A new ordinance working its way through the Denver City Council would provide income-eligible residents with free legal representation when facing eviction.

This comes as the national eviction moratorium is set to expire by the end of next month, leaving tenants unable to pay rent because of the COVID-19 pandemic once again vulnerable to displacement.

Colorado’s own eviction moratorium expired in December and, even with these protections, evictions have not stopped. In Denver, nearly 4,000 evictions were filed in 2020 and over 1,500 evictions have been filed so far in 2021, according to city data.

During the pandemic, 90% of filings in Denver have resulted in the tenants being evicted. In these cases, 95% of landlords had legal representation while only 1% of tenants did, according to Denver County Court data.

“We are confident that this is a good move for our city,” said Councilwoman Candi CdeBaca, who is sponsoring the ordinance. “Our aim with this legislation is to prevent displacement and to keep as many people housed as possible during the current housing crisis.”

If passed, renters facing eviction who make 80% or below of the Area Median Income (AMI) would be eligible for free legal representation. Income would be measured as of present day, not the previous year’s total. As of Wednesday, 80% of Denver’s AMI for a single person is $58,720.

The ordinance would also require landlords to give tenants a copy of their rights and legal representation options when they first move in and when a landlord files for eviction, in line with requirements of Denver’s “Healthy Residential Rentals for All” bill passed Monday.

This plan builds on Denver’s Eviction Defense pilot program established in 2018. The program has represented over 1,000 tenants facing eviction through Colorado Legal Services, 41% of whom were people of color, 40% had a disability and 31% were families with children.

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Around 70% of tenants represented through the pilot program moved out without putting the eviction on their record, 28% kept their housing through methods like setting up a payment plan and only 2% were evicted with it on their record.

“We’re not necessarily trying to force landlords into keeping a tenant who they don’t want or who is not paying their rent,” CdeBaca said. “What we’re trying to do is make that separation as amicable as possible and mitigate the harm that it causes in the long-term.”

This ordinance would expand the pilot program, providing additional financial and staff resources and expanding public knowledge of the representation resource and how to access it.

As it is now, tenants facing eviction are only informed about the pilot program during their first court hearing. However, at least 70% of tenants don’t show up to the court because they don’t believe they have any options to fight eviction, according to Denver County Court data.

To pay for outreach and education – in addition to the cost of approximately 4,750 eviction cases per year – the Eviction Legal Defense would cost $4 million annually. That budget also includes a new staff position within the Denver Department of Housing Stability, which would house the program.

Despite the seemingly high price, ordinance co-sponsor Councilwoman Amanda Sawyer said the program would actually save the city money.

According to city data from 2012, each person experiencing homelessness in Denver costs the city $26,000 annually in supportive programs and law enforcement response. If 3% to 5% of tenants represented by the Eviction Legal Defense avoid homelessness, the city would save nearly $12 million each year.

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“It’s a cost neutral program, although it does take some cost investment in order to do it,” Sawyer said. “We’re lowering emergency sheltering needs, we’re decreasing education costs for families with children being evicted … there’s a reduction in law enforcement and incarceration.”

Because evictions stay on a tenant’s record for seven years, evictions can often push tenants into homelessness since other landlords will refuse to rent to them.

Before COVID-19 hit, Denver was already in the middle of a housing crisis, with over 46% of renters being qualified as cost burdened and a record number of people in the city experiencing homelessness, according to city data. 

Several members of the public called in during Wednesday’s meeting to voice their support for the Eviction Legal Defense; however, nearly all of the callers requested that the 80% AMI requirement be removed, instead allowing anyone facing eviction to be represented.

Callers argued that the limitation could exclude people who make too much but still cannot afford representation or scare away undocumented residents who don’t want to submit paperwork and identification to the city.

Denver resident Lani Rush also expressed concern that the income limitation would expose tenants’ economic status, making them vulnerable to systems like credit bureaus.

“I’m very excited for us to be taking proactive steps to keep people in their homes,” Rush said. “But every data point that you collect on poor people and or people who are marginalized can be weaponized against them.”

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Black and Latino people are significantly more likely to face evictions, with Black women renters being filed for eviction at double the rate of white renters. In Colorado, adults with children are also three times as likely to be behind on rent than those without children in September and October of 2020.

Despite the large public response requesting universal representation, council members did not discuss the possibility of removing the income requirement Wednesday.

Councilwoman Robin Kniech suggested that the City Council could consider opening the program to additional income brackets after it has already been implemented.

“The vast majority of folks for failure to pay rent are going to qualify under this income guideline,” Kniech said. “We can always talk about adding folks later as we get those that are in the most need served first.”

Though they did not reach a vote Wednesday, members of the council housing committee appeared generally supportive of the ordinance, only asking questions and suggesting modifications to small details.

Discussion included editing language in the ordinance, the capacity of Colorado Legal Services to handle the cases and potentially pushing back the effective date to allow for rule making and communication with landlords. As of now, the ordinance would be immediately effective upon passage.

The Denver City Council housing committee is set to vote on the ordinance next Wednesday. The committee meeting will begin early at 10 a.m. to allow adequate time for discussion.

If approved by the committee, the ordinance would have to pass two full City Council votes before implementation.