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Denver Initiative 305: Landlord tax to fund eviction defenses

Voters in Denver will see a new tax on the ballot that would fund eviction defenses, which rose back to pre-pandemic levels.

DENVER — Denver voters will decide next month whether to levy a special new tax on landlords that would create a legal defense fund for tenants in the city facing eviction.

The initiative, sponsored by a group called No Eviction Without Representation (NEWR) Denver, would begin with a $75 yearly tax, which would be tied to inflation. The money would be pooled into the legal fund for any resident in the city.

“The way that this works right now is that its treated almost as an automatic product,” Wren Echo, an organizer with NEWR Denver, said. “Less than one percent of tenants have legal representation. About 75% of them never show up to court so what we have happening is these people are scared, they’re vulnerable.”

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“The process is very opaque, and they don’t know their rights,” Echo said.

A 9NEWS analysis of eviction filings in Denver County Court found there have been 5,885 eviction filings so far this year, more than the total filings for 2020 and 2021, marking a return to pre-pandemic levels.

There were typically 272 filings per month in 2020 and 357 in 2021 from January through September. In 2022, there have typically been 634 evictions filings per month.

“Eviction is this huge precursor of homelessness,” Echo said. “It can be this huge destabilizing element for most of people’s lives.”

Opponents of the initiative have nearly doubled the funds raised by the proponents. The biggest spender in the race so far is the Apartment Association, which represents landlords.

“Our position is that it’s bad policy for the government to use taxpayer funds to pay private citizens to sue each other in civil court,” said Destiny Bossert, a lobbyist with the Apartment Association. “We should be focusing on real solutions like the lack of supply. Even rental assistance, we feel, would be more effective in this case.”

Bossert said the cost of this tax will likely be passed down to tenants.

“A housing provider’s revenue comes from rent so when you increase fees, taxes, it all gets passed on to the consumers,” she said. “The $75 per unit paid by landlords will end up being paid by residents unfortunately… and that’s just business.”

Echo doesn’t believe every landlord will pass along the cost of the tax, but even if they do, it would amount to about $6 more per month, which is a small change for the protections afforded by the change.

Before the pandemic, Echo said she and her friends spent years going through public records of eviction filings, connecting tenants with legal help. A privacy law in 2020 prevented some of that work.

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“If we get someone a lawyer, they show up in court with their lawyer then they’re able to work something out with their landlord,” Echo said. “This is sort of the same rights that we afford to people accused of a crime… so it’s sort of like wow why don’t we already have that.”

9NEWS Data Producer Zack Newman contributed to this report.

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