Since the beginning of the year, Denver has required every rental property to get a license to operate.

So far, the city has issued 20,000 licenses to landlords, the Department of Excise and Licenses announced Thursday. These licensed landlords bring the official total of rentals in Denver to 159,000 units.

But there may be plenty still unaccounted for.

The city approved the “Healthy Residential Rentals for All,” a rule requiring landlords to get a license to operate by passing a third-party inspection and paying a processing fee, in 2021 to ensure apartments and rental homes met safety standards and to better track the number of landlords and rentals in the city.

The city doesn’t know how many rentals there are but originally estimated at the law’s passing that there could be approximately 50,000 rentals requiring licenses in Denver.

“The fact that we’ve already reached 20,000 in only a few months of requirement shows how much progress we’ve made,” said the department’s communications director Eric Escudero. “But it also makes us understand that we may still have a ways to go.”

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The new rule went into full effect on Jan. 1 requiring all Denver landlords to have a license. But rentals with two or more units have been required to have one since the start of 2023.

It was the largest expansion of the city’s licensing department making it “one of the most challenging licenses we’ve ever had,” Escudero said.

The 20,000 milestone marks not only how many landlords met safety standards across the city but also the large volume of approvals in a short-period of time, he added.

Especially around the deadline, the city saw a surge of applications.

The office got more than 6,800 applications between Dec. 1, 2023 and Jan 31, 2024, causing a backlog.

Denver processed about 4,000 applications this year and still has 2,600 more pending, of which nearly half were missing information and can’t be processed until the landlord amends the errors.

Those landlords who have pending applications aren’t a priority for the agency’s enforcement, Escudero said.

“If you’re making an effort, responding to the city’s emails,” Escudero said, “those aren’t the bad operators who we’re looking for.”

Not having a license can bring fines from the city starting at $150 and up to $999.

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So far, Denver issued more than $87,000 in fines against unlicensed landlords and sent out more than 2,000 notices of violation, the department said in a statement.

The agency is finding unlicensed landlords primarily using three methods.

Their top priority is following public health complaints to find landlords who are violating safety standards, Escudero said, by cross-checking the address of the complaints with the ones in the license database.

The agency also looks at online advertisements for rentals online.

“We’ve also received a surge in complaints from tenants,” Escudero said. “They’re learning that consumers have some power.”

The city has an online portal where residents can check if their landlord is licensed and can report any suspected violations to the city.

The cost of a license can range between $50 to $500 based on the number of units a landlord operates. The fees cover processing costs, Escudero said, and currently don’t generate revenue for the city — but could eventually profit a “small amount” if all landlords comply.

“But that depends on how many landlords there are in Denver and how many get the license,” he said.

“We have encouraged our members to register and get licensed, and our understanding is that the inspections were backed up for some time,” according to a statement from the Apartment Association of Metro Denver. “AAMD supports our members complying with city, state and federal laws and regulations, and obviously applaud the City’s efforts to ensure tenant safety in Denver.”