Editor’s note: This guide was published on April 26, 2021. It will be updated as necessary to reflect changing eviction rules and protections. Last updated: Aug. 2, 2021.
In Colorado, 40.5% of adults — a huge jump from 25.5% in early June — are living in households that are not current on their rent or mortgage payments and where eviction or foreclosure in the next two months is either very likely or somewhat likely, according to the Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey. The survey estimates that 78,971 Colorado adults fall into this category, as of July 26.
Eviction filings have been steadily increasing since Colorado’s statewide eviction moratorium expired on New Year’s Day. As of July 22, 12,683 evictions have been filed around the state, according to data from the Colorado Judicial Branch and Denver County Court. Denver alone accounts for nearly 25% of the filings with 2,499 cases.
While eviction filings have steadily increased since Colorado’s moratorium expired, the Colorado Department of Local Affairs is working to get out as much rental assistance as possible. But the process has been slow.
Here’s what protections are still in place for renters in Colorado who are behind on rent or facing eviction:
If you applied for emergency rental assistance before Aug. 1, you have 30 days, not 10, before your landlord can file an eviction.
A last-minute executive order by Gov. Jared Polis gives tenants who have pending emergency rental assistance applications a 30-day period to get caught up on rent before their landlord can file an eviction against them. The order begins on Aug. 1.
On July 31, a different executive order expired that previously gave all renters 30 days instead of 10 days to get caught up on rent before a landlord can file an eviction. Once an eviction has been filed with the courts, landlords are not required to accept owed rent under current law.
As of May 1, landlords can resume charging rental late fees.
Landlords in Colorado were banned from collecting late fees from residential and commercial tenants struggling to make their rental payments due to the pandemic between April 20 and June 12, 2020. The ban went back into place from Oct. 15, 2020 through the end of April 2021.
If a tenant is being charged late fees for missed rent during these time periods, send the governor’s executive order to your landlord over email.
As of Aug. 1, renters are no longer protected by the federal eviction moratorium.
To qualify for the federal protections, a single-person household had to earn less than $99,000 and a couple must have earned less than $198,000.
A person was required to declare that they can’t pay rent because of COVID-19 hardships; demonstrate they’d sought government assistance to help pay rent; and attest that they would likely become homeless if evicted. The federal ban did not protect renters on expiring or month-to-month leases.
The federal moratorium expired at the end of July with no indication that it will be reinstated. On Jan. 1, Colorado’s statewide eviction moratorium — which added protections for people with expired or month-to-month leases — expired, and it has not been renewed.
Have you received an eviction notice? Here are some organizations that can help you navigate.
Once an eviction is issued by a judge, renter’s now have 10 days to vacate the property. Previously it was 48 hours.
A new state law that went into effect on June 25 gives tenants 10 days to vacate their home after an eviction is ordered by a judge. Previously, renters were given 48 hours before a sheriff was allowed to come and remove the tenants from the property.
The new law also prohibits a landlord from increasing the rent on a leased property more than one time a year, and it would extend the notice for rent increases for people on month-to-month leases from 21 days to 60.
How to apply for rental assistance, and how long to expect to wait.
The state is currently running two rental assistance programs for tenants. A household can apply for arrears back to April 2020, plus their current month’s rent and two future months, for a maximum of 12 months total, according to Brett McPherson, a spokesperson for the Department of Local Affairs.
Colorado’s Division of Housing is still trying to dig its way out of a massive backlog of rental assistance requests, which flooded its system throughout December, January and February. The state estimates that their turnaround time is within two-weeks to review new applications, and payment takes anywhere from one week to three weeks after that (but could be longer.)
Currently, 11 local jurisdictions are also distributing rental assistance funds, including Adams, Arapahoe, Aurora, Boulder, Colorado Springs, Denver, Douglas, El Paso, Jefferson, Larimer and Weld.
Nearly a quarter of the applications submitted to the state have been incomplete. Here are some tips.
The most common missing information is income verification from the tenant and a W-9 from landlords. Things that count as income verification include documentation of unemployment benefits, or documentation of other public assistance programs, according to Alison George, director of the division of housing.
The division is sending out weekly reminder emails for missing documentation. If your application has missing documents, you can take a picture of the documentation and text it to the number below.
Can you reapply if your application is denied?
Yes. The number one reason an application might be denied is if a person has applied in multiple rental assistance systems or if an applicant does not respond to requests.
Here’s how to check the status of your rental assistance application.
Call or text 1-888-480-0066 Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
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