Caps on rents? Some don't see it as a solution

High rent prices has been the talk of the City in Denver lately.

Over the last four years, rent prices in Denver have increased by 33 percent, according to an official with the Denver Office of Economic Development. High rent prices are plaguing most of Denver as more people move in.

City Councilman Paul Lopez told Denver7 many people who live in his district are slowly being affected by the ever-increasing rent prices.

“A lot of the neighborhoods that I represent are at risk for gentrifications and displacement,” said Lopez.

While Colorado law prohibits cities like Denver from putting caps on rents, he is hoping his conversation with state representatives before the November elections could change that. 

“In order to keep Denver affordable for everybody we have to be able to have policies like a cap on rent,” Lopez said.

But not everyone sees the cap as a solution. Property manager and member of the Colorado Apartment Association, Rocky Sundling, said we've been in this situation before.

“From roughly 2002 to 2012, we saw rents stay steady and decline both because of recession but more importantly because we had a higher amount of housing stock available,” said Sundling. 

Sundling said once the housing supply catches up with the demand, prices will slowly drop. He added that a cap on rents would eventually cap reinvestments in Denver.