An employee for the Denver City Council got caught renting out his “affordable housing” condo for the bargain basement price of $2,300 a month.
It appears he’s been doing so in violation of city rules for years, but he won’t get in trouble for it because he’s promised to be a good boy and come back into compliance.
And by compliance, we mean Zachary Rothmier kicked out his tenant and put the property up for sale.
The whole sordid mess was uncovered in a FOX31 Problem Solvers investigation based on an anonymous tip.
Rothmier bought the two-bedroom condo in 2009 for $212,000, and was required to live in it because he got a discount on the property valued at $250,000.
It appears he rented it out a year later.
Where does he live now? In a house that Zillow values at $765,000.
Just one day after the Problem Solvers emailed Rothmier in November, he posted the condo for sale on a city website for income restricted properties. Its income restricted listing price is $304,510, well below the 2018 appraised value of $513,000.
We suppose the selling price is in compliance, but we’re aghast that a city employee, a policy analyst for the city council no less, is accused of profiting off the affordable housing program for eight years and no action at all will be taken against him.
What sort of example does this set for other rule-breakers, and what does it say about the credibility of the whole program?
Denver taxpayers, most struggling with their own mortgages, should be outraged their money is wasted in such a manner, with no compliance checks or repercussions on rule-breakers.
We hope this story isn’t over yet, and kudos to FOX31 for blowing the lid on it.