DENVER — Denver expects a record number of eviction filings in 2023, which, coupled with a decrease in rental assistance available, could cause a "crisis" as Denver works to get more unhoused people off the streets.
In a budget presentation last week, the city said it was on track for a record 12,000 eviction filings in 2023, breaking the previous peak of 10,241 in 2010, in the midst of the Great Recession.
"That crisis is very real," Mayor Mike Johnston said.
At the Colorado Housing Connects program, housing navigators report receiving a record number of inquiries from people struggling to pay rent and facing eviction.
"It's really challenging to keep up," the program's director Pat Noonan said.
And he believes it could get worse.
He said increasing rents and economic pressure on lower-income families have combined, making rent both harder to afford and harder to pay.
"It's both sides of the equation challenging renters right now," he said.
And there is less help for them to turn to. In 2022, Denver said it had $20 million to help renters -- but $17 million of that was state and federal pandemic money that's now gone.
Denver said it plans to fill some of that gap with city funds -- but will fall $8 million short compared to last year.
"It speaks to an even greater crisis ahead," Noonan said.
He said student loan repayments beginning anew don't help -- but building more affordable housing might.
"There is hope," he said.
His team will continue to connect people in need with assistance programs that could help.
"Far too many people receive that notice and freeze up," he said.
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