Eviction numbers continue to rise in Colorado after record-breaking 2023

Gabby Easterwood
·2 min read
10

DENVER (KDVR) — It’s been a record year for funding eviction protection in Colorado and Denver, but evictions are still on the rise, and experts believe this will be another record-setting year.

Rental assistance and housing advocates, like Brothers Redevelopment and Together Denver, say the $29.1 million in city funds and $30 million in state funds are not enough anymore. In fact, in the first quarter of this year, the state has seen a 21% jump in eviction filings compared to this time last year, which was already a record-setting year.

How to apply for Colorado rental assistance

And now some advocates are saying the migrant crisis is lending itself to the eviction crisis.

“We only budgeted for what we anticipated the number of evictions to be, and now we have another subset of people going through evictions that we never planned for,” said Amy Beck with Together Denver.

Another factor is the rules for the city’s temporary rental and utility assistance, or TRUA for short, have changed.

“The requirements there changed in the last few months to require someone to have a court summons to be able to apply. At the state level, that isn’t a requirement, but it is taken into consideration,” said Patrick Noonan, director of Colorado Housing Connects, a program under Brothers Redevelopment.

Many Coloradans still haven’t claimed their TABOR refund

Noonan and his colleagues are well aware of the eviction crisis, so now their main goal is to try to help people beforehand with workshops, counseling and utility assistance.

“It’s so hard for somebody to make it through when they are already in crisis. We want to try and help people work proactively to come up with solutions,” Noonan said.

Colorado applications for emergency rental assistance open on Monday, April 15, and will close on April 20, but they will open again next month. It’s a lottery process from there because of the high volume of applicants.

Brothers Redevelopment is also offering assistance through Colorado Housing Connects.

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