1

Chris Davison
December 5, 2007
Persuasive Argument Essay
Final Draft


Economics of Limiting Returns: The Ineffective Use of Property


Have you ever been driving down a quiet residential street with clean, up kept
houses and mowed, nice looking yards only to have your eye wander to the house across
the street with seven cars parked outside, one of them half parked in the yard, with beer
cans littered among tall, thriving weeds? We have all witnessed a property like this and it
has become a major concern among many Fort Collins citizens. Early in 2005, Fort
Collins City Council began exploring ways in which to help alleviate the problem of
nuisance properties where irresponsible tenants and irresponsible owners were
contributing to the decline of neighborhood quality in many residential areas throughout
the City. Some concerned citizens had come to City Council to try and figure out a fair
solution to the growing problem of reckless tenants, namely college students, throwing
large parties and reducing property values in some neighborhoods. One of the issues that
citizens and City Council came to agree upon as a problem were the number of students
living in certain properties. A possible remedy to this problem was to enforce an old law.
This law, created in 1964, and commonly referred to as The Three Unrelated Law,
basically states that no more than three unrelated people may live in the same property
within the boundaries of Fort Collins. The problem with enforcing this law was that it
was a criminal offense and very costly and timely for the courts to prosecute. With the
ammunition provided by a few concerned neighborhoods in the form of petitions, City
Council voted to change this law from a criminal offense to a civil offense. The law
2

specifically states: Occupancy in a residential dwelling unit (single-family, duplex, and
multifamily) is restricted to: a.) one family as defined below (Section 5.1.2) and not
more than one additional person; b.) or two adults and their dependents, if any, and not
more than one additional person (City of Fort Collins). Now, if rowdy, unruly
neighbors are throwing parties late at night and disrespecting the integrity of the
neighborhood, concerned neighbors, as well as calling the police on the grounds of a
noise violation, now have another form of ammunition to get rid of those tenants. Those
neighbors can call the City to inspect the premises if they suspect the house is in violation
of the law. Now that the law is a civil offense, anyone can submit a report if they feel a
home is in violation.
I agree completely with City Council and many of the concerned citizens
regarding the negative impact of nuisance properties and irresponsible tenants on the
quality of neighborhoods in Fort Collins. My biggest question regarding this law though,
is should the three unrelated law be revised to consider responsible property owners who
rent properties that have more than three bedrooms? For example, previous to City
Councils revision of this law, many responsible owners rented to more than three
responsible tenants. You never hear about the four responsible graduate students who
rent a four bedroom house and keep up the lawn and the home and are quiet, courteous
neighbors. Now a neighbor, who does not like the fact that young students live in his
traditional, mainstream American neighborhood can call the City to report a violation.
This hardly seems like a fair proposition for young adults who are trying to minimize
their living costs by rooming with four people. This law affects more than just
3

irresponsible college students; it affects everyone living within the boundaries of the
City.
The new law was enacted based upon the petitions of only a couple of
neighborhoods in Fort Collins and then voted upon by City Council without a vote from
the citizens of Fort Collins. Although this law will reduce the number of tenants living in
many properties, it does not address the fact that three irresponsible tenants or college
students can throw just as big a party in a neighborhood as four, five or more tenants can.
Yet, these are the reasons behind enforcement of this new law. The petitions were based
upon citizens concern for their neighborhoods condition and property value, not to
mention the nights of little or no sleep due to raucous parties. Derf Green, a building
Inspector with the City of Fort Collins mentioned that citizens were worried about
neighborhood quality (Green). So why should a group of four responsible graduate
students who rent a four bedroom from a responsible owner be punished for the actions
of a few? Does it not seem like we should focus more on the actual individuals who are
in violation of the noise ordinances or the tenants who let their lawns become over-run by
weeds and litter? Although I am extremely irritated by loud, disrespectful neighbors, I
hardly understand how one extra tenant living in a four bedroom house is contributing to
the demise of neighborhoods.
As a result in the change of this law, many responsible property owners are
suffering because they have to follow the new laws and guidelines set forth by City
Council. This kind of enforcement seems severe and discriminatory in certain
circumstances. Simply because a few slumlords who do not care about maintaining
their property and are banking on some kind of magical market appreciation in the future,
4

