Colorado's king (or should I say "queen" has announced yet another statewide eviction moratorium.

My eviction firm will have a webinar tomorrow AM, and they will discuss the legality of it. First, this clown banned late fees, and now this - again. I don't believe it's legal.

They have mentioned that no one has sued the governor because of the time and cost of a legal action against him. The thing is, they said that 4 months ago and and will be saying it in March of next year. They keep kicking the can down the road.

Small landlords can't do it. I don't know why the major players don't, or why the firm doesn't initiate a class action.

This bozo will just keep extending moratoriums.

Am I the only one that sees the irony in the situation.

It has been said that Evictions cause people to double up, but having the government step in and impose the moratorium hurts the those that were marginally qualified to begin with - forcing them to DOUBLE UP.

All this in the name of preventing the spread of a disease.

No moratorium here except the CDC nonsense.

Are cases supposedly spreading in your area?

This is pure madness and political as far as I am concerned. It doesn't add up because people are moving for other reasons and going to ball games, restaurants,movies and many other things but they don't stop that. That tells me that anything creating revenue for the government is a go but for whatever reason (elections?) we are to house tenants for free.

I don't think rental assistance is the answer because there are strings attached and it could possibly end up with the government really taking control of your property. Also it is up to the tenant to start the process in which I don't think most will do as they are faking it anyway. They have a job and are making money but are just not paying rent as they think they don't have to and the government seems to be blinded to this fact.

Our governor is no friend to landlords - and, by extension to the banks that we must pay mortgage payments to. I took the matter into my own hands with my 20 units. I phoned EVERY tenant asking how prepared they were, how vulnerable their job appeared to be for closures, etc. I asked if any of them needed any vital supplies. ALL were greatly impressed by my personal call.

Of those I phoned, 18 declined help and explained to me that they were considered essential employees and their rent payments would not be in jeopardy. Of the 2 that did need help - one needed toilet paper (when the shortages were rampant) and the other needed flour and sugar. I was able to deliver the items - and did so without charging them. My outlay? $10. It was considered "customer relations." To date, I have not had ONE tenant late. Every one has paid more on time than usual. I asked every one of them if ANYTHING needed repair and that bracing for the coming months, we wanted to get ahead of any repairs that might be lingering. I explained that doing so early would reduce our maintenance needs later - when other landlords who refuse to pay for anything extra now will have backed up maintenance needs. In a few months, plumbers and electricians will be booked out with delayed repairs. The personal courtesy went a long way to having the tenants behave in a very responsible way.

I explained to them that if they had problems, that helpful sources were cropping up, and that I would stay ahead of those resources, if they should need assistance in the future. I phoned my personal banker and asked how they would like me to handle any potential tenant non-payment issues, and they were helpful, too.

I realize I am in a lucky area since Covid has not taken over here yet. I aggressively screen tenants and decline those with marginal employment records, or "iffy" income sources. I'm not invincible, but while I cannot control an unhelpful governor, I can help influence the perception of the residents in our building.

About a month later, I again phoned every tenant. I urged all of them to take cell phone photos of all of their rooms, and belongings in case they should suffer any losses that would be covered by insurance. I told them to send those photos to themselves via email, so they could produce them later, if needed. Such offers cost me nothing - and may make a big difference to some of them if events take a turn in their personal lives. It was refreshing to hear so many of the tenants thank me profusely for my care and commitment.

There may be future losses from non-payment. None of us are immune to that. For now, I'm reserving a bit more in my emergency funds to cover months that tenants may face future hardships. I'm prepared to reduce rents temporarily rather than have a mass exodus from tenants who move out to join their families, or downsize.

Our governor *thinks* he is doing what will get him votes later. He may be right. But, he is losing a base that pays property taxes for votes from those that don't.

In all, I personally worry that this management from the state level will result in a housing mess that will take far longer for recovery than just letting people earn while they can and asking people to take precautions with hygiene that reduce spread. I also wish the media had some accountability for scaring people for ratings sake only. The constant negativity can cause more damage than Covid ever will. Just my .02 cents. Hang in there Colorado Landlords...hold our beer! We've got this! :-)