Recap of 6/11 State and Local Innovation Campaign’s Webinar on Laws Strengthening Code Enforcement Procedures and Habitability Standards
Jun 13, 2025
On Wednesday, June 11, NLIHC’s State and Local Innovation campaign hosted the final iteration of its “Strengthening Renters’ Rights: a Primer on State and Local Level Tenant Protections” webinar series with a call focused on laws that strengthen code enforcement procedures and expand habitability standards for tenants in the private rental market. The call featured an overview of these protections for renters and highlighted two state and local advocacy campaigns to enact expanded habitability protections for tenants in both Colorado and New Orleans, Louisiana.
A recording of the webinar can be found, here.
During the call, conducted in collaboration with the National Low Income Housing Coalition, the Community Economic Defense Project law center, the Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center, and HousingNOLA provided information on what types of laws are categorized as “strengthening code enforcement procedures and expanding habitability standards” for renters, where such protections have been passed, and how they are currently being enacted across the country.
Slides from the 6/11 webinar can be found, here.
On the call, NLIHC’s State and Local Research Analyst Nada Hussein provided an overview of NLIHC’s work to track and advocate for stronger habitability laws for tenants. Nada shared the history of the “Strengthening Renters’ Rights: a Primer on State and Local Level Tenant Protections” webinar series, including the Fall 2024 origin of the call, focusing on laws that limit excessive rental fees for tenants, commonly known as “junk fees.” Nada further mentioned how the series evolved and featured 2025 calls on “just cause” eviction protections and rent stabilization protections. Nada shared information on the toolkits that were released ahead of the webinar series. Each of the respective toolkits provide an overview of the aforementioned tenant protection policies, the core components of each of the protections, where these protections have been implemented, as well as recommendations from tenant advocates on how these protections can be expanded to cover the greatest number of renters. Another key component of Nada’s presentation focused on the tracking work that NLIHC conducts on state and local level tenant protections through its State and Local Tenant Protections Database. As of 2025, there are 11 states and 12 localities that have expanded protections for tenants with respect to strengthening proactive code enforcement procedures.
Spencer Bailey, Senior Staff Attorney and Appellate Program Supervisor at the Community Economic Project provided an overview of the efforts taken to advance “Senate Bill 24-094” in the State of Colorado in 2024. In Spencer’s presentation, he mentioned Colorado was one of the last states to enact an “implied warranty of habitability” statute, which guarantees a minimum set of habitability standards that landlords must adhere to in order to ensure that a rental unit is fit for habitation and free from health and safety risks. Under Colorado’s “Senate Bill 24-094,” a tenant is entitled to several remedies under the law to protect against dilapidated housing, including deductions to rent, terminating a lease, and applying an affirmative defense in court – among other remedies. Spencer shared that under the habitability law in Colorado, a landlord is required to communicate to a tenant an intent to start repairs – or begin to make all necessary repairs – within 24 hours. Spencer concluded by sharing how Colorado’s state law inspired action in Denver to enact stronger and expanded habitability protections for tenants at the local level.
Monique Blossom, Director of Policy and Communications at the Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center, and Andreanecia Morris, Executive Director at HousingNOLA, presented on behalf of the City of New Orleans. Both presenters shared efforts to enact the city’s “Healthy Homes” ordinance in 2022. The presenters shared how there was not only a clear need for updated housing protections for tenants, but how housing advocates in New Orleans have been advocating for some form of a healthy homes ordinance for more than 10 years. In practice, New Orleans “Healthy Homes” ordinance: (1) requires landlords to register their rental property with the city; (2) submit to proactive health and safety standards and proactive inspection of all rental units; (3) prohibits retaliation against tenants; and (4) creates an anti-displacement funds for tenants impacted by unmaintained housing.
For more information on code enforcement protections for tenants, NLIHC’s State and Local Innovation campaign released in 2024 a toolkit on these such protections, which can be found here.