does not mean all property owners should be classified within the contexts of
irresponsible and lackadaisical owners. Also, because a few irresponsible tenants
continuously throw loud parties, and let the yard become an eyesore, does not mean all
tenants are disrespectful of their neighbors and their community. These are unfair
generalizations that all unrelated individuals living together are going to disrupt the
integrity and quality of a neighborhood.
When City Council enacted the original Three Unrelated law in 1964, the
demographics of Fort Collins and how people inhabited it was extremely different than it
is today. This was a college town with many four, five and six bedroom houses located
in a low-density residential zone (Colorado Code Publishing Company). Today, many
unrelated college students live together to help keep their living costs down. The
difference between the rental cost of a three bedroom and four bedroom house in Fort
Collins is not significant; however, if you restrict a group of four from sharing a four
bedroom house, then that group will have to lose one tenant and rent a three bedroom
house, increasing their living costs, even before they are allowed to demonstrate to the
community that they are responsible tenants. Conversely, responsible property owners
who invested in four bedroom (or larger house) as business opportunities now can-not
break even on mortgage payments. Even the Fort Collins Building Inspector, Derf Green
acknowledged this by saying that this new law is hurting a lot of investors (Green).
Property owners who invested in homes larger than three bedrooms must rent to a family
or limit the number of college students to three or less. The number of families in Fort
Collins looking to rent is very small compared to the rental market of college students.
Many residential property investors would prefer to rent homes to families simply
5

because families tend to stay in one location longer, and are generally more predictable
than short-term college student rentals. The reality of it though, is that we live in a
college town with a higher demand of student renters than family renters, and this new
law affects an individuals ability to invest in real estate as a business venture in Fort
Collins. Limiting a person from conducting business in real property by telling them how
many people he or she can rent to could be construed as a discriminatory practice, not
adhering to the basic rights of property ownership given to us by the Constitution.
Many may argue that we need to make sure irresponsible property owners do not
overfill a house with ten people that is built for five. I agree completely with this
argument. It can become a health issue to over occupy a property beyond its design
capabilities, not to mention really creating an environment conducive to reducing
property values. I am saying that a four or five bedroom house, designed and constructed
with the idea of housing that many people within its framework, should be allowed to
safely and effectively house four or five individuals, related or not. I simply believe there
are more effective ways in which we can deter nuisance properties.
Lets look at some of the scenarios that lead to a property being abused, resulting
in a lowering of property values of the neighborhood, including late night parties that
keep neighbors awake and disturb the peace. There are two main concerns for the
neighborhood petitions to the Fort Collins City Council: neighborhood quality and noise
complaints. Owners that rent homes with yards to students must be responsible for the
upkeep of the yard, even more so than the tenants that occupy those properties. For
example, I have a clause in my lease agreements that states the tenants occupying the
specific property (students or family) are directly responsible for the up keep of the yard.
6

This includes mowing, trimming, watering and weed control. The clause also states that
if the tenants fail to maintain the yard in an acceptable manner the owner (myself) has the
right to charge the tenants for the hiring of a lawn maintenance company to do the work.
I supply a mower and rake to the tenants, leaving no room for excuses. I drive by my
properties, which I have a financial and personal interest in, at least once a week to
ensure the properties are being maintained in an acceptable and responsible manner. I
know a majority of property owners who have invested in real estate as a business
venture, who also take care of their properties in a similar fashion. The slumlords that
do not care for their property and do not keep up with what the tenants are doing to their
properties, are in the minority. These irresponsible owners are giving legitimate property
owners who genuinely care about their business investments a lot to worry about. If all
property owners had a policy of responsible maintenance of their property and
management of their tenants, then petitions would never have been needed to remedy the
problem. The fact is that this law is not going to remedy the current issues with nuisance
properties; it is only going to force young renters out of areas where they are not wanted.
This is dangerous ground, and sounds quite a bit like housing discrimination. We must
make owners accountable for the upkeep of their properties in Fort Collins. College
students will take care of a property if they know what is at stake, and know there will be
a monetary consequence if they do not.
Lets look into examining how we as a community in Fort Collins, The Choice
City, can implement standards by which owners are ultimately responsible for the
quality of their rental properties. Possibly, making a mandatory clause for owners of
rental properties to maintain, siding, gutters, trimming, yards and litter control. The
7

