A state senator from Denver has introduced a bill intended to keep landlords from asking about prospective tenants' right to be in the United States or disclosing such information to immigration authorities.

Sen. Julie Gonzales proposed the Immigrant Tenant Protection Act, introduced Jan. 15, after a lawyer in her district described to her the experience of two clients who had applied to rent an apartment near Union Station managed by Greystar, a global real estate company.

The couple included a Mexican man who was a legal U.S. resident with a green card and a Social Security number when he and his American-born husband filled out an application for the apartment in late 2018. The Mexican man, who later became a naturalized American, conveyed his citizenship status to a Greystar manager who in turn asked him to fill out an extra form: the "Supplemental Rental Application for Non-U.S. Citizens."

…

Laura Wolf, the lawyer who brought the case to Gonzales's attention, said landlords have other means, including credit and background checks, to determine whether a potential tenant will fulfill the terms of the lease. U.S. citizens also break leases, she said, questioning why immigrants should have to overcome an extra hurdle.

Gonzales's proposal addresses what Wolf's clients faced as well as other concerns, including reports that landlords have threatened to report tenants to immigration authorities in order to silence residents with complaints about problems with their apartments.

Read more on The Denverite.