The Denver City Council has tightened regulations on the buying and selling of scrap metals, including a ban on cash payments.

The proposed change, sponsored by Councilmembers Flor Alvidrez and Darrell Watson, passed with an 11-2 vote on Monday night.

Councilmembers Shontel Lewis and Sarah Parady cast the two dissenting votes.

Sponsors said the new ordinance, which mirrors the city’s current rules for the sales of used catalytic converters, aims to make it more difficult for thieves to sell scrap metals such as copper, brass and aluminum.

It would also require junk dealers to meet additional requirements, such as maintaining detailed records of transactions and recording the driver’s license numbers and license plate numbers before accepting or purchasing scrap metal using traceable forms of payment, such as a credit card.

Junk dealers must also permit the city to review all transaction logs — subject to civil penalties for non-compliance.

Opponents of the measure argued that the ban on cash payments harms homeless people, individuals without bank accounts, and those who collect and sell scrap metal to pay rent and buy food.

“I’m solely a ‘no’ on this, on the basis that the bill prohibits individuals from receiving cash in the amount if the amount is less than $300,” Lewis said. “Checks for these amounts may be difficult to cash for people who are unbanked or underbanked, and would result in them needing to pay additional fees at places that do cash checks.”

Copper theft victim D.J. Howard, who owns a small business with his wife in Denver’s District 9, said they had to replace their HVAC system after thieves cut and removed the unit’s copper line.

But Howard, who also works at Denver Scrap Metal Recycling, a salvage yard located north of Interstate 70 on Washington Street, said he had hoped the city would come up with a solution to deter crime without affecting “vulnerable earners” who sell scrap for a living.

“There’s a lot for us to do, and we’re happy to do it and play our part because there are individuals that we see every day in the yard like Samuel J. and Martin S. and Roberto B., who legally are collecting scrap from alleys and trash bins, off the sidewalks, from Facebook ads for free pickup, you name it,” Howard said. “They are finding metal all over the city, and they bring those materials to us to sell. They rely on immediate cash to pay rent and buy groceries. For them, being able to deal in cash isn’t just a convenience, it’s how they survive.”

Alvidrez said the city is not banning the sale of common recyclables, such as aluminum cans, but rather targeting the “underground economy” that incentivizes the theft of high-value materials, adding that cash-based transactions make it nearly impossible to track stolen materials.

“This isn’t a punishment for being poor, it’s a protection for poor and working people who are disproportionately affected when the power goes out in a shelter or when a community park is vandalized, or when their small business loses power and they lose days of work due to copper theft.

In the metro area, Denver police logged more than 2,100 scrap metal thefts — not including catalytic converters — between 2018 and 2025.

Top locations targeted by thieves included construction sites, homes, government buildings, schools and parking lots.

Copper thieves disrupted the city’s light rail services in October 2024 and caused more than $100,000 in damage, according to the Regional Transportation District. RTD has reported that its police officers have responded to 21 instances of copper wire theft across its rail lines.

“Cash-based (transactions) and anonymity fuel crime,” Alvidrez said. “This ordinance fuels accountability.”