owner can then communicate this responsibility to the tenants. If the property is in
disarray, then we can send the owner a warning and a time frame in which to clean-up or
repair the property. If the warning is not heeded, then we can levy a fine against the
owner. This fine can then be used to create an educational brochure to distribute
throughout neighborhoods to inform the community about the standards required for
keeping Fort Collins clean and healthy. It will also give an out to owners to evict tenants
that do not comply with the simple procedures of property maintenance. The
implementation of the new Three Unrelated law was designed to help with this aspect of
neighborhood quality. I must restate the single reason given to me by Derf Green, the
Fort Collins Building Inspector, responsible for investigating violations of the new law;
as to what we, as a community, are trying to accomplish long term with this new law? It
ties into neighborhood quality (Green). Derf indicated that concerned citizens are
worried about their neighborhoods being run into the ground by irresponsible tenants,
namely college students. I could not agree more. The better kept my neighborhood is,
the cleaner it is, the higher my property value rises and the more I like my business
investments.
The problem here though is that the irresponsible landlords that own four
bedroom or larger houses are simply going to rent the property out to three irresponsible
college students as opposed to four or more irresponsible college students. That owner is
still not going to worry about the condition of his property, as long as he is getting some
rent out of it. Thus, the long term goal of this law may, in fact, not serve its purpose, all
the while responsible owners who are adhering to the new law are struggling to rent their
four, five or six bedroom properties because the rental market in Fort Collins is not
8

flooded with families; it is flooded with college students. This limits the effective use of
many low density residential properties surrounding Colorado State University, forcing a
significant portion of our population towards the new construction of two and three
bedroom condos and townhomes. Consider the significant distance many students must
go to find housing, combined with Transforts (Fort Collins public transportation
system) major service cuts in the last year, forcing students to drive a further distance to
get to school. This, in turn, leads to more air pollution because of an increase in gasoline
used to travel the longer, unnecessary distances. Also, the amount of traffic will increase
significantly, another issue many Fort Collins residents are concerned with.
The second major factor that influenced the City Councils decision to enact this
new law, is the concern for noise complaints and/or violations. There is nothing more
irritating than trying to get some quality sleep before a long day of productivity and then
being rudely awakened at 2:30 a.m. after some students have come home from the bars to
continue their loud and rowdy party across the street from your bedroom window. This
was another big issue for the neighborhood petitions- to try and reduce the number of
noise violations by disrespectful party goers. I have had to call police services to
dispatch officers in order to quiet drunk and disorderly partiers in my neighborhood on
two different occasions. I have made these calls during weekday nights when I had
important things to do the following day; it does not include the weekend nights in which
I endured the noise because I figured it was a weekend celebration. The fact is we do live
in a college town, and there are going to be parties, and certainly that will never be
entirely eliminated. Nevertheless, it is an inconvenience that I do not enjoy dealing with,
as well as many other concerned citizens in Fort Collins do not enjoy dealing with. Some
9

of the neglected properties in question were housing more than three unrelated
individuals. The idea was that removing some of the occupants by enforcing this law,
would cut down on the number of noise violations occurring in some neighborhoods. I
live in a townhouse neighborhood with many other non-student residents and there is no
way of enforcing a three unrelated law in my neighborhood, as the largest size
townhomes are three bedrooms. Even though I have been frustrated many nights with
loud parties and screaming drunk students, I do not have an outlet to possibly blame this
on four or more people living in a property, even though every night I am woken up, it
involves ten or more people creating raucous because the occupants of those properties
invited all their friends over. This is true for many other neighborhoods throughout Fort
Collins, many of which contain homes larger than three bedrooms. Those four and five
bedroom homes may not house four or five unrelated people, but the simple fact that they
can invite as many friends over to party is reason to understand that enforcement of the
Three Unrelated law across the board will not deter such activities. When interviewing
Don Earls, co-owner of Front Porch Property Services, Inc., we had discussed the noise
ordinance law which City Council passed in the late 1990s. An interesting fact that Don
pointed out was that violations of the noise ordinance follow the property where the
violation occurred, and not with the individual or individuals responsible for the violation
(Earls). Tenants that are soon to move out, for example, at the end of the school year and
already have one citation for a noise violation, can throw another out of control party and
not worry about the consequences. This is due to the fact that if the Fort Collins Police
issue them a citation, they can just skip out on the court date and avoid any repercussions
because that ticket is going to stay with the property and not the individual. This is an
10

