“My income ended immediately like a rug being pulled out from under me.”

Less than 72 hours after the 1st of February, I received a terse e-mail from the Community Manager of the apartment I live at in Fort Collins. “Can you give me a status update on your rent? It’s past due…” While I was reading this just seconds after it arrived in my In Box, my phone rang with “No Caller ID”. Not knowing who that was, I let it go to voicemail. Shocked at what I was reading, the property’s General Manager had communicated just weeks prior that tenants are given two “strikes’’ when late on rent and clarified that my rent was not due until the 5th of the month; exactly as it had been since I moved in a half a year ago.

Replying quickly to reiterate what the Manager’s boss had said, she replied “Well, that is only if you have an ACH transfer active then yes, it is day five. You don’t so rent is due no later the 3rd.” The staff, or their system, had arbitrarily cancelled my ACH automatic transfer set up in my resident portal. I know this because I received a “rent payment schedule cancelled” last month, not at my own doing.

Educated with advanced degrees and owner of three small-businesses since 1993, I’m not likely perceived as someone who would become economically devastated due to Covid. I’ve never filed for bankruptcy, credit score has been in the high 700s, and no evictions ever.

That was before Covid. I’ve lost three major sources of income since March 2020. One of my clients’ businesses closed, a small insurance company, and two clients died; the most recent December 18. My income ended immediately like a rug being pulled out from under me.

I applied for the Emergency Housing Assistance Program (EHAP) through a local organization. They sent me a link and said “fill this out” I did and came to learn that the minimum time frame they start processing applications was six weeks.

My best friend has been following this evolving situation with Colorado housing. He knew I had no reasonable expectation that my application would be processed in time to avoid eviction. He lent me my rent payment buying me 25 days of a roof over my head and avoiding a 10-day eviction notice. I would have been evicted while I wait for help promised to Coloradans and continue the process of trying to rebuild my business.

Colorado’s Demand for Rent has gone from 30 days to 10 buying me absolutely no time while I wait for an application to be processed and a landlord now overreaching, intimidating, and becoming hostile. I don’t owe them any back rent and have never been late or rent, utilities, and have no other breaches of my lease.

A hand full of tenants where I live packed up and left quickly this past weekend. The moving trucks that showed up and beds being moved out of apartments at night are a sure sign people were fleeing to avoid getting a 10-day eviction notice. More tenants received them on the door in less than three days after the first of the month. This is a clear denial of due process. Why is this happening? During this pandemic dragging on and with emergency rent assistance just increased but not accessible.

If you’ve made it to the bottom of this story and want to help, click here to send a letter to your state representatives (it’ll only take a minute), asking them to pass eviction court reform so Coloradans are better protected: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/its-time-for-eviction-reform?source=direct_link.