CEDP February Newsletter
February was a busy month at CEDP as we assisted tenants with applying for the state’s new rental assistance funding and advocated for our clients at the Colorado State Capitol!
Find out more below, and if you’re short on time, check out these highlights:
The Colorado Supreme Court decided in favor of one of our clients in Miller v. Amos — holding that a violation of the Colorado Fair Housing Act can be used as an affirmative defense to prevent eviction – a significant victory for tenants across the state.
CEDP coordinated in-person events statewide to help tenants facing eviction apply for the state’s new $30M Temporary Rental Assistance Grant (TRAG) program.
HB24-1098, For Cause Eviction, which would require that landlords have cause for the eviction of a tenant, passed out of the House and now moves into the Senate!
The Warranty of Habitability bill, SB24-094, passed its hearing in the Senate Local Government & Housing Committee. This bill would ensure tenants can easily use the state’s current Warranty of Habitability Law to protect them from hazardous living conditions.
We’re hiring! If you or someone you know is interested in joining our team, check out the “Careers” page on our website to apply for any of our open positions.
COLORADO SUPREME COURT WIN
On February 20th, the Colorado Supreme Court delivered a significant victory for tenants in Miller v. Amos! The opinion states, "we conclude that yes, a tenant may assert a landlord's alleged violation of the Colorado Fair Housing Act as an affirmative defense to an FED eviction.” This decision upholds a tenant's right to due process & prevents retaliatory or discriminatory evictions. CED Law attorney Spencer Bailey represented tenant Claire Miller in the case alongside Colorado Poverty Law Project. Read Spencer’s statement on the victory below:
“We are thrilled with the Court's decision and grateful that Ms. Miller will have a chance to clear her rental history of this wrongful eviction. We are also excited to see the Court giving much-needed guidance to the trial courts who hear eviction cases. Until today, some of Colorado's trial judges continued to not recognize the fundamental principle that a landlord cannot evict a tenant for unlawful discriminatory or retaliatory reasons. This decision definitively refutes that outdated view. Additionally, tenant attorneys too often see county courts "sacrificing tenants' rights at the altar of expediency," to use Justice Berkenkotter's phrasing. We hope this decision will assist in overcoming the far too common view that the expedited nature of an eviction case means tenants are entitled to less due process than other litigants. This is a step in the right direction for greater fairness and justice in eviction proceedings. It is a wonderful victory for Ms. Miller and other tenants across Colorado.”
HELPING COLORADANS PRE-APPLY FOR RENTAL ASSISTANCE
On February 15th, the state’s new Temporary Rental Assistance Grant (TRAG) program opened for the first round of pre-applications. With the increasing need for assistance across the state, CEDP staff jumped into action to help Coloradans pre-apply for these funds. It was truly an incredible team effort as volunteers from all areas of the organization staffed locations throughout the Denver Metro Area and Colorado Springs so we could help as many households as possible. We also coordinated with non-profit partners to serve clients in person from Alamosa to Ft. Collins.
We’re incredibly proud of our team, who helped assist Coloradans with pre-applications, documentation verification, publicizing events, and so much more on Thursday, February 15th, through Tuesday, February 20th. Staff at our CARE Center also fielded thousands of calls and responded to text messages in record time during this pre-application period. The next TRAG pre-application window will open on March 15th.
FOR CAUSE EVICTION BILL PASSES COMMITTEE AND HOUSE FLOOR VOTE
This month, HB24-1098, our legislation requiring that landlords have cause for the eviction of a tenant, passed two significant votes to make it out of the House! First, the bill passed out of the Transportation, Housing, and Local Government Committee with a 7-4 vote. Next, the bill passed out of the House after a floor vote of 38-19 with 8 members excused. Sens. Julie Gonzales, D-Denver, and Nick Hinrichsen, D-Pueblo, are sponsoring the bill in the Senate. This legislation would protect thousands of Colorado tenants who face eviction and help stabilize more households in the communities where they work, where their children go to school, and where they’ve built a life.
