Housing help from pandemic relief fading, but need growing
Applications for state run COVID-19 rental assistance financed largely by federal COVID relief dollars will close after Tuesday, with millions still left to be distributed. There are so many applications backlogged, it will still take months to process the claims that are waiting.
"In order to ensure the applications currently in review do not exceed the amount of funds remaining, the State must stop accepting new applications after 11:59 p.m. on November 15, 2022, but the Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) will continue processing applications received prior to that date and is anticipating distributing assistance well into 2023," said The State Department of Local Affairs, Division of Housing in a statement sent to CBS News Colorado.
John Hodnett, whose work consulting on financial matters dried up during the pandemic, was forced to seek help paying the rent on his Lakewood apartment in April. But after seven months of waiting, there was no movement. "I can only surmise that I got assigned a rookie application processor who didn't know what she was doing," Hodnett said.
"Currently, applications are taking on average 6 to 8 weeks to approve and issue payment, depending on the completeness of the applications and how often our reviewers need to follow-up for additional information," said the statement from the state.
Hodnett said he sought out information but got nothing back. "Continuously emailed her saying can you give me an update? Can you give me an update? Never a response."
A couple weeks ago, Hodnett spoke with a staffer with the nonprofit COVID-19 Eviction Defense Project. "She kind of reviewed the data and she said, 'I'm taking this on,'" Hodnett explained. About five days later, she contacted him and told him a check was on the way to his landlord to cover back rent. "Oh it's wonderful. And even the landlord here says, 'Congratulations, John. I got the check.'"
The Eviction Defense Project has a pool of about $3 million as part of the approximately $900 million that arrived in the state for COVID related housing relief. Sometimes, it pays out pending cases for people who are in imminent danger of eviction like John.
"I assume we'll get reimbursed," said Zach Neumann, the COVID-19 Eviction Defense Project's co-founder. "But even if we don't, the point is that these resources are for people and they're for community, and they're to preserve housing. Our mission is to keep people in their homes, and that risk is just inherent to what we do as an organization."
With the closing of the portal after Tuesday, the demand for assistance has not lessened. In fact, it has gone up.
"There are a tremendous number of people in our community who right now are at risk of eviction because rent has gone up so dramatically in Denver," Neumann said. "Over the past year, rents have increased somewhere in the ballpark of 20 to 25%. And wages haven't kept up."
That demand for help will not change at all. "I think it speaks to the tremendous need. the number of people who each month struggle to pay their rent, or folks for whom rent becomes a real issue to pay when they can't pay a medical bill, or they have a flat tire on their car, or they lose their job or they're not able to work for a month," Neumann added.
The nonprofit is planning to retitle itself and continue distributing assistance. The new name will be "The Community Economic Defense Project," keeping the same acronym.
There will be additional money in the pipeline, but it will shift to state dollars.
"The Colorado Legislature sent ARP dollars to the Division of Housing within the Department of Local Affairs, and then, Proposition 123 creates a permanent multi-year ongoing roughly [$55 million] to $60 million pot of money for the Division of Housing to use for homelessness, prevention, legal services, eviction, diversion and a lot of different activities related to keeping people in their homes."
Neumann urged people who need help to contact them for help with rent or legal assistance among other things.
For more resources and information, visit the COVID-19 Eviction Defense Project website.
