VOLUME 36 | ISSUE 14
WEEK OF APRIL 4, 2024
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Resources for people facing housing insecurity Volunteers
scramble to help migrant families in Denver
• Vestas to lay off 200 employees •27J Schools moves online-only Dec. 1
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BUSINESS LOCAL
BY JENNIFER BROWN THE COLORADO SUN
Denver County court’s latest data from 2023 shows that nearly 13,000 Colorado households faced eviction last year, a new SHUTTERSTOCK IMAGE record.
BY LONDON LYLE SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
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LOCAL OBITUARIES LEGALS CLASSIFIED
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
While the threat of eviction and rising rental costs loom large for numerous Coloradans, the combined efforts of legislators, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations offer hope for a more secure housing landscape in Colorado. The Denver County court’s latest data from 2023 shows that nearly 13,000 Colorado households faced eviction last year, a new record. According to a Colorado House Democrats release last month, evictions threaten the health and safety of Coloradans, with research showing that individuals who experience an eviction are more
likely to report poorer physical or mental health outcomes. The Colorado General Assembly is looking to address that specific issue by introducing an eviction bill, HB24-1098, which passed the Senate on Monday and bars landlords from evicting tenants unless they have sufficient cause. “Despite always paying our rent on time and following our lease agreement, my son and I were evicted after escaping my abuser, and our lives were turned upside down,” said bill sponsor and House Majority Leader Monica Duran, DWheat Ridge, after HB1098 passed in that chamber in February. If the “For Cause Eviction” bill becomes law, landlords will face several new parameters before
putting an eviction in motion without cause. Current Colorado law allows landlords to decide whether or not to offer a lease renewal each year, which is called a “no-fault eviction.” HB1098 would limit that ability to when the property is sold, substantial repairs or renovations are being made, or if the landlord plans to live at the property. If a landlord fails to provide a cause, tenants have legal grounds to fight the eviction. While the bill’s passing would likely grant a significant number of renters lease extensions, landlords are still free to raise the rent at their discretion.
BRIEFS: PAGE 2 | OBITUARIES: PAGE 4 | CLASSIFIEDS: PAGE 12 | LEGAL: PAGE 14
SEE RESOURCES, P6
Volunteers were rescuing Venezuelan families with young children from sleeping outside as Denver has scaled back migrant services and the time people were allotted to stay in cityfunded hotel rooms expired. The city, in response to complaints from volunteers that children were ending up outside, decided on a March afternoon to reopen a city building in Civic Center park to house migrant families with nowhere to sleep. Denver Human Services officials said they were rushing to reactivate the McNichols Building on Colfax Avenue, including sending staff and ordering meals. The re-opening of the congregate shelter in a civic building meant for arts and culture was not part of the plan as the city scales down migrant services that have already cost $61 million. But Mayor Mike Jonhston and his staff have said multiple times that they would prevent kids from ending up on Denver streets. “Nobody ever said this was going to be easy,” said Jon Ewing, spokesperson for Denver Human Services. “You are going to have families who haven’t figured it out yet. There are a lot of factors competing against them. It’s not a problem of their own making.” The city is in the process of decreasing the number of hotels it has used to house migrants to three from seven, closing about one each week for four weeks. The third one closed as a city shelter in March. And after a pause on hotel room time limits, the city is sticking to the policy of allowing adults to stay 14 days in city-funded hotel rooms while families have 42 days. SEE VOLUNTEERS, P9
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