3-2-1 Capitol Connection – April 3, 2025

“2025-26 State Budget Edition”

First, the Colorado Association of REALTORS® (CAR) helped recently defeat a bill where a single transaction could have resulted in a Colorado Consumer Protection Act (CCPA) claim against a REALTOR® with severe penalties. Senate Bill 157 “Deceptive Trade Practice Significant Impact Standard” would have reduced the public impact test threshold to “having the capacity to injure” the public, which effectively brings down the evidence requirement to one single person’s claim. CAR opposed this bill from its inception because it exposes Realtors® to deceptive trade practice penalties of $20,000 per violation including treble damages and attorney costs that are not covered by E&O insurance. The bill died on the Senate floor with 7 Democrats joining all 12 Republicans to defeat the bill 19-16.

2025-26 State Budget. The State of Colorado is facing a ~$1.2B budget deficit – a deficit that will be one of the largest determining factors in the fate of the 647 bills and resolutions that have been introduced so far. The legislature’s Joint Budget Committee (JBC) budget package this year will include 64 legislative bills, with the most central being Senate Bill 206, or the “Long Bill.” Debate on this bill began this week in the Senate and move to the House next week, where members will discuss the impact of these bills and their ability to help strike a balance in this difficult financial reality.

What does this mean for all Coloradans? Bills that seek to create new programs and initiatives – whether they are housed either within or outside of our state departments – will have a difficult or unlikely road to passage. With no new money to invest, the legislature will instead focus on how to repurpose existing dollars while also restructuring or eliminating existing programs and initiatives.

This will drive changes in every sector including K-12/higher education, healthcare and transportation. Though we expect little to no policies that will directly impact the real estate industry, many will have at least an indirect impact – such as the bills that have already been introduced around property taxes, and another soon to be introduced policy that will convert the Property Tax/Rent/Heat (PTC) rebate into a tax credit.

Alongside budget discussions, the legislature will soon take up a bill, “Require General Assembly TABOR Constitutionality Lawsuit” (House Joint Resolution 1023) that seeks to retain legal counsel to file a lawsuit – on behalf of the General Assembly – over the constitutionality of the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR). If successful, this could outright kill TABOR altogether. The majority members sponsoring the bill hope that this will open discussions for a long term fix to the types of constraints imposed on this year’s budget. Tune into both debates here!

NAR

NAR Introduces New MLS Policy to Expand Choice for Consumers

The policy – developed following many months of consultation with MLS and association leadership, brokerages, agents, multicultural organizations, and industry experts – introduces a new category of exempt listings called “delayed marketing exempt listings.” The exemption will allow a seller the option to instruct the listing agent to delay marketing a listing through Internet Data Exchange (IDX) and syndication for a period of time. Each MLS will have discretion to determine a delayed marketing period that is most suitable for their local marketplace.

Existing-Home Sales Accelerated 4.2% in February

“Home buyers are slowly entering the market,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “Mortgage rates have not changed much, but more inventory and choices are releasing pent-up housing demand.”