Landlord demands payment
Tenants didn’t pay, asked for concessions
Colorado’s Rent Strike and Eviction Defense movement is about to enter a new phase as tenants who didn’t pay their April rent face off with landlords who are demanding payment.
Chris Leach, a resident of the Acacia Apartments in Denver, didn’t pay his rent for April, and his landlord, Olive Bark LLC, responded by sending him a notice to pay in 10 days or face eviction.
“They have told us they will start legal eviction procedures on April 13,” said Leach, who, because of travel restrictions related to the pandemic, has seen his income from contract work done abroad evaporate.
Tenants at the Acacia, a 55-unit building at 429 E. 14th Ave. in Denver, had organized because of past disputes with the building’s owner.
Several of them have joined the rent strike movement, which posted signs on apartment doors last month asking tenants to withhold their rents for April.
“We are calling for a rent, mortgage and utility freeze,” said Desiree Kane, an Estes Park freelancer who lost her sources of income when the economy shut down. Kane said the movement is loosely organized and that individual tenant groups are plotting their own course of action.
While there isn’t a single playbook, the group does want Gov. Jared Polis to use his emergency powers to freeze the entire chain of payments until the pandemic passes and the economy improves, Kane said. Polis, for his part, has said he doesn’t have the authority to do that.
The U.S. economy has faced a shock unlike any before because of sudden business closures that have triggered an unprecedented wave of layoffs.
Some tenants can’t pay, and some don’t want to pay as they try to conserve cash. Some landlords have taken an accommodative approach, while others have insisted that rent must be paid or payment plans arranged.
What comes next is uncertain. Near the end of March, Acacia Tenants of 429 E 14th Ave. sent a request to Olive Bark asking for 30% off rent for all tenants and the elimination of late fees in April and May. They also requested that evictions be paused until the state of emergency is lifted.
Tenants still working were willing to take the discount on the rent they would save to cover the rent of those tenants who had lost income, Leach said. It was a form of shared sacrifice they asked the landlord to participate in.
Olive Bark responded with an offer to lower April’s rent by half to those who could prove they had applied to collect unemployment benefits. The amount deferred
would be due over the following six months. Late fees would be waived for April.
“If you just ignore the situation and are under the belief that ‘nothing will happen’ to you, you are wrong,” a letter for Olive Bark sent along with the 10day notice to pay states. But Olive Bark also said it would work with struggling tenants.
The tenant group on Tuesday responded that they wanted that half-rent offer made available to all tenants who missed rent and that the proof of unemployment be dropped. The state’s system is so backed up many can’t get in to apply and the self-employed are not able to access benefits yet, Leach said. They requested a stay on all evictions in April and May, which would allow more time for relief funds to reach consumers.
The half-rent payment is due Thursday. But Leach said his ability to make an online payment was cut off on Wednesday. Per the demand notices, payments must be made by certified funds, which will require tenants to go out and obtain a cashier’s check or money order.
Given that the Center for Disease Control recommends avoiding all unnecessary trips to the bank or grocery store, tenants viewed that requirement as punitive and an escalation, Leach said. The tenant group will meet on Zoom on Thursday to discuss their response, including a further escalation.
Payment in person by certified funds on delinquent accounts is a legal requirement that goes back years, an industry source said.
The National Multifamily Housing Council estimates that a third of tenants in the U.S. didn’t make a full rent payment for April. A separate survey from Apartment List released Wednesday found that one in four renters who responded either didn’t make their rent payment or only made a partial payment.
The Colorado Apartment Association, in a survey of owners responsible for 80,000 units across the state, found that 16.4% had missed making the required April rent payment.
“We applaud all Colorado renters who paid April rent. These payments allow housing providers to cover mortgage costs, pay employees, compensate vendors, and maintain rental properties,” Mark Williams, executive vice president of the Colorado Apartment Association, said in a release.
To the degree that those who can afford to pay do pay, that gives landlords more flexibility to work with those who can’t pay because of illness or loss of income, he added.
Michelle Lyng, a spokeswoman for the association, also notes that many tenant assistance programs require a demand of payment notice. By cutting the rent 30% as was proposed at Acacia, those tenants would lose the chance to apply for limited aid programs, she said.
There is also a question on whether landlords can follow through with their threats of eviction, at least right now.
“The Denver Sheriff Department received a directive on March 14 from the interim executive director of the Denver Department of Safety, Murphy Robinson, to suspend eviction writs and writs of restitution until further notice,” said Eric Escudero, a spokesman with the Denver Joint Information Center.
Put another way, evicting tenants in the middle of a pandemic is not a law enforcement priority.
Kane said in some localities’ private security providers can accompany an eviction. And just because evictions and foreclosures can’t proceed now in some locations, that doesn’t mean they won’t at some point in the future. Tenants need real relief, not just payment plans, she argues.