you do?
Let’s take it a step further. Say you let the city staff member inside. What then? Does he get to inspect your bedroom? Ask why there is an extra toothbrush in the bathroom? Inquire about who is sleeping with whom? Demand to see marriage licenses? Birth certificates?
What’s going on here?
This is the three-unrelated law in Fort Collins in action.
Three years ago, in response to some very valid complaints about loud parties and illegal parking in neighborhoods close to the university, the City of Fort Collins passed a law limiting the number of unrelated tenants who can rent a house. If you have more than three people living in a house, you must all be related.
Right now, this law is being challenged in court. The above scenario is from the pending court case.
Think of how arbitrary this law is. Four bedroom house? It doesn’t matter – you have to let that extra bedroom go unused. What about live-in boyfriends or girlfriends? Sorry. Two couples sharing a living space? Same-sex partners?
What about if you’re simply four grad students who are trying to find affordable housing in Fort Collins as you work your way through CSU? You might have a member of the city staff knocking on your door for an inspection any day now.
Most pernicious is the fact that this punishes people – and excludes them from our community – even when they’ve done nothing wrong. It classifies people by their socioeconomic group and declares that they’re no longer welcome in certain neighborhoods in Fort Collins. It doesn’t matter if you’ve ever held a loud party; you could be the best neighbors on the block. All it takes is a complaint based on a suspicion that you may have four people living together “illegally”.
I live in Rolland Moore West – one of the neighborhoods that has most been affected by loud “party houses” in the past. I’ve seen a marked difference on my block since they passed the three-unrelated ordinance. It’s quieter.
The law seems to be working. That doesn’t change one fact: The law is wrong.
I’m all for making sure we have strict noise and public disturbance ordinances. Let’s levy some hefty fines against the people who are causing the problems. But the three-unrelated ordinance penalizes people because they just so happen to belong to the same demographic group as those who tend to cause the most complaints. That’s wrong.
Three-unrelated is a breach of equal protection. After all, the city treats “related” renters – and homeowners for that matter – by a different standard (no matter how noisy and obnoxious they may be.)
The way this ordinance is enforced is a breach of our Fourth Amendment rights. Where’s the warrant? A neighbor’s suspicions now constitute just cause? You can be cited for denying admittance?
So put yourself in the shoes of a young grad student who’s trying to find some affordable rental housing near the university. Frankly, you’re looking for a quiet neighborhood where you can get away from the college scene and focus on your work. You and three friends pool your money and move into a spacious four-bedroom house…
…then comes the knock on the door.
Fort Collins Now, March 2008
Would you let him in? Would you let him look around?
Remember, this isn’t a police officer. He carries no warrant. He’s just a member of the city staff, responding to a complaint from your neighbor.
Again, would you let him in to inspect your living quarters? Your sleeping arrangements?
Suppose you say no. Then what? Should your city government then be able to issue you a citation?
What would you do?
Let’s take it a step further. Say you let the city staff member inside. What then? Does he get to inspect your bedroom? Ask why there is an extra toothbrush in the bathroom? Inquire about who is sleeping with whom? Demand to see marriage licenses? Birth certificates?
What’s going on here?
This is the three-unrelated law in Fort Collins in action.
Three years ago, in response to some very valid complaints about loud parties and illegal parking in neighborhoods close to the university, the City of Fort Collins passed a law limiting the number of unrelated tenants who can rent a house. If you have more than three people living in a house, you must all be related.
Right now, this law is being challenged in court. The above scenario is from the pending court case.
Think of how arbitrary this law is. Four bedroom house? It doesn’t matter – you have to let that extra bedroom go unused. What about live-in boyfriends or girlfriends? Sorry. Two couples sharing a living space? Same-sex partners?
What about if you’re simply four grad students who are trying to find affordable housing in Fort Collins as you work your way through CSU? You might have a member of the city staff knocking on your door for an inspection any day now.
Most pernicious is the fact that this punishes people – and excludes them from our community – even when they’ve done nothing wrong. It classifies people by their socioeconomic group and declares that they’re no longer welcome in certain neighborhoods in Fort Collins. It doesn’t matter if you’ve ever held a loud party; you could be the best neighbors on the block. All it takes is a complaint based on a suspicion that you may have four people living together “illegally”.
I live in Rolland Moore West – one of the neighborhoods that has most been affected by loud “party houses” in the past. I’ve seen a marked difference on my block since they passed the three-unrelated ordinance. It’s quieter.
The law seems to be working. That doesn’t change one fact: The law is wrong.
I’m all for making sure we have strict noise and public disturbance ordinances. Let’s levy some hefty fines against the people who are causing the problems. But the three-unrelated ordinance penalizes people because they just so happen to belong to the same demographic group as those who tend to cause the most complaints. That’s wrong.
Three-unrelated is a breach of equal protection. After all, the city treats “related” renters – and homeowners for that matter – by a different standard (no matter how noisy and obnoxious they may be.)
The way this ordinance is enforced is a breach of our Fourth Amendment rights. Where’s the warrant? A neighbor’s suspicions now constitute just cause? You can be cited for denying admittance?
So put yourself in the shoes of a young grad student who’s trying to find some affordable rental housing near the university. Frankly, you’re looking for a quiet neighborhood where you can get away from the college scene and focus on your work. You and three friends pool your money and move into a spacious four-bedroom house…
…then comes the knock on the door.
Fort Collins Now, March 2008
