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42 Denv. L. Ctr. J. 1 (1965)
Fair Housing in Colorado

handle is hein.journals/denlr42 and id is 7 raw text is: Fair Housing in Colorado By MORTON GITELMAN* The Colorado Fair Housing Act of 1959' was innovative in that it was one of the first state statutes to generally forbid racial or religious discrimination in private housing. The controversial nature of the act was punctuated by legislative compromises and amendments prior to passage and by a narrow margin of victory in the legislature. By contrast, the 1965 amendments to the act were almost free of crippling compromise and enjoyed a surprisingly large margin of victory in the legislature. The purpose of this paper is to examine the basic premises of the 1959 act, the administrative and judicial developments under that act, the background of the 1965 amendments, and a critique of the problems solved and the problems created by those amendments. I. THE 1959 ACT The heart of any statute dealing with fair housing is that race, color, religion, or ancestry should not be a factor in the transfer of housing accommodations. As stated in the Colorado act: (a) It shall be an unfair housing practice and unlawful and hereby prohibited: (b) For any person having the right of ownership, or posses- sion, or the right of transfer, rental, or lease of any housing: To refuse to transfer, rent, or lease, or otherwise to deny to or with- hold from any person or persons such housing because of race, creed, color, sex, national origin, or ancestry; to discriminate against any person because of race, creed, color, sex, national origin, or ancestry in the terms, conditions, or privileges pertaining to any housing, or the transfer, rental, or lease thereof, or in the furnish- ing of facilities or services in connection therewith; or cause to be made any written or oral inquiry or record concerning the race, creed, color, sex, national origin, or ancestry of a person seeking to purchase, rent, or lease any housing.2 The idea that the state can regulate the racial or religious factor in the decision of one having control of housing was unquestioned so long as a connection between the state and the housing was established. Thus statutes dealing with discrimination in publicly- assisted housing do not create much controversy because of the aphorism that the hand that pays the piper calls the tune. When, however, the state regulates purely private residential property, *Associate Professor of Law, University of Arkansas. Formerly Associate Professor of Law, University of Denver; member, Governor's Fair Housing Study Committee (Colo.). 'COLO. REv. STAT. §§ 69-7-1 to 7 (1963). 2COLo. REv. STAT. § 69-7-5 (1)(a), (b) (1963). 1

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