example of another flaw in the system that punishes the property owner and not the
irresponsible tenants. According to the law, if a property has noise violations attached to
it, then this must be mentioned to possible buyers if the house is put up for sale. This can
turn potential buyers away from a property if they realize the property they may want to
purchase has a dark cloud hanging over it from the actions of previous tenants. This in
turn hurts the real estate market of neighboring homes by lowering property value even
more. It is obvious that in order to prevent these noise violations, there must be more
consequences for the people who are responsible for these violations. If we make it
expensive enough, and dont plea bargain down the offense, then tenants who are
habitually breaking this law will begin to think twice about the repercussions of their
actions.
While investigating as many aspects of this law as I could, I was curious about
where the money from violations of the law was being utilized. Was it going help
promote education about neighborhood quality? When I asked Derf Green if he knew
how the City was implementing money collected from these $500-$1000 fines, he told
me that he had no idea (Green). I know that City Council has the best interests for Fort
Collins and its citizens in mind. However, I believe that it would be beneficial for the
Building Inspector and concerned citizens to be informed on how the fines for this law
are being utilized and what positive programs it is supporting, if any. Fort Collins citizens
did not get to vote on this, we should at least be able to know that the City is making
positive choices as to where that money goes.
I am just as concerned as anyone to the problems of nuisance properties and the
effects they have on our neighborhood quality and property values. The irresponsible
11

tenants who occupy them and the irresponsible owners who rent them should be held
accountable for their negligent actions. We can help make neighborhoods better with a
little communication and understanding from everyone involved. Maybe we can make
use of the fines collected by the City from violations of the Three Unrelated law to
educate young tenants about a stronger, cleaner community. Maybe we can create
incentives for property owners who rent their properties to contain language about
neighborhood quality and general maintenance of that property through their rental or
lease agreements. Lets give responsible property owners who rent to responsible tenants
a chance to show their properties will not be used as makeshift fraternity or sorority
houses. Economically, it does not make sense to minimize a properties effective,
functional use. Especially if that directly relates to citizens having to drive further
distances to get to work or school. This law affects many small time real estate business
investors who are trying their best for a modest financial gain. Unfortunately, for the law
abiding property investors who own four bedroom (or larger homes) located in the low
density residential zones, this law severely hinders their ability to maximize the financial
use of those properties. It is apparent that there are many factors related to neighborhood
quality, and I do not see how enforcement of the Three Unrelated Law will help solve
this problem in the long run. A very small group of citizens with petitions were
successful in changing City Councils mind about this law. City Council made a decision
without a vote from all Fort Collins residents. Lets look at revising this law so that law
abiding owners and tenants can have a chance to prove themselves with in all Fort
Collins neighborhoods. We live in a college town with many properties built on the
premise of students occupying those properties. Lets follow our Citys reputation as the,
12

Choice City, and give all citizens a choice of where they can live (regardless of age or
demographics), and give responsible property owners a choice of where they can invest.



Works Cited

City of Fort Collins. 3-Unrelated Ordinance & Occupancy Limits & Occupancy Enforcement.
fcgov.com, City of Fort Collins, CO. 1996-2007. November 12, 2007.
<http://fcgov.com/neighborhoodservices/3-unrelated.php>

Colorado Code Publishing Company. Fort Collins Land Use Code. August 26, 2007. Article
4, Division 4.4. November 5, 2007.
<http://www.colocode.com/ftcollins/landuse/begin.htm>

Earls, Don. Personal interview. November 19, 2007. Property manager, co-owner. Front Porch
Property Services, Inc.

Green, Derf. Personal interview. November 16, 2007. City of Fort Collins Building Inspector.