PUEBLO — More evictions are being filed in Colorado and one program’s mission is to help people facing eviction.
According to our state's judicial dashboard, evictions in Colorado have jumped by 32% from last year. Pueblo County was the first in the state to create an Eviction Diversion Program.
Beginning in 2022, the Pueblo County Eviction Diversion Program has helped nearly 50% of all eviction cases in the county.
The program is run through the Colorado Legal Services Office. Gail Rodosevich is the Pueblo County Pro Bono Coordinator with Colorado Legal Services, as well as the Manager of the Pueblo County Eviction Diversion Program. She said one of the programs is to keep families off the streets.
“In 2022, there were 1,109 evictions filed in Pueblo County,” Rodosevich said.
The eviction program has three lawyers, one of which works Pro Bono, as well as mediators and a navigators from the Department of Human Services. The team, including Rodosevich, helps assist people in eviction court.
“They make sure the law is followed, that tenants rights are upheld, and that the tenant understands any agreement that the landlord's attorney may provide to them,” Rodosevich said.
Rodosevich said 90% of the eviction cases that are filed are for reasons surrounding money. She said they try to resolve the issue before it goes to court.
“Because if there is an eviction on their record, it pops up on every check a landlord does and no one will rent to them,” Rodosevich said.
Mediators help tenants come to an agreement with their landlords. Rodosevich said in most cases, they do this through rental assistance funds.
“You have to keep the landlords paid to keep the tenant's housed,” Rodosevich said.
If tenants qualify, the program can use rental assistance funds to help pay back the rent the tenants owe.
“So, if we catch them up, then they are even and can make their rent when they go forward,” Rodosevich said.
Rodosevich said people can be facing eviction for a number of different reasons. She said lots of people are one missed paycheck away from living on the streets.
“Recently, he had to bury his mother, and the only way he could do that is to sign an agreement to make payments. So, he made the choice between his rent and burying his mother,” Rodosevich said.
She said there are many stories like that one. Below are some of these issues Rodosevich sees:
- car breaking down
- illness or death in the family
- choosing between paying for rent or utilities
“About 70% of the people are spending over 47% of their income on housing, so there is absolute, no cushion,” Rodosevich said.
Rodosevich said they have seen rents go up since last year, as well as landlords no longer offering long term leases.
“They will do a year lease then it will go month to month. That is because they have the ability to sell, almost immediately with a 21 day notice. So we have seen that trend take place,” Rodosevich said.
One of the focuses of the program is to help keep people in their homes. Rodosevich said when eviction does happen, there are not many housing options.
“Sometimes they will live with relatives if they can, we really don't have transitional housing in Pueblo at this time,” Rodosevich said.
POSADA is an organization in Pueblo that offers multiple housing services. They mainly help youth and people who have or are experiencing homelessness.
Veronica Gold is the Housing Stability Case Manager for POSADA. She said some of the individuals they have helped become homeless because they were evicted.
“Affordable housing is nearly non-existent,” Gold said.
POSADA has a housing program for youth and another transitional housing program that is up to 24 months. The transitional housing program is currently full and they are no longer expecting names for the waiting list.
“It's important to remember. It's not just about the folks on the streets but it's preventing other folks from adding to the street, preventing adding more people to homelessness, I think it is really important,” Gold said.
Gold has been working with housing for nearly nine years and she said it has become tougher.
“I used to be able to house someone in less than two weeks, it is taking almost 6 months or longer to house someone,” Gold said.
Because of the shortage of affordable housing, Rodosevich said oftentimes people who have been evicted will move into low cost motels.
This is why Rodosevich said it is crucial to prevent evictions. She also mentioned the program would be impossible to do without the rental assistance.
The state emergency rental assistance can only be used if the case goes to court.
City and county rental assistance can be used beforehand when the mediators are talking with the landlords. The eviction diversion program received $145,000 from community service block grant. Rodosevich is expecting to receive over $90,000 in more rental assistance funding this December. Rodosevich also hopes to get more people to help with the program so they can take on more cases.
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