Activists block entry to Denver municipal building in effort to stop landlords from filing evictions

Some fear eviction notices will spike after being put on pause for months

Organized activist groups held a demonstration in front of a municipal building in Denver, Colorado, on Thursday, linking arms and blocking the entrance in an effort to keep landlords from entering to file eviction notices.

What are the details?

Anti-police group Af ro Liberation Front organized the event dubbed #CancelEvictionsNow, sending a message online telling followers, "join us during business hours to ensure no landlord passes our line." The group also advocates for abolishing the police and providing housing for all.

Protesters began arriving at the targeted Webb Municipal Office Building in the morning, promising to stay all day. Fellow progressive group Wall of Moms Denver also promoted the event online, tweeting, "We have a wall blocking one entrance. The more people that show up, the more entrances @ A fr o FrontCo can block to #StopEvictions."

Wall of Moms called on people to "come say hi and make some #GoodTrouble."

We have a wall blocking one entrance. The more people that show up, the more entrances @Af r oFrontCo can block to…

Denver Post reporter Sam Tabachnik was at the scene, and reported that a group of around 25 "activists linked arms to form a human chain" in front of the building.

Tabachnik wrote:

After police told activists they couldn't block the doors, people sat in a line in front of the building. But police soon told them that was also not allowed. Some 20 officers in SWAT gear and two officers on horses arrived, informing protesters they had three minutes to disperse or they would be subject to arrest.

Evictions resumed July 1 in Colorado after Gov. Jared Polis (D) lifted the moratorium he put in place in March as unemployment spiked due to the coronavirus crisis. However, the governor's executive order requires that landlords "provide tenants with thirty (30) days' notice of any default before initiating or filing action for forcible entry and detainer."

Advocacy groups fear the timing means those eviction notices will start rolling in, reflecting months of backlog. The COVID-19 Eviction Defense Project estimates that between 300,000 and 400,000 Coloradans could face eviction and end up out on the streets.

Last week, a spokesman for the Denver Sheriff Department said the department has not yet seen the wave of evictions some expected. "We anticipate a large influx, but that has not surfaced," Maj. Lanceford Alexander told KNCN-TV.

Alexander explained that serving an eviction notice is always a difficult task, and especially so amid the economic hardships caused by the pandemic. "The people who are being evicted are going through a crisis," he told the outlet. "Deputies show up on scene, they talk to them, they offer resources. They try to be as professional as they can to be sure they're still being treated with dignity and respect."

Tony,

I'm guessing these folks have never heard of STAMPS or the MAIL.

BRAD

This topic has been discussed an awful lot.

From a landlord perspective - the problems are obvious (to us)

But, even from a resident's perspective. I would NEVER (even as a young renter) stayed somewhere that I could not afford to pay for. I would rather live in a van.

It can be a challenge just from this perspective - dealing with people who are just SO FAR away from my way of thinking. Almost like being in a foreign land and not knowing the language or customs.

Our society has become spoiled.

In all the 5 or so years I've been leasing, I've only had two people stay longer than a year and only one person actually complete a lease (fully honor the agreement).

I have 3 apartments and literally every 2-3 months I'm dealing with a vacancy.

"Home?" Please.

Most tenants have NO commitment. Its their 'home' until their eyes alight on something better, or they've fully wrecked their nest.

They take off a month after the idea pops in their head to fly the coop, and if they leave a soiled dump with gnats grease and bedbugs behind, all the better. That's what nobody is talking about in this Right to Free-housing-on-other-Americans craze.

People who lease better pay attention and get involved in public discourse. Because when this ends I foresee a ton of freeloaders skipping off into the sunset and leaving the bill on the table for someone else. Its making me question even going forward right now....

>>> if they leave a soiled dump with gnats grease and bedbugs behind, all the better. >>>

And if they leave 3 or 4 months of unpaid rent on top of that, and no employer info or forwarding address..... then its a Score!