Polis’ turn to protect people from eviction

We are pleased to have served as two of 10 members appointed to Gov. Polis’ Special Eviction Prevention Task Force and thank our facilitator and staff from the Department of Local Affairs and the Governor’s office for guiding our group to a robust set of recommendations. Now it’s Governor Polis’ turn to take immediate, meaningful action to ensure Coloradans can remain stably housed throughout this unprecedented public health crisis.

The task force identified a pressing need for Gov. Polis to provide legal protections for Coloradans negatively impacted by COVID. This means ensuring the eviction moratorium issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC) is applied consistently by landlords and courts statewide. Gov. Polis did issue a helpful executive order requiring landlords provide tenants at risk of eviction with the CDC moratorium and accompanying form for eligible people to avail themselves of that protection. Clarifying instruction for implementation is also much- needed from the state’s judicial branch, given reports that judges are interpreting the CDC’s order differently by county, often to the detriment of tenants.

A majority of task force members further recommended the governor issue a Colorado- specific eviction moratorium that would continue— and bolster— the CDC’s protections. This is critical to ensuring continuity given the CDC order is threatened by multiple legal challenges, including in Colorado. In addition to those covered by the CDC, we urge the governor include tenants on month- tomonth tenancies, whose leases are expiring, or who are threatened with eviction for minor lease violations. Extending these protections through the pandemic would deliver meaningful relief through the winter and particularly for our low- income, BIPOC, immigrant and other marginalized neighbors.

We and most of the task force recommend additional protections to help people stay housed, including: allowing tenants to pay unpaid debt at any point in the eviction process up to 48 hours after a judge orders an eviction; extending the timeframe between when an eviction is ordered and when it can be executed; prohibiting landlords from considering “no fault” evictions during this time in the rental application process; and suspending late fees. We also unanimously urge the state legislature to statutorily regulate late fees.

In line with another recommendation, Gov. Polis did extend a requirement that landlords notify tenants 30 days prior to initiating an eviction for overdue rent, but only through Oct. 22. Renewing executive orders every 30 days adds unnecessary uncertainty for already strained households existing on the margins. One in four Colorado renters reported having slight or no confidence they would be able to pay this month’s rent. It is time for more inclusive, more enduring action.

Finally, the task force unanimously and urgently called for new rental assistance and creative thinking to realize those funds. Particularly given ongoing uncertainty of additional federal relief, substantial resources to bolster existing emergency response programs are necessary to ensure legal protections do not simply delay evictions, create overwhelming debt for tenants, or undermine landlords’ capacity to maintain stable, healthy housing. This may be especially true for those living in some of our state’s most unaffordable areas that are also hardest hit by COVID, and for affordable housing operators and “mom and pop” owners of smaller properties.

Without comprehensive action lasting through the pandemic, many of our most vulnerable neighbors stand to be evicted early next year. Gov. Polis should heed his task force’s recommendations and take meaningful steps to let Coloradans realize the dignity and health benefits of staying safer at home.

Jennie Rodgers is vice president and Denver market leader for Enterprise Community Partners Inc. Beatriz Gonzalez is vice president of Community Lending & Diverse Markets at Bank of the West.