CEDP April Newsletter
This month, CEDP saw incredible wins at the state legislature, continued to serve our clients, and fought for economic and racial justice. Read on to find out more about everything that happened!
If you’re running short on time, here are a few of the highlights:
HB24-1098, For Cause Eviction, was signed into law! This bill will prevent unjust evictions and goes into effect immediately
Our bill to prohibit metro district foreclosures, HB24-1267, was signed into law and will go into effect in August.
HB24-1337, concerning HOAs, passed its Senate committee hearing and now heads to the Senate floor.
CEDP testified at a hearing for HB24-1438, which would impose stricter penalties on pharmaceutical companies that fail to comply with the EpiPen cap passed last year.
In April, we continued to serve our clients in person, opening offices in Denver and Colorado Springs to assist tenants with the pre-application for Colorado’s Temporary Rental Assistance Grant program.
FOR CAUSE EVICTION LEGISLATION SIGNED INTO LAW
Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed House Majority Leader Monica Duran (D-Wheat Ridge), Representative Javier Mabrey (D-Denver), and Senators Julie Gonzales (D-Denver) and Nick Hinrichsen’s (D-Pueblo) For Cause Eviction legislation, HB24-1098, into law. The law goes into effect immediately to protect thousands of Colorado tenants who face unjust evictions and help stabilize more households in their communities.
Specifically, the For Cause Eviction law will:
Protect against racial and gender discrimination.
Prevent households that rent from unnecessarily experiencing displacement and homelessness.
Reduce the number of evictions in Colorado and protect against displacement and gentrification.
Create long-term stability for tenants and landlords.
Save Colorado families money by keeping a roof over their heads and roots in their community.
METRO DISTRICT BILL SIGNED INTO LAW & HOA LEGISLATION PASSES SENATE COMMITTEE
House Bill 24-1267, legislation to protect homeowners from metropolitan districts' predatory practices, was signed into law by Colorado Governor Jared Polis last Friday. This new law requires covenant-enforcing metro districts to adopt written policies on fines and fees. It would also prevent metro districts from initiating foreclosures based on unpaid charges. The law will go into effect in early August. Reps. Iman Jodeh (D-Aurora) and Jennifer Bacon (D-Denver), as well as Sens. James Coleman (D-Denver) and Chris Hansen (D-Denver), sponsored the bill.
HB24-1337, the companion bill to HB24-1267, passed its Senate committee hearing and heads to the Senate floor. The legislation addresses an urgent issue: Colorado families fall victim to foreclosure based on unpaid HOA fees they sometimes don’t know about. When steep attorneys’ fees are tacked on to the HOA debt, many people can’t come up with the money in time to avoid losing their homes. Real estate investors snap up foreclosed homes for a fraction of their value, leaving the homeowner with little to nothing once the HOA and its attorneys are paid.
Specifically, HB24-1337 would:
Require an HOA to obtain a court judgment against a homeowner in a civil action before filing for foreclosure based on unpaid fees
Cap the amount of money the HOA can collect in a civil action at 50% of actual costs, collection costs, and reasonable attorney’s fees.
If the home is foreclosed on, give the homeowner the “first right of redemption,” meaning they have 180 days to “redeem” the property by paying the total amount owed to the HOA.
Give the following people and entities, in order of priority, a secondary right of redemption: (1) a tenant renting the property; (2) an affordable housing nonprofit; (3) a community land trust; (4) a cooperative housing corporation; (5) the state of Colorado.
EPIPEN BILL HEADED TO THE SENATE
CEDP’s co-CEO, Sam Gilman, testified at the House hearing for HB24-1438. This legislation would implement stricter enforcement guidelines for pharmaceutical companies that do not comply with the EpiPen cap passed last year. The EpiPen cap, which caps an EpiPen two-pack at $60, went into effect in January but has had a complicated rollout, as reported in several news outlets. The bill passed its hearing in the House and a vote on the House floor and now heads to the Senate.
COLORADO SPRINGS OFFICE MOVE
In case you missed it, our Colorado Springs office has moved! CEDP’s new office is located in the Family Success Center at 1520 Verde Dr. Colorado Springs, CO 80910, Room 151.
IN THE NEWS
CEDP’s Rebecca Cohn and Zach Neumann were quoted in a Colorado Sun story about the passage of the Warranty of Habitability bill out of the House.
9News visited our Denver office and spoke with Head of Rental Programs, Cesar Jimenez, about the Temporary Rental Assistance Grant (TRAG) pre-application window while it was open April 15th - 20th. The pre-application window will open again on May 15th.
A Colorado Sun article discussed CEDP-backed legislation to limit HOA foreclosures. The article features CEDP’s Elina Rodriguez and Zach Neumann.
CEDP’s Melissa Mejía spoke with Denver7 and 9News about what the passage of HB24-1098, For Cause Eviction, will mean for Colorado renters.
GET HELP
The Community Economic Defense Project provides rental assistance, legal assistance / representation, and resource navigation for clients facing eviction, housing insecurity, and other types of economic hardship. If you need assistance, please visit our website and fill out an intake form here.