Gov. Polis waited until the Saturday of Labor Day weekend when no one was paying attention to thumb his nose at the constitution and extend the eviction ban, again, for yet another 30 days.
For those who haven’t kept score, the rental assistance Coloradans can apply for covers rent all the way back to the spring of 2020.
That’s 15 months home and condo owners have had to cover the mortgage for tenants whom the state and federal government allowed to live there without paying the rent.
This past week, after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the federal eviction moratorium, Polis said he was considering extending emergency rental protection in Colorado beyond September if rental assistance applications are backlogged.
Rental assistance has been backlogged since the minute it was approved by Congress in March.
Despite repeated reassurances from the Polis administration they were about to get it under control any minute, they still haven’t.
The Colorado Sun reports Colorado has only paid out about 7.4% of its available federal rental assistance funds.
According to the Treasury Department, the state has disbursed about $33 million of its approximately $444 million as of July 31 — or about 7.4%. Local governments have paid out $35.8 million of their $246 million, or about 14.6%. The funds have so far helped 12,690 Colorado households pay rent.
When folks do get through to the Polis administration for their rental assistance checks, the maximum allowable income to apply starts at about $41,000 in most counties, up to an eye-popping $77,000, depending on the size of household.
Nearly a dozen counties allow up to $105,000 for households of eight people including Denver, Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Clear Creek, Douglas, Eagle, Elbert, Gilpin, Kiowa, and Park.
Not surprising, the governor’s home county of Boulder comes in with the most allowable aid for income earners of $56,300 for one person, up to $106,150 for eight-person households.
From the program description:
Tenants who have been unable to pay rent due to financial hardship caused by COVID-19 may be eligible for rental assistance from their county or the State. The Colorado Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) can help cover rent as far back as April 2020. Help can include past due, current, and two additional months of rent up to a maximum of 15 months of assistance.
So landlords and folks who thought it a wise investment to rent a property will have to forgo yet another month without rent.
Because as it turns out, Polis doesn’t need to declare a state of emergency to usurp the Supreme Court and ban evictions when his own administration can’t make the rent, either.