Issues persist amid pandemic
The prospect of having to find a new place to live can be a challenge any time. During a pandemic, it can be over whelming, especially if you’re in the highest risk categories.
That’s the situation Patricia Leslie finds herself in. The 78-year-old has mostly stayed put in her apar tment since the coronavirus outbreak hit Colorado in March. She gets her groceries delivered or friends take her to the store for pick-up orders.
Leslie said she has been exceedingly careful because of her age and a disability. She has a letter from her doctor, which she shared with The Denver Post, that says she is “at high risk of complications and death if she should contract COVID-19.”
But the sale of the Denver apartment building where she has lived for 13 years has her “on pins and needles” about having to go out in public more and run the risk of contracting the coronavir us. She wants to talk to the prospective owners about staying in the building at least through January, when she hopes a vaccine will be available.
She has asked the current owner to pass along her request, but hasn’t heard anything yet.
Gov. Jared Polis has issued a new executive order that reinstates a moratorium on evictions for people struggling to pay their rent because of job losses or other financial problems caused by the pandemic.
But it’s unclear if those protections would apply to Leslie. She hasn’t had problems paying her rent, although she said the building owner told her that rents “will go way up” if the sale goes through. She’s afraid that having to move will turn into a life-and-death situation for her with COVID-19 cases on the rise.
“I can read the data about the people who’ve died,” Leslie said. “I think if we are truly concerned in this community and state about elderly protections, I would like to see my landlord go the extra mile and help me work something out with the prospective new owners, or at least make them aware.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the risk of severe illness from COVID-19 increases with age and for people with underlying medical conditions. Data from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment show that of the state’s 2,223 deaths among COVID-19 cases, 23.26% were in the 70-79 age group and 52.72% were in people 80 and older.
Angela Cortez, spokeswoman for AARP Colorado, said before the pandemic, during workshops and seminars, she heard stories from older renters who had their homes or apartment buildings “sold from right under them.”
She remembers one person whose rent jumped an addition $1,000 a month.
“For something like this to happen at a time like this is just the worst possible scenario,” Cor tez said. “The best thing we can do is ensure that there are policies in place that address issues like this and ensure that they are widely communicated in many languages, especially to low-income older adults who really need this information.”
The state of Colorado is a member of AARP’S network of age-friendly states and communities. Cortez said community of ficials make a commitment to work with AARP on such issues as housing and transportation to accommodate people of all ages.
Patrick Noonan with Brothers Redevelopment, which develops affordable housing and offers nonemergency housing-related services, said health considerations might affect when an owner can show a tenant’s unit. But Noonan, the manager of the nonprof- it’s Colorado Housing Connects program, said he’s not aware of rental protections “purely for public health purposes.”
A spokeswoman with the Denver Depar tment of Public Health said she wasn’t aware of such provisions, either.