Denver has issued more than 7,800 residential rental property licenses, making it the top business license type in the city and county.

The number of residential rental property licenses now surpasses the No. 2 license type, which is for security guards at around 7,700. The rest of the top five includes licenses for short-term rentals at 2,800, for retail food establishments at almost 2,500, and for combined – “addresses that have multiple licenses at one location,” like a hotel – at 1,800.

“It demonstrates that we’re making a lot of progress in this overall city effort to raise the minimal housing standards across Denver with this new licensing requirement,” said Eric Escudero, spokesperson for the Denver Department of Excise and License.

Unlike a lot of other Colorado cities, Denver doesn’t mandate that all businesses obtain licenses – typically just those with health, safety and welfare concerns. For example, bookstores and dress shops aren’t covered by that regulation.

As of now, only multi-unit residential rental properties are required to obtain the license, as their mandate went into effect on Jan. 1 of this year. The city has issued almost 4,700 of those licenses to apartment complexes and other properties.

“It was hard, really, to guess where we would be at this point, but we’re really pleased where we’re at,” Escudero said in an interview on Wednesday. “We think it’ll lead to the largest upgrade in residential rental housing standards in Denver history.”

Meanwhile, thousands of single-unit property landlords opted to plan ahead. Although their deadline falls on Jan. 1, 2024, more than 3,000 of those licenses have already been distributed.

Escudero described the No. 2 license type for security guards as a “huge license category” that’s grown over the past few years. He said Denver counts as one of the only cities statewide that require these licenses, but “we believe it’s important that they have training that could prevent any type of use of force when it’s not necessary” and better support law enforcement.

A license is not only required for the individual security guard, but also for the company.

The residential rental property program was rolled out in March 2022, with government officials sending out notices of violation to noncompliant landlords in February. By the summer, the department had moved to fine landlords for not obtaining the licenses.

“This is just requiring minimal housing standards – absolute minimal housing standards,” Escudero said. “We’re not talking about granite countertops.”

And to landlords “who don’t believe in providing a safe place,” he warns, “We think this could push them out of the Mile High City.”

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