While this is a step in the right direction, the fight for For Cause now moves into the Senate. We’ll keep you updated as For Cause and our other priority bills make their way through the state legislature!
WARRANTY OF HABITABILITY PASSES COMMITTEE
The Warranty of Habitability Bill, SB24-094 Safe Housing for Residential Tenants, passed its hearing in the Senate Local Government & Housing Committee on February 27th! The legislation passed by a 4 to 3 party-line vote would ensure tenants can easily use the state’s current Warranty of Habitability Law to protect them from hazardous living conditions. SB24-094 is sponsored by Senators Julie Gonzales (D-34) and Tony Exum Sr. (D-11) and Representatives Meg Froelich (D-03) and Mandy Lindsay (D-42).
Colorado’s current Warranty of Habitability law requires landlords to maintain a minimum standard of healthy housing, but the law’s protections are difficult for clients to access. Current law makes it difficult for tenants to request repairs from landlords, such as repairs to fix mold issues or sewage leaks. It also fails to protect tenants from extreme heat or failure of other necessities, like a working elevator. This can be devastating for children, older adults, and Coloradans with a disability.
The proposed bill would:
Set reasonable notice requirements so tenants don’t need to pay an attorney to ask landlords to address issues.
Set presumptive timeframes for completing repairs and remediation, which can also remain flexible for landlords to adapt to unforeseen issues.
Clarify the process for when landlords must provide alternative lodging arrangements while they work to complete repair.
Establish policies to allow tenants to use their own appropriate cooling in extreme heat.
Outline appropriate legal remedies if a rental becomes uninhabitable.
WE’RE HIRING!
If you or someone you know is interested in joining our team, check out the “Careers” page to apply for any of the following opening positions:
CED Law Intern
Legal Director of Benefits Assistance
Senior Attorney — Benefits
Temporary Bilingual Tenant Advocate/Case Management
Temporary Tenant Advocate/Case Management
Data Analyst
Grant Manager
Manager of Development & Analytics
People/HR Generalist, Temporary
Benefit Enrollment Specialist
Temporary CARE Center Agent
Temporary Intake Coordinator (Bilingual)
CARE Center Supervisor — Bilingual
Bilingual Intake and Graduation Navigator
Housing Coordinator
Licensed Therapist, Wellness Recovery Navigator
Temporary Bilingual Housing Navigator
IN THE NEWS
A story in Denver7 covers some of the Warranty of Habitability issues that renters across Colorado face and how SB24-094 can help address them. The story features our head of CED Law, Rebecca Cohn!
KOAA also published a story featuring CED Law’s Rebecca Cohn discussing our Warranty of Habitability legislation, SB24-094.
The Colorado Sun published a story about the hurdles rental assistance administrators have faced as they’ve tried to get money to renters at risk of eviction. The story features a quote from CEDP’s Zach Neumann.
Rocky Mountain PBS published a story on our press conference for HB24-1098. The article features CEDP’s Melissa Mejía, Rep. Javier Mabrey and a story from a tenant affected by an unjust eviction.
Colorado continues to see startlingly high eviction numbers. In January, there were 5,681 eviction filings throughout Colorado. We’re spreading the word about the eviction crisis and were featured in two stories on the topic:
Denver7 covered the second-highest month of evictions in Denver and interviewed CEDP’s Elina Rodriguez about the numbers.
Denverite also covered the increasing number of eviction filings in Denver and interviewed CEDP’s Zach Neumann about the unfortunate upward trend.
CED Law’s Rebecca Cohn was featured in an article in Westword about the new Warranty of Habitability law making its way through the state legislature.
Several new outlets covered the TRAG pre-application process and deadlines, including:
9News, featuring CEDP’s Elina Rodriguez
9News, featuring CEDP’s Zach Neumann
Denver7, featuring a story filmed at our Denver office, includes CEDP’s Sam Gilman and Catarina Ramos, and Rodney Edmundson, a tenant who pre-applied for assistance at our office.
Two news outlets covered our Colorado Supreme Court win. Check out Colorado Politics and Law 360 for their coverage of the case